Powwow to focus on missing, murdered Native American women

One of the largest annual gatherings of indigenous people in the United States begins Friday in New Mexico, where organizers of the two-day powwow say they want to build awareness around the deaths and disappearances of Native American women.

Melonie Mathews, whose family founded the Gathering of Nations Powwow, said organizers are dedicating the Miss Indian World Pageant to missing and murdered indigenous women. Their plight has become a focus in the past year of state and federal legislation, marches and demonstrations, and a series of stories by The Associated Press .

A national awareness campaign will be promoted on a billboard near the powwow venue in Albuquerque. Several federal lawmakers — including one of the first Native American women elected to Congress, Rep. Deb Haaland of New Mexico — said in a statement Thursday that they are endorsing the campaign.

FILE - In this July 13, 2018, file photo, a woman performs a traditional Native American dance during the North American Indian Days celebration on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Browning, Mont. Friday, April 26, 2019 marks the beginning of a two-day powwow in New Mexico that represents one of the largest annual gatherings of indigenous people in the United States. Organizers say they want to build awareness this year around the deaths and disappearances of Native American women. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman, file)

"We're just recognizing and trying to bring more of a call of action toward the issue itself," Mathews said. "What we would like to do is plant the seeds with (pageant) contestants. We want them to create a dialogue with their communities. Hopefully it will be the beginning to the end of this problem."

On some reservations, federal studies have shown Native American women are killed at more than 10 times the national average.

The pageant was expected to include 18 contestants from tribes in the United States and Canada who will be judged on their public speaking and cultural presentations.

FILE - In this April 27, 2018, file photo, dancers enter at the Gathering of Nations, one of the world's largest gatherings of indigenous people in Albuquerque. Friday, April 26, 2019 marks the beginning of a two-day powwow in New Mexico that represents one of the largest annual gatherings of indigenous people in the United States. Organizers say they want to build awareness this year around the deaths and disappearances of Native American women. (AP Photo Russell Contreras, File)

About 3,000 singers and dancers and 800 artisans are expected to participate in the powwow. It has grown over the past three decades from focusing solely on Native American singing and dancing to a festival-like event featuring a parade, contemporary music and artisans market.

The powwow has a "long-standing history of highlighting issues of importance to Native Americans in North America," a spokeswoman said in a statement. It has previously promoted voter registration, youth issues and opioid abuse prevention between its marquee events, which include the twice-daily grand entry of dancers.

The procession of thousands of dancers features a kaleidoscope of colors as men, women and children wearing traditional clothing and dance regalia spiral into the powwow arena. Most of the dancers compete for prize money.

FILE - In this July 14, 2018, file photo, Kenny Still Smoking touches the tombstone of his 7-year-old daughter, Monica, who disappeared from school in 1979 and was found frozen on a mountain, as he visits her grave on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Browning, Mont. Friday, April 26, 2019 marks the beginning of a two-day powwow in New Mexico that represents one of the largest annual gatherings of indigenous people in the United States. Organizers say they want to build awareness this year around the deaths and disappearances of Native American women. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman, File)

Organizers did not say in an emailed response to questions from the AP whether any proceeds would be shared with nonprofits addressing violence against Native American women. But they said their push for further awareness of missing and murdered indigenous women had the potential to reach 10,000 people expected to attend the powwow.

In addition to encouraging pageant contestants to speak about victims' cases, organizers planned a presentation Saturday on the history of the movement to curtail deaths and disappearances of Native American women.

FILE - In this July 14, 2018, file photo, a makeshift memorial stands near the scene where Charlene Mancha was murdered by her husband last year on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Browning, Mont. Friday, April 26, 2019 marks the beginning of a two-day powwow in New Mexico that represents one of the largest annual gatherings of indigenous people in the United States. Organizers say they want to build awareness this year around the deaths and disappearances of Native American women. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman, File)

FILE - In this July 14, 2018 file photo, Jenna Loring, left, the aunt of Ashley HeavyRunner Loring, cries with her cousin, Lissa Loring, during a traditional blanket dance before the crowd at the North American Indian Days celebration on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Browning, Mont. Friday, April 26, 2019 marks the beginning of a two-day powwow in New Mexico that represents one of the largest annual gatherings of indigenous people in the United States. Organizers say they want to build awareness this year around the deaths and disappearances of Native American women. (AP PhotoDavid Goldman, File)

TOKYO (AP) — The American envoy to the United Nations called Friday for countries armed with atomic weapons to pursue nuclear disarmament as she visited the atomic bomb museum in Nagasaki, Japan.

Linda Thomas-Greenfield, who became the first U.S. cabinet member to visit Nagasaki, stressed the importance of dialogue and diplomacy amid a growing nuclear threat in the region.

“We must continue to work together to create an environment for nuclear disarmament. We must continue to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in every corner of the world,” she said after a tour of the atomic bomb museum.

“For those of us who already have those weapons, we must pursue arms control. We can and must work to ensure that Nagasaki is the last place to ever experience the horror of nuclear weapons,” she added, standing in front of colorful hanging origami cranes, a symbol of peace.

The United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people. A second attack three days later on Nagasaki killed 70,000 more people. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia.

Nagasaki Gov. Kengo Oishi said in a statement that he believed Thomas-Greenfield's visit and her first-person experience at the museum “will be a strong message in promoting momentum of nuclear disarmament for the international society at a time the world faces a severe environment surrounding atomic weapons.”

Oishi said he conveyed to the ambassador the increasingly important role of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in emphasizing the need of nuclear disarmament.

Thomas-Greenfield's visit to Japan comes on the heels of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's official visit to the United States last week and is aimed at deepening Washington's trilateral ties with Tokyo and Seoul. During her visit to South Korea earlier this week, she held talks with South Korean officials, met with defectors from North Korea and visited the demilitarized zone.

The ambassador said the United States is looking into setting up a new mechanism for monitoring North Korea's nuclear weapons program. Russia and China have thwarted U.S.-led efforts to step up U.N. sanctions on North Korea over its ballistic missile testing since 2022, underscoring a deepening divide between permanent Security Council members over Russia’s war on Ukraine.

She said it would be “optimal” to launch the new system next month, though it is uncertain if that is possible.

The U.N. Security Council established a committee to monitor sanctions, and the mandate for its panel of experts to investigate violations had been renewed for 14 years until last month, when Russia vetoed another renewal.

In its most recent report, the panel of experts said it is investigating 58 suspected North Korean cyberattacks between 2017 and 2023 valued at approximately $3 billion, with the money reportedly being used to help fund its weapons development.

The United States, Japan and South Korea have been deepening security ties amid growing tension in the region from North Korea and China.

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, right, speaks to Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, second right, as they wait for a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Rahm Emanuel, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, right, walk to meet Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, talk prior to a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)

U.S. Ambassador to United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, prepare to talk during a meeting Friday, April 19, 2024, at prime minister's office in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)