Beyond the Fiction
#MaddieMatters
In Even the Darkness, a girl named Maddie mysteriously goes missing. Her story is a direct reflection of a heartbreaking reality: Native American females are murdered at a rate 10x higher than the national average, and the rules are different when you go missing from a reservation.
While Maddie is a fictional character, the story she represents is tragically real for thousands of Indigenous families across North America. The hashtag #MaddieMatters was created to draw a direct line between our fictional narrative and the real-world crisis the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) movement represents. We believe shining a light on this issue through our story will help raise awareness to support the many families still waiting for justice. Maddie matters as much as every other life lost to the night.
What is the MMIW Movement?
The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) is a movement dedicated to raising awareness and advocating for an end to the systemic violence that disproportionately affects Indigenous women and girls.
In the United States and Canada, murder is the third leading cause of death among indigenous women. These cases often go unreported, uninvestigated, and unresolved, leaving families without answers or justice. The MMIW movement seeks to:
Increase public awareness of the crisis.
Advocate for policy change to protect Indigenous lives.
Demand justice for the missing and murdered.
Support the families of victims.
Model: “Gudguniis,” Rhonda Butler
Photographer: Rob Gile
How to Learn More & Help
We encourage you to delve deeper and learn more about this pressing issue. The links below will help get you started on your journey to discover more information.
Alaska Native Women's Resource Center: Provides current information, answers questions, and provides resources as to what you and your community can do to help or how to become involved in the national movement.
Native Hope: Native Hope exists to address the injustice done to Native Americans. We share Native stories, provide educational resources, and assist Native communities.
Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA): Describes the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people and details the U.S. government's efforts to address the issue.