A red handprint decal on a car window represents a movement where many of the victimized Indigenous women and girls are missing or murdered.
Teresa Ott
Local activists call on Navajo leaders for determination to help victims
15-year-old Native American Letoya Hobson was born on July 4, 2007. Missing since June 21, 2022. According to Captain Kevin Burns, her height is given at her 5 feet 6 inches and 120 pounds. of the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office.
Recently Served Burns Durango Herald When journal List of unincorporated San Juan County residents reported missing between 1989 and 2017. Four of the nine people listed are classified as Native American or Alaska Native.
In 2022, there is one missing or runaway teenager.
According to the National Crime Information Center, more than 5,700 Native American and Alaska Native women and girls were reported missing as of 2016, of which 116 were turned over to the Department of Justice. It was only According to the National Institute of Justice, 84% of Indigenous women have experienced violence in her lifetime, and women in some tribal communities are 10 times more likely to be killed than the national average. is high..
stats from New Mexico Department of Indigenous PeoplesIt validates the perception that Indigenous peoples of the Four Corners go missing more frequently than people of other ethnic backgrounds.
New Mexico strengthens efforts by advocates for victims of abuse in New Mexico to seek help and calls on tribal leaders, the Department of Justice, and law enforcement to increase resources and help victims of abuse. I’m looking for
Rose Yazie speaks to New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (right) after the signing ceremony of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Act at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center in Albuquerque on Feb. 24. Get closer. (For Sharon Chiscile/Source NM)
Former Navajo President Jonathan Nez and New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham have put the issue in the spotlight.
Grisham enacted the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force Act in House Bill 278 in 2019.
Nez on October 28th presidential decree Investigate missing person cases in a way that is more empathetic to victims and families.
Nez and other tribal leaders met with FBI officials and prosecutors in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah for the plan’s signing ceremony. The previously stated goal is to establish a template for the Navajo to share data across local, state, and federal jurisdictions and collaborate on missing or murdered Indigenous cases.
Navajo Nation Shelter: (435) 678-0249.
Shiprock (New Mexico): (505) 368-1157.
TEPCO Asshai (Arizona): (928) 697-3635.
Abused Family (New Mexico): (505) 722-7483.
Family Crisis Center: (New Mexico): (505) 325-3549.
Advocates Etta Aribso and Christine Bennery, who traveled to Washington, D.C. in 2019 to introduce a resolution calling for greater accountability in handling domestic violence and missing persons cases, continue to seek additional resources.
Bennery said the laws used by the Navajo Indian Department 25-CFR“We are not really providing victims with adequate resources, counseling, care and justice,” Bennerley said. Title 17 was fixed, but “it wasn’t good enough,” she said.
Lack of resources is the real problem, according to Benally. “As cases go to federal court and many are dismissed, perpetrators are on the loose,” she asserted.
Factors such as substance abuse and violent behavior that young children see perpetuate and “normalize” generational cycles, she said.
Bennery said the “historical trauma” caused by children being separated from their families and sent to boarding schools was a factor. “They haven’t learned to be parents, to have relationships with their siblings…all of the family dynamics and caring for each other has been removed,” she said.
“Alviso and Gina Lopez of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe of Towaoku, Colorado, Bennerley, agree to meet with newly elected Navajo President Buu Nigren and the Tribal Council regarding the incarceration of Native Americans in federal prisons. I hope
They want to find out if the Navajo Nation has sought or received a portion of the $50 million fund designated for legal assistance for victims awarded by the Department of Justice in August. is planning
People of all ethnic backgrounds are disappearing for various reasons, but indigenous proportions appear disproportionate. Family conflicts can lead to feelings of alienation. Of course, different views about money, possessions, obligations, and even politics may trigger a desire to separate from others.
Sometimes people disappear due to trauma or health problems. But the specter of nightmarish violence is always looming. And when young people go missing, alarm bells ring relentlessly in the ears of loved ones.
Problems start with the family, but something has to be done to help them, Bennery said.
Arviso said a 110-point resolution was presented to delegates on the branch council but was ignored. She said she had been working for victims’ rights since she was “devastated” in 1999. “It took me about five months to get back on my feet,” she said. “I worked two jobs and became a fighter.”
From this experience, she learned that the Navajo government needed to change. She finds that domestic violence laws don’t exist, and she believes her marriage at age 14 was child abuse.
Her mission was to help women involved in domestic violence. She handed out Victim Advocacy Program flyers, hoping that those in distress would respond and find help.
“You are not completely cured,” she said.
Jurisdictional issues of who has formal authority to make legal decisions and judgments are an obstacle to prosecution. These problems arise when indigenous peoples become victims or go missing in the “Indian Country”.
“Broadly speaking, Indian Country is all land under federal supervision and set aside primarily for Indian use.” native american management website status. “This includes all land on Indian reservations and all land outside reservations that is under federal supervision and designated primarily for Indian use.”
As a general rule, state law does not apply in Indian Country.
In July, the FBI office in Albuquerque List of Missing Indigenous Peoples We surveyed New Mexico and Navajo people as part of a larger project to trace missing Navajo people. The October 11 list included 192 of his names.
FBI spokesman Frank Fisher said the origin of the project was N.ew Mexico Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force.
“We have put an end to many families who are worried about their loved ones,” he said. “We’ve also added missing persons to the list, which means law enforcement agencies across the country are looking for them.”
The U.S. Department of Justice recently 2022 Adjusted Tribal Support Requests period. Funds under this initiative, known as CTAS, are available to support Native American and Alaskan Native communities in crime prevention, victim services, and community-coordinated responses to violence against Native women. to support
native hopeis based in Chamberlain, South Dakota and works to reduce the disproportionate proportion of Indigenous women and children who are victims of human trafficking. In February, it funded three years of expert work created by the South Dakota Attorney General’s Office to help with the “communication and coordination gap” that exists between Tribal Police and various agencies and jurisdictions. announced that it will provide
