Our Healing Journey to Educate & Inform Policy Makers on MMIP, Public Safety, and Tribal Justice at the 2024 Legislative Session
by the MMIWG2S Alaska Working Group
February 20, 2024
Alaskan Native people have a right to be free from violence, in our own homes and our communities.
The Alaska Missing and Murdered Indigenous Womxn, Girls, and Two-Spirit (MMIWG2S) Working Group traveled to Dzantik'i Héeni (Juneau), Alaska February 5-7, 2024 during the legislative session to educate and inform policymakers on the current status of the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples (MMIP) in Alaska. The MMIWG2S Alaska Working Group consists of the following organizations that partner to work toward ending the MMIP crisis in Alaska:
As a group, we educated legislators and advocated for support to ensure funding for rural MMIP, public safety, tribal justice, and better data on MMIP.
The visit to the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau was very successful and healing. The MMIWG2S Alaska Working Group connected with over 90% of all state legislators from across Alaska to discuss the MMIP crisis within our state and nation. Lunch & Learns were offered to provide more education to the public and our policy makers, here is the link to view the video recordings.
We understand it takes everyone working together to make a change. There are clear needs for investigators to solve cases, local law enforcement in communities to keep people safe, mental health services, healing from trauma, connection to culture, and living our ways of life. Every community deserves to have law enforcement and other individuals/agencies to support public safety presence in our communities. This can look like tribal police, VPSOs, troopers, or local PDs. Every person has a right to be free from violence and be safe in their community.
We have talked and advocated over the years about the need for upgrades to infrastructure to ensure all Alaskans have access to a fully functional 911 system and a response from public safety promptly. We deserve a strong public safety system no matter where we live in Alaska and victims need a response and a safe place to go. Our tribal justice system must be strong and supported, with each tribe having sovereignty over its justice system. Tribal sovereignty must be understood and respected. There are many opportunities for organizations, legislators, and law enforcement to partner with tribes. Our data is insufficient, we need to understand the depth of our issues and how many people it's affecting to be able to come up with solutions. We need to work together to ensure accurate data collection, as well as encourage collaboration on the organization of data.
There was a clear need to educate and/or update policymakers on the severity of this crisis. We need the support of the legislation, to secure funding for rural public safety and to work to understand the sovereign status of tribes and their tribal justice systems.
These are basic human rights and we need legislators to support and work with us to address MMIP, build stronger public safety, and partner with tribes on tribal justice & sovereignty. Please support these bills:
SB 151: Missing & Murdered Indigenous People by Sen. Olson.
HB 234: Missing & Murdered Indigenous People (Companion bill to SB151) by Rep. McCormick. (includes mandatory cultural training for law enforcement by an Alaska native organization, tribe, or contractors.)
HB 235: Mandatory reporting to The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NAMUS), a Federal missing persons database by Rep.McCormick.
As policies are currently being discussed and budgets are being made, this is a call to strengthen partnerships to ensure that Alaska’s missing and murdered Indigenous peoples are not forgotten. We need stronger policies and for everyone to understand the current reality of MMIP to address this crisis. We can all work together to secure basic human rights for all Alaskans. Together, we can create solutions to ensure a safer Alaska for all.
