Bemidji Community Honors Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives at Paul Bunyan Park

Families and advocates gathered at Paul Bunyan Park in Bemidji on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2026, to remember Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives and press for action, an event covered by the Red Lake Nation News. Organizers and attendees used the outdoor ceremony to call attention to unresolved disappearances and to link local grief to statewide advocacy for investigations and prevention.

The gathering in Bemidji came amid a patchwork of MMIR events across Minnesota. The Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s MMIR Office calendar lists a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Day of Action and Remembrance on Feb. 14, 2025, with rallies in Minneapolis, Bemidji and Duluth, and a National MMIR Day on May 5, 2025, with statewide gatherings in Minneapolis and Bemidji. MIWSAC promoted a Minneapolis program at the Minneapolis American Indian Center at 11:00 a.m., followed by a one-mile march through the Phillips neighborhood and soup served at MAIC after the walk, and the group referenced recurring Feb. 14 gatherings over the past decade as well as a 2026 MMIR March.

State and advocacy voices emphasized solidarity as a tool for change. Ana Negrete, identified as community planner for the state’s MMIR Office, said, “In this moment we are showing the world the strength of community solidarity. We stand together, united in the knowledge that every member of our community matters, including those who are missing or those who have been taken from their families,” and, “On this day we honor the names of those whose absence is felt every day, whose names we carry in our hearts. They are not statistics, they are our relatives and their stories will not be forgotten.” MIWSAC Chief Executive Officer Nicole Matthews added, verbatim, “For over a decade, thousands of people have gathered on February 14th to bring awareness to the high rates of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives,” … “This year’s march comes at a very troubling time that has threatened the safety and wellbeing of our communities. It is also a time of incredible resistance and collective action in our city and our state. We must hold onto that collective action and resistance, beyond this moment in time, because all of our relatives deserve to be safe. Our prayers and medicines, our collective actions of solidarity, offer protection at a time when it is needed most. We march to honor the families that have been impacted, to increase visibility of MMIR, and to call on legislators and

Organizers and national groups link the local memorial work to broader campaigns and documented harms. The National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center organized a 2025 National Week of Action for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives from May 5–9, 2025 and documents the 2013 murder of Hanna Harris on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation and the 2017 Senate resolution that declared May 5 a National Day of Awareness. NIWRC frames the crisis as tied to domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, sex trafficking and longstanding harms, and urged supporters to “Join us in saying enough is enough, no more stolen sisters, no more stolen relatives.”

Cultural practices and symbols were prominent in Bemidji and in parallel events. Prairie Rose Seminole wrote on April 4, 2025, that the red dress is “a powerful symbol of remembrance, resilience, and justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR),” and emphasized that “Murder is the third leading cause of death for Indigenous women in the United States.” Other jurisdictions use pipe ceremonies, feasts and round dances to center healing: the City of Edmonton scheduled a Nîcimos Round Dance at the Edmonton Expo Centre on Feb. 13, 2026, with a pipe ceremony at 3:30 p.m., a feast at 5:00 p.m., a round dance at 6:00 p.m., emcees Al Crawford and Ben Cardinal and stickman Farley Cardinal, and open artisan tables.

Bemidji’s Paul Bunyan Park gathering adds a local chapter to a sustained campaign of remembrance and advocacy; state MMIR listings and national organizers continue to schedule training, days of action and remembrance while advocates press for stronger investigations, legislative attention and community-led supports.