"Lighting The Way For Those Not Here": How Technology Researchers Can Help Fight the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) Crisis

2026-01-25

AI Summary

This study addresses the systemic crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) in North America, where technology can both exacerbate harm and empower community-led resistance and kinship reconnection. Centering Indigenous communities within Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), this work systematically analyzes 140 web resources—including AMBER alerts, news platforms, and social media campaigns such as #MMIW—to uncover institutional, technological, and cultural barriers impeding effective MMIR responses. It identifies sociotechnical practices that foster healing and safety, and constructs an Indigenous storytelling dataset designed to resist epistemic erasure. The research proposes a culturally grounded framework emphasizing cultural sensitivity, accountability, and Indigenous self-determination, offering concrete pathways for HCI scholars to support Indigenous-led initiatives.

Technology Category

• Humans and AI: Human-Computer Interaction
• Application Domains: Humanities & Computational Social Science
• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Social Cognition And Interaction

Application Category

• Responsible Web: Machine-in-the-loop, human agency and autonomy
• Web Mining and Content Analysis: Web data quality in the era of algorithmically-generated content
• Social Networks and Social Media: Socio-technical web-based systems

Abstract

Indigenous peoples across Turtle Island (North America) face disproportionate rates of disappearance and murder, a"genocide"rooted in settler-colonial violence and systemic erasure. Technology plays a crucial role in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) crisis: perpetuating harm and impeding investigations, yet enabling advocacy and resistance. Communities utilize technologies such as AMBER alerts, news websites, social media groups, and campaigns (like #MMIW, #MMIWR, #NoMoreStolenSisters, and #NoMoreStolenDaughters) to mobilize searches, amplify awareness, and honor missing relatives. Yet, little research in HCI has critically examined technology's role in shaping the MMIR crisis by centering community voices. Through a large-scale study, we analyze 140 webpages to identify systemic, technological, and institutional barriers that hinder communities'efforts, while highlighting socio-technical actions that foster healing and safety. Finally, we amplify Indigenous voices by providing a dataset of stories that resist epistemic erasure, along with recommendations for HCI researchers to support Indigenous-led initiatives with cultural sensitivity, accountability, and self-determination.

Problem

• Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives
• technology
• systemic erasure
• Indigenous communities
• HCI

Innovation

• Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR)
• Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
• Indigenous-led technology
• epistemic erasure
• socio-technical barriers