About Us
WHO WE ARE
The Missing, Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit (MMWIG2S) Alaska Working Group is an Indigenous-led working group supported by these statewide partner organizations: Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center, Alaska Native Justice Center, Alaska Native Heritage Center, Data for Indigenous Justice, and Native Movement. Working group founders began meeting in 2018 and continue to meet weekly to share communications, strategy, actions, and community building to address the MMIWG2S crisis in our state.
WHAT WE DO
The MMIWG2S Alaska Working Group works collaboratively to share initiatives that impact this area of work, create strategies for change, and host healing-centered community events. We leverage our collective resources and skills to analyze local, state, and federal policies. We present a unified voice on MMIWG2S advocacy in Alaska. We use a policy subcommittee, community organizers, cultural education, research, data, and communications across our organizations to support our work.
WHY WE DO IT
This work is our heartwork. As an Indigenous-led group creating the change we want to see, we are rooted in our shared values and commitment to the safety and well-being of our people. We are driven to push for action to address the MMIWG2S crisis in this state in order to protect affected families and communities from being silenced. We do this work to spread awareness and uplift the voices of families, advocates, and Indigenous nations.
MMIWG2S Alaska Working Group’s Info:
Successful MMIP & Working Group Actions
In 2022 and 2023 the State of Alaska budget included funding for MMIP Investigators at the Department of Public Safety. We currently have four MMIP Investigators dedicated to investigating and bringing cases forward for prosecution. The MMIWG2S Alaska Working Group made it a priority to advocate and educate lawmakers why the need for specific MMIP Investigators at the Department of Public Safety based on high MMIP cases reported in Alaska and based on the numerous stories families have been sharing with us regarding experiences with MMIP in their communities and families. We must have a focused effort on MMIP to review the many outstanding cases to bring closure to families and justice for those we have lost, to have officers paying special attention to the MMIP crisis and actively pursuing new and older cases.
Advocating for MMIP Investigators
Savanna’s Act became law on October 10, 2020. The bill is named after Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a member of the Spirit Lake Nation of North Dakota, who was murdered while she was eight months pregnant in August 2017. She was 22 years old.
The Act aims to improve data collection of missing or murdered Native Americans, clarify the responsibilities of Tribal, federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies responding to cases of missing or murdered Native Americans, and empower Tribal governments with resources and information necessary to effectively respond to such cases. The Act also directs the Department of Justice (DOJ) to review, revise, and develop law enforcement and justice protocols to address missing and murdered Native Americans.
For more information check out NIWRC’s Fact Sheet.
Savanna' Act
Pushing for Continued Outreach and Education
on Enhancing Public Safety Across Alaska
This includes meetings with our tribes and tribal citizens, quarterly and as-needed meetings with Commissioner Cockrell of Public Safety and Commission Kovol of Dept of Family and Community Services and their respective tribal liaisons, meeting with BIA/DOJ and other federal entities, meeting and discussing needs with state policymakers, and more.
On Oct. 10, 2020, the Not Invisible Act of 2019 was signed into law as the first bill in history to be introduced and passed by four U.S. congressional members enrolled in their respective federally recognized Tribes, led by Secretary Deb Haaland during her time in Congress.
The Commission’s purpose is to develop recommendations through the work of six subcommittees focused on improving intergovernmental coordination and establishing best practices for state, Tribal, and federal law enforcement to bolster resources for survivors and victims’ families, and combatting the epidemic of missing persons, murder and trafficking of American Indian and Alaska Native peoples, as specified under the law.
NIA Commission Final Report.
Not Invisible Act (NIA) Commission
In 2023, the State of Alaska Budget included an MMIP Assistant Attorney General position which was created to partner with the MMIP Investigators to help move prosecutions forward related to MMIP cases. This is another important step in bringing justice to communities, individuals, and families.
State MMIP Council