Osage Director talks about missing and murdered Native women on movie panel

Area Advocates and Activists Shared Their Knowledge About Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women at Special Showing of First Feature Length Movie about the Epidemic

By ON Communications

Tulsa, Okla., (Wednesday, June 6, 2018)—Olivia Gray (Osage), director of the Osage Nation Family Violence Prevention Department sat on a panel for a screening of Wind River during the Native Spotlight film series at Circle Cinema in Tulsa on Thursday, May 31. The film series is designed to showcase the diverse variety of the Native American and Indigenous experience through film.

Gray was invited as a panelist by Matriarch, a Tulsa-based organization which promotes the social welfare of Native women through education, community building, and direct services to create positive change within our communities. She discussed the epidemic of violence against Native women and her efforts to create awareness and education on the Osage Nation Reservation and across the U.S. for national efforts.

“The Office of Violence Against Women recently released new statistics regarding violence against Native women which shows that the problem is bigger than previously thought,” said Gray. “Now we are hearing that if you are a Native woman you have an 84% chance of being physically abused in your lifetime and a 56% chance of being sexually assaulted.”

Gray has served as the director of the Osage Nation Family Violence Prevention Department for almost two years and has nearly twenty years of experience working in Indian Country in the areas of project management, program development, policy development, government reform, and economic development.

“With our women it is not a matter of ‘if’ but rather a matter of ‘when’ and ‘how many times.’ Bringing awareness through events like this panel discussion and screening may help to keep some of our women safe by giving them information to help themselves or others,” said Gray about the realities of working in her field on a Native American reservation and the importance of awareness events.

Osage Nation Family Violence Prevention Mission
To empower those seeking our services with the tools they need to rebuild their lives and become the strong individuals they were created to be; to effect social change through outreach and education in order to put an end to intergenerational violence; and to partner with state, county, and tribal court systems and law enforcement to hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes.

Office: 918-287-5422
24 Hour Crisis Line(866) 897-4747

The Crisis line is answered 24 hours a day/7 days a week. Please be advised that for security reasons, the number appearing on your caller I.D. will be different than the crisis line number dialed.


For Media Inquiries: Osage Nation Communications 918-287-5599communications@osagenation-nsn.gov