As far back as the arrival of the first Europeans to North America, Native women have been the target of violence, disappearance, and murder. In fact, an astonishing four out of five Native women experience violence at some point in their lives, and there have been well over 5,000 Native women and children who have gone missing. The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Movement was created to combat this crisis. Twenty year-old Rosalie Fish, who grew up on the Muckleshoot Reservation in Washington, experienced bullying and abuse due to her heritage when she attended public school; at the age of 14, she attempted to take her own life. As she recovered on the reservation, she discovered running as a way to cope, and transferred from the public school to the tribal school. There, she ran competitively and became one of the top runners in the state. In 2019, she entered the Washington State High School Track Championships as a favourite to win several races, and made a bold decision in an effort to ignite change. She painted a red handprint over her face to represent indigenous women who had been silenced, and dedicated each of her four races to a different missing or murdered indigenous woman. She ended up standing on top of the podium for all three of her races, forcing everyone in attendance to take notice of her activism. Since that event she has continued to raise awareness in each race she runs and plans to continue to raise awareness while running at the University of Washington. After once feeling ashamed of her heritage, she now has become a face for her people in the fight for native women to be seen and respected. This feature aired in We Need To Talk on CBS Sports Network during Native American Heritage Month.

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