The Justice Department joined its partners across the federal government, as well as people throughout American Indian and Alaska Native communities, in recognizing May 5 as National Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Awareness Day. In recognition of MMIP Awareness Day, Attorney General Merrick Garland highlighted efforts to tackle the MMIP and human trafficking crises in American Indian and Alaska Native communities, and other pressing public safety challenges, like the fentanyl crisis, in Tribal communities, the Department of Justice says. “There is still so much more to do in the face of persistently high levels of violence that Tribal communities have endured for generations, and that women and girls, particularly, have endured,” Garland said. “In carrying out our work, we seek to honor those who are still missing, those who were stolen from their communities, and their loved ones who are left with unimaginable pain. Tribal communities deserve safety, and they deserve justice. This day challenges all of us at the Justice Department to double down on our efforts, and to be true partners with Tribal communities as we seek to end this crisis.”
Among Native American communities, people go missing and experience violence at disproportionately high rates. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland – the first Native cabinet secretary – has been working to implement the Not Invisible Act, which she helped pass as a Congresswoman in 2019. A commission traveled round the country hearing testimony from survivors, advocates, law enforcement and tribal leaders. It released a list of recommendations last November, and now DOJ and Interior have responded, News From The States reports. Darlene Gomez is an attorney who represents families of missing and murdered Indigenous people. She welcomed the commission’s report. “I think this report really took in everything that’s going on in Indian country, from the federal level, to the state level, and to victims and how it impacts almost all of the communities,” she said. She agrees with its conclusions that agencies meant to help victims and survivors of violence and trafficking should work more closely together.