Missing and Murdered Indigenous People

The Federal Communications Commission launched a new missing and endangered persons code for its nationwide Emergency Alert System. It will allow law enforcement to send out messages about missing adults to the public through phones, TV and the radio. The code is part of efforts to address the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons crisis throughout the country.

Earlier this year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation launched a data collection project to gather more information about missing and murdered cases involving Native Americans throughout Wyoming. Over a 90-day period, the agency received 35 tips, including four homicide cases and three missing persons cases. They’d all been previously reported to law enforcement and investigated already.

In 2020, Congress passed the Not Invisible Act to help address the Missing and Murdered Persons Crisis. The bill formed a federal commission made up of tribal leaders, federal agencies, families, and survivors, who were tasked with developing recommendations on how best to address the crisis. The Department of the Interior and the Department of Justice responded to these recommendations in early March.

At a press conference in Fort Washakie on February 8, the FBI announced a new initiative to gather more data about Native Americans who’ve gone missing or been murdered in cases that haven’t been closed. The agency is seeking tips from the public to better understand what the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) crisis looks like in the state and what resources the agency can contribute to solving cases.

The movie Killers of the Flower Moon premiered a few weeks ago, highlighting the mass murder of the Osage tribe in Oklahoma during the 1920s. Many Colorado Osages have some mixed reviews.

The federally created Not Invisible Act Commission is calling for a “decade of action and healing” to address the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons. The commission released a 212-page report with recommendations.

Raven Payment, who is Ojibwe and Kanienkehaka, works closely on the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people, who face disproportionately high rates of violence. She sat down with In the NoCo to talk about strides and setbacks since the passage of a state law meant to acknowledge and address the problem.

The federal commission compiling a report about missing and murdered Indigenous peoples is traveling to Indigenous communities to hear their stories. The next stops are Albuquerque, New Mexico and Billings, Montana.

President Joe Biden signed a proclamation marking May 5th, 2023 as Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day. It highlights the injustice and violence that are disproportionately high among Indigenous women and others.

The Colorado Department of Public Safety recently announced that it has hired 30-year law enforcement veteran Arron Julian to head the newly formed Office of Liaison for Missing or Murdered Indigenous Relatives.