photo by: Contributed

In this 2022 file photo, people gather outside of City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St., ahead of a city proclamation to raise awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

The Indigenous Community Center will for the next week host a free event series to spread awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous people, and it kicks off today.

The center is hosting its annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit and Trans Actions for Justice Week through Friday, May 5, which is National MMIW+ Awareness Day.

The Indigenous Community Center is hosting the event in collaboration with a list of community partners: Black Literature and Arts Collective of Kansas Lawrence; Haskell Indian Nations University’s Tommaney Library, Student Government Association and Phi Sigma Nu Fraternity; and the University of Kansas’ School of Social Welfare, First Nations Student Association, Indigenous Studies program, Native Faculty and Staff Council and Native American Initiatives.

Here’s the list of events:

• Events kicks off today with a Final Friday Indigenous artists showcase at Art Love Collective, 646 Vermont St., from 6 to 9 p.m.

• The Actions for Justice kickoff event is Sunday at Art Love Collective, from 4 to 7 p.m. Speakers will include Douglas County District Attorney Suzanne Valdez and Kansas Rep. Christina Haswood, Diné. They’ll be joined by Haskell professor Jimmy Lee Beason, Osage Nation of the Eagle Clan, and artist Tokeya Waci U, Oglala Lakota and Haliwa-Saponi Tribes.

• On Monday, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on KU’s Wescoe Beach, folks can learn more about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit and Trans Awareness week. Later on, a free self-defense class will be offered on the Haskell Indian Nations University campus at Tecumseh Hall starting at 6 p.m.

• On Tuesday, event organizers are inviting folks to join a walk from South Park to Lawrence City Hall at 4 p.m., ahead of the Lawrence City Commission meeting. The walk will end with a proclamation reading once the group arrives at City Hall.

• Clara Selam, an enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and a student in her final semester with KU’s Master of Social Work program, will share her capstone presentation focused on educating social workers and allies about the Missing, Murdered Indigenous People movement via Zoom at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Folks who want to tune in to the presentation can register here.

• The Lawrence Arts Center, 940 New Hampshire St., will host a screening of “Who She Is” Thursday at 6 p.m. The documentary highlights the lives of four women from Wind River in Wyoming caught in the middle of the MMIW epidemic in the U.S.

• Friday, May 5, is National MMIW+ Awareness Day, and folks participating in the week of events are encouraged to wear red. A pair of events will also take place on Haskell’s campus: a fire lighting at sunrise and a walk at 6 p.m.