Boozhoo/Aaniin/Shekoli/Hello Relatives,

My name is Mak and I have been operating the website Justice for Native People (aka Justice for Native Women) since November of 2015. I am bear clan, 5th degree descendent of Chief Osaugie of Lake Superior, and enrolled Oneida Nation of Wisconsin.

I have dedicated thousands of hours of volunteer research, case consult, and technical assistance to different private, investigative, research, and governmental entities over the last 10 years. The Relative List, JFNP's MMIR database, has been used to write research papers through Boston College, taskforce recommendations for the states of Minnesota and Arizona, and numerous instances of awareness. Dozens of loved ones have reached out to express gratitude for keeping their relative's story and names in people's thoughts.

Though I have always argued the value of open-source and unbiased information regarding our Missing and Murdered Relatives, I have never felt more resolved about this matter than when the United States faced an administration change in January 2025. That change has been systematically altering, deleting, and limiting how missing people are listed on websites that are partially operated with federal funds. NamUs and NCMEC are no longer allowed to list 2spirit/transgender individuals as the gender they live and has demanded these sites remove any mention of these identities. For a period of time some entries were removed and inaccessible while these changes were applied.

The new administration has also been targeting Indigenous contributions to American History, at one point taking down a veterans page about Navajo Code Talkers and removing information related to Indian Boarding Schools and MMIR. Even without these changes, "official" lists many times only include cases that have been coded through the justice system. That means anything labeled as "manslaughter", accidental, or that has a disputed finding is not going to be captured in these numbers. They will also not include incidents of police violence and child and family services failures, both of which Native communities experience at a much higher rate than average.

My ask of you is the funds needed to apply for a 501c3 for Justice for Native People. My ultimate goal once achieving the 501c3 will be to drive funds for:

1. Improved/updated website with more information regarding resources for families and loved ones

2. Freedom of Information requests

3. Promotion

4. Focused time to submit comparisons to law enforcement of missing to unidentified persons

5. Subscriptions to online newspaper archives and journalism

Most importantly, my goal is to keep the website growing and living in a way respectful to the traditions of the relatives profiled there, without the influence of anyone else. Justice for Native People will never be subject to any presidential administration's whims. Your help today will help support independent research!

But to get to the point where I can even begin to achieve those dreams, I first need to get 501c3 status so that Justice for Native People is recognized as a nonprofit organization.

I am thankful to all who have supported my work in small and large ways over the years. I am also thankful to you, also, for just considering supporting Justice for Native People in this way.

Miigwech Bizindawiiyeg,

Mak