SOUTH DAKOTA -- Indigenous women are murdered at a rate ten times higher than the national average, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Nebraska specifically ranks at number six on the list of states with the most missing and murdered indigenous women, according to the Red Ribbon Skirt Society. 

Though based out of South Dakota, nonprofit "Red Ribbon Skirt Society" is now spreading awareness about missing and murdered indigenous women (MMIW) in Nebraska. 

Founded in 2016 by Lakota women, the group recently talked with students at Chadron State College to raise awareness about the epidemic of Native American women who are missing.

Leader Lily Mendoza of South Dakota said she's hoping to make more connections with Nebraska tribes and law enforcement to prevent and find MMIW. Mendoza said to prevent it, Nebraska will need to start to prioritize funding and finding MMIW.

She lists other challenges to the epidemic: jurisdiction; a lack of data; lack of resources; and the fact that South Dakota's Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg just shot down a request to fund MMIW research. 

It's why, she said, these connections with Nebraska law enforcement and families are so crucial, and could in turn lead to the possibility of some of the women being found one day.

And why is it such a problem?

“They don’t see us indigenous women, they don’t place a value on us at all,” Mendoza said. A lack of resources and support makes indigenous women easy targets. 

You can learn more at their healing center, where more than 80 dresses tell the stories of just some of the MMIW of South Dakota. 

"My dream," Mendoza said, "is that one day, a woman will walk into the healing center and say that's my dress [...] I've been found."