Feds Strengthen Efforts to Stem MMIP Crisis

The Justice Department is ramping up its efforts to combat the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP), a crisis that has plagued American Indian and Alaska Native communities for generations. As part of its efforts, the department has joined forces with its federal partners, as well as people throughout American Indian and Alaska Native communities, in recognizing May 5 as National MMIP Awareness Day.

According to Attorney General Merrick B. Garland, the crisis of MMIP is a pressing public safety challenge that demands attention and action. "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."

The Justice Department has been working to address the MMIP crisis through various initiatives, including the creation of the Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Regional Outreach Program. This program permanently places 10 attorneys and coordinators in five designated regions across the United States to aid in the prevention and response to missing or murdered Indigenous people.

In the Northwest Region, Cedar Wilkie Gillette will serve as the MMIP coordinator working out of the District of Oregon. Wilkie Gillette is expanding her work from Oregon to the Northwest region, where she will gather reliable data to identify MMIP cases connected to Northwest tribes; conduct outreach with tribal communities to assist in the creation and implementation of community action plans; coordinate with tribal, local, state, and federal law enforcement in the development of protocols and procedures for responding to and addressing MMIP cases; and promote improved data collection and analyses throughout the Northwest.

Assistant United States Attorney Bree R. Black Horse was sworn in as the MMIP AUSA to lead regional efforts in addressing MMIP in Western Washington. Black Horse will work out of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Yakima, where she will focus on building partnerships with tribal communities and law enforcement agencies to address the MMIP crisis.

The Justice Department’s efforts to combat the MMIP crisis are part of a broader strategy to address violent crime and the fentanyl crisis in Indian Country. As U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman noted, "At every visit we hear how fentanyl is impacting tribal communities and the need to prosecute outsiders dealing drugs that put tribal members at risk." The department is working to stop the flow of fentanyl and build law enforcement relationships that are critical in responding to MMIP cases.