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Researcher discusses importance of data for missing, murdered Native women

Annita Lucchesi.Murders and disappearances of Native American women have risen to prominence lately, inspiring protests and vigils around Montana and legislation in both Helena and Washington, D.C.

There’s broad consensus that improving data access is vital to helping law enforcement solve cold cases. Existing studies have shown Native women face far higher rates of violence than their non-Native counterparts, a problem that’s been variously attributed to racism, insufficient resources, jurisdictional gaps between law enforcement agencies, and other factors. But as Annita Lucchesi began researching this issue while a master’s student in American Studies at Washington State University, she found the underlying data lacking..

“The more I looked, the messier it got,” the Southern Cheyenne researcher told an audience in Polson on Monday, describing how the MMIW Database came to be. This database now logs thousands of cases of murdered and missing indigenous people throughout the Americas, and she sees a variety of ways it could stem this trend.

While databases exist, she said, “they all collect different kinds of things and so if you’re trying to make sense of this issue, you’re going to look at 50 different places (and) the more confused you’re going to get.”

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Billings Gazette

WSU history student receives Fulbright to study in India

Washington State University history doctoral student and future professor Ryan W. Booth has received a Fulbright U.S. Student award to spend nine months in India exploring socio‑cultural characteristics attributed to indigenous soldiers during the British Raj up to a century ago.

His work adds an international element to his dissertation, and may well lead to a new global thread of research in the area of military history.

Ryan Booth.
Booth

“It’s an incredible honor for me to become a Fulbrighter,” said Booth. “I’m already experiencing that the award will open new doors for me, professionally as well as personally.”

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WSU Insider
La Conner Weekly News – click to view

Special to The Times: And the children shall lead us out of climate catastrophe

By , associate professor of history

 
Jeffrey Sanders.
Sanders

When it comes to climate change, children are the canaries in the coal mine. If we’re lucky, they will lead us out of the collapsing mineshaft.

Oregon native Kelsey Cascadia Rose Juliana is the lead plaintiff in the landmark climate-change case, Juliana v. U.S., currently before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Kelsey was only 19 years old in 2015 when she and 20 other youths sued the federal government for failing to protect them from the future horrors of a warming planet.

From climate change to school shootings to asylum-seekers at the border, the plight of young people now animates our political culture. This is not the first time Americans have looked at children to understand periods of troubling social and environmental change.

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Seattle Times

#MAGA Church: The Doomsday Prophet Who Says the Bible Predicted Trump

A charismatic pastor in New Jersey (who also calls himself a rabbi) leads a church fixated on end times. Before the apocalypse, however, he’s fitting in a trip to Mar-a-Lago.

Every weekend, some 1,000 congregants gather for the idiosyncratic teachings of the church’s celebrity pastor, Jonathan Cahn, an entrepreneurial doomsday prophet who claims that President Trump’s rise to power was foretold in the Bible.

Mr. Cahn is tapping into a belief more popular than may appear.

Matthew Avery Sutton.
Sutton

Matthew Sutton, a professor of history at Washington State University and the author of “American Apocalypse,” said Mr. Cahn fits a unique American mold. “In key historical moments, religious figures like this find a way to step in,” Mr. Sutton said. “They draw from apocalyptic theology and say, ‘We have this secret knowledge and can explain what’s going on.’ It fosters this sense that God’s judgment is hanging over your head.”

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The New York Times

WRAL

Winners of 2019 Rosa Park Awards announced in Moscow

Ken Faunce.
Ken Faunce

WSU history professor Ken Faunce was among three people recognized for their service and dedication to human rights during the 26th annual Martin Luther King Human Rights Community Breakfast Saturday in Moscow.

Faunce received the 2019 Rosa Parks Human Rights Achievement Award award because of his commitment, investment, and dedication to the topic of human rights.

“Ken is truly a gifted and passionate leader… He is about making opportunities that speak to the widest range possible,” states his nomination letter.

Faunce led the move to rename Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day in Moscow. He works with high school and university students through the Human Rights Commission, and he’s a member of the Northwest Coalition of Human Rights.

To win an award, indivudals need to demonstrate a record of leadership and accomplishment, as well as “manifestations of special courage and commitment in opposing bigotry and celebrating diversity.”

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Moscow-Pullman Daily News