Other women are making and wearing dresses to advance the cause as well.

She’s been aware of the problem since grade school. In her own family, Growing Thunder says she has lost two aunts to homicide. A great aunt on her father’s side was murdered while hitchhiking, she said, and an aunt on her mother’s side was killed by a husband.

“My sister, Genevieve, is named after her,” Growing Thunder said.

Save Our Sisters

Growing Thunder posts photographs of many of the dresses on a Facebook page called Save Our Sisters: #MMIW Awareness.

Her classmates have said little about the often-colorful dresses she wears each day, along with intricately beaded moccasins and leggings she has also made, and jewelry she has hand-crafted, Growing Thunder said.

“I really don’t think my peers really care,” she said. “The reaction has been pretty neutral – not positive or negative.”

She declined to talk about an exchange others reported on social media, saying, “I feel if I speak about it, it will take away from what I’m trying to do.”