There’s a crisis of missing, murdered Indigenous women. Here’s what Washington plans
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s office will lead a coordinated task force to assess systemic causes behind the high rates of disappearance and murders of Indigenous women in Washington, according to Wednesday news release.
The 21-member task force was announced in recognition of the national Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day on May 5. The task force will include tribes, tribal organizations and local, state and federal policy makers, the release states.
“For too long, tribal communities have suffered violence against Indigenous women. This task force is an important step toward achieving justice for victims and families, and bringing these women home,” Ferguson said in a prepared statement.
Whatcom County currently has two missing Indigenous people, according to a list of active cases as of May 3 released by the Washington State Patrol. One is 15-year-old Alysia M. Villanueva, who was last contacted on April 6 of this year. The other is 17-year-old Collin M. Morris, who was last contacted on April 25, according to the state patrol. Both cases are out of the Lummi Nation, the list shows.
However, in a report to the state Legislature in 2019, Whatcom County had five missing Native American people, the third-highest in the state at the time.
The Bellingham Herald has reached out to the Lummi Nation and Nooksack Indian Tribe for comment.
“I am honored to join my sisters to fight the crisis of MMIW. We have a powerful unified voice to work with local, state, federal and tribal governments to build policy, laws and programs that are fully funded and supported by all,” Rep. Debra Lekanoff, D-Bow, said in a prepared statement. “We have heard messages from across this great nation stating that we must develop better processes for data collection and management and integrate cultural teachings to better work with and collaborate with survivors, families, tribal nations and all levels of law enforcement. Because even one girl missing is too many, and we must all heal together.”
The task force will assess current data collection and reporting practices related to missing and murdered Indigenous women, review prosecution trends and identify resources to support victim services, according to the news release. It will also make recommendations for increased training for best practices when working with tribes and tribal communities, the release states.
The task force will report its findings in two reports to the Governor and Legislature in August 2022 and June 2023, the release states. The Legislature selected the Attorney General’s office to lead the task force, which builds on legislation passed in 2018 and 2019 to improve data collection related to the missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis. That legislation also included the hiring of two missing and murdered Indigenous women liaisons in the Washington State Patrol, the release states.
Ferguson started gathering federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement in October 2019 to discuss how to address the human rights crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
“This work is urgent. Washingtonians are not truly aware of the number of Indigenous women who are missing and murdered. We need answers, we need good data and we need thorough investigations that can point the way toward solutions to prevent these crimes,” Sen. Manka Dhingra, D-Redmond, said in a prepared statement. “It’s important that the state put in place systems to track these cases to bring justice and to help families and communities heal. That’s what the Attorney General’s Office is empowered to do. This is a crucial step to make our society more responsive to the needs of victims and families.”
Washington state is home to 29 federally recognized tribes.
