Minnesota’s MMIR Office unveils new logo

Friday, May 5th marks Missing & Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) Awareness Day across the nation. Minnesota was the first in the country to create a MMIR Office. Thursday, the agency revealed a new logo that they say directly identifies their work moving forward.

“Our goal was to have our logo recognize the growing epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous people,” said Juliet Rudie, Director of Minnesota’s MMIR Office. “We hope this image brings a renewed awareness to the crisis affecting Indigenous people across Minnesota while evoking a sense of hope for a better and brighter future without violence, poverty, racism and injustice.”

The logo features a gender-agnostic Indigenous person with the iconic red handprint over their mouth. In addition to the color red, the MMIR Office wanted to incorporate various shades of teal to represent awareness, prevention, and support for sexual assault survivors. The person is also within a red circle that represents the sun, and signifies a new day and new beginnings for Indigenous people everywhere.

Indigenous people make up just 1% of the state’s population, but between 2010 and 2019, 9% of all murdered girls and women in Minnesota were American Indian.

“These may be shocking statistics, but I urge you to think about them in a different way,” Rudie said. “These victims are not just numbers, but human beings with families, jobs, dreams and futures.”

In its first two years of existence, the MMIR Office has welcomed a staff that has accomplished key projects to reach the ultimate goal of reducing and eliminating violence against Minnesota’s Indigenous people. Other accomplishments include working with families who have missing or murdered loved ones with guidance and support, building relationships with leadership and law enforcement agencies, and developing training standards on Brandon’s Law (Minnesota’s Missing Persons’ Act).

Visit the MMIR Office’s webpage to learn more about its current scope of work.