Tribes from All Parts of the State to Participate in MMIP Day of Action
[Image from the Yurok tribe]
At 10am on Tuesday, February 7, the Yurok Tribe and Tribes from across the state will gather for the first-ever MMIP Day of Action at the California State Capitol to advocate for tribally proposed solutions that address the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous people. The solutions include two important pieces of legislation and a regional funding request for Northern, Central and Southern California tribes, which have long been excluded from many state and federal programs.
“California tribes have united to combat the MMIP crisis, which has weighed heavy on the hearts of every Native person in the state for far too long. The time for action is now,” said Joseph L. James, the Chairman of the Yurok Tribe. “We are asking the state legislature to support a series of solutions that will help us prevent MMIP cases and keep our children safe.”
“The devastating issue of MMIP has caused untold tragedy that often becomes long lingering ripples of grief and further tragedy. We can reduce the number of cases through greater collaboration by law enforcement, tribal communities, mental health and other service providers to ensure that victims and their loved ones receive the support and attention they need to overcome these acts of violence. This issue remains a priority for me and others in the Native American Legislative Caucus; we want California at the forefront in confronting this issue,” added Assemblymember James C. Ramos.
Hundreds of tribal leaders, Native American advocates, affected families and tribal community members will be attending the first MMIP Day of Action in state history. The MMIP Day of Action will begin with light refreshments at 10am and a news briefing at 10:30am. Speakers include: California Assemblymember James C. Ramos, Yurok Chairman Joseph James, Assemblymember Robert Rivas, Wilton Rancheria Chairman Jesus Tarango, Jamul Indian Village Chairwoman Erica Pinto, Paskenta Band of the Nomlaki Indians Chairman Andrew Alejandre, Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians Chairwoman Janet Bill, Senator Scott Wilk, Assemblymember Marie Waldron, Assemblymember Eloise Reyes, Director of the California DOJ’s Office of Native American Affairs Merri Lopez-Kiefer, MMIP Survivor Joanna Saubel, Marlena Alva, MMIP family member, Foster youth Olivia Shortbull, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians Youth Raven Casas, and Indigenous Justice Executive Director and MMIP Advocate Morning Star Gali. The news briefing will be followed by an MMIP walk, cultural demonstrations and community engagement activities.
Most, if not all California tribes are contending with MMIP crises. Tribal leaders across the state are calling for an historic investment of $200 million to build programs and services that prevent girls, women and people from becoming missing or murdered and meet pressing needs in tribal communities. The proposal will bolster tribally led response plans, law enforcement and public health programs in Northern, Central and Southern California. It also calls for legislation to change broken laws and policies.
Building on the recent passage of the Feather Alert and Department of Justice Law Enforcement Assistance bills, the first piece of legislation is AB 44 (Tribal Public Safety). Introduced by California Assembly Member James C. Ramos, the bill seeks to grant tribal police state peace officer status. The bill will give qualified tribal police officers parity with state law enforcement as well as the ability to enforce all state laws and file cases in state courts. It will also provide tribal law enforcement and tribal courts access to the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications System (CLETS). The computer network contains FBI and DMV-administered databases, criminal histories and many other essential records. The bill will benefit all California residents by increasing the number of highly trained peace officers available to protect and serve communities.
The second bill, also introduced by Assembly Member Ramos, AB 273 (Protecting and Locating Foster Children Missing from Care) will require counties and courts to notify Tribes, key family members and attorneys when a child is missing from foster care. It will also require a judicial hearing when a child or non-minor dependent in foster care is missing, to ensure the child is located and returned to a safe and appropriate environment. Native children in the foster care system are disproportionately more at risk of becoming MMIP victims.
“The Yurok Tribe strongly encourages the state legislature to pass both bills,” said Chairman James
In the US, California ranks in the top 10 in terms of the quantity of MMIP cases that occur in the state on an annual basis. The Golden State also has 110 federally recognized tribes and the largest Native American population of any state in the country.
“Within rural tribal and inner-city communities, there is a dire need across the state to invest in women, girls and gender non-binary/non-confirming peoples potential, advance their rights, and address the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous peoples (MMIP). We are committed to working for structural change and transformation of the dominant narratives in which our stories are told, narratives that blame and further marginalize system impacted Indigenous peoples,” said Indigenous Justice Executive Director Morning Star Gali.
In October of 2022, the Yurok Tribe hosted the 1st Annual Statewide Tribal Summit on MMIP. The summit served as a catalyst to unite California’s tribal leaders, justice systems, MMIP survivors and Native American advocates around MMIP. Within days of the watershed event, tribal leaders started meeting on a monthly basis to develop and implement coordinated action plans to confront facets of the MMIP crisis. The funding proposal and MMIP Day of Action are an extension of this work.
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But they are erasing women and children with language. It is women and children that are being murdered and missing. To anonymize the language is also disappearing women and children. I see the pictures show a woman with a sign that clearly says what the issue is and then the article erases them with the unisex “people”.
I guess “people” (ie the males) want the money going to help women and children who are being missing and murdered. This is violence against women and children.
I agree.
They threw that language in there like a sales pitch to placate contemporary colonizer ideology.
Yes, exactly it is colonizing language. Womanhood colonized, missing, and murdered.
What a weird, irrational comment.
what a rude comment.
Some might consider it rude to hijack a forum discussing missing and murderd people with a blinkered and sexist diatribe against inclusive language.
Missing and murdered women and children. You just don’t think they are worth naming at all. I think it is important to say who is going missing and murdered and why so the money goes to the right place for helping the women and children going missing and murdered.
People. This is about people. It’s what the P in MMIP stands for. (Persons, I know. Semantics.)
According to the National Institute for Justice, 84% of Native American women and 82% of Native American men have experienced violence at some point in their life.
Missing and murdered women and children. Name them.
The tribes want $200 million to stop tribal men from murdering tribal women. It us up to the tribes to fix tribal culture.
Maybe the native people can start teaching their children to honor and cherish their women? Its a very legitimate issue clearly. But how is it. The solution always requires huge amounts of taxpayer money? Then the money goes thru a bunch of administrative groups and they huff and puff but nothing changes? I recently saw a commercial. Pandering to save the polar bears. ( for just 19.99 a month) I guess they are going to buy them air conditioners to keep on the melting icebergs ? We are getting played. Teach you kids well. They wont all be violent killers
Nice huff n puff n huff huff huff there, implying if native mothers aren’t teaching their children well then all native children will be violent killers.
I said native people which would include both mothers( female) and fathers ( male) Raising children in a healthy environment is the best hope of raising healthy people. I did not lay that all on mothers. Fathers have a different but equally vital part in raising children. Hint. Thats why God determined that it requires a male and a female to procreate.
WHATever. Point is, as you know (you wrote it) is the violent killer BS ya stuck in there. Now, let’s give a nod to the relative extermination coast-to-coast of native peoples by non-native violent killers. Or did ya forget that part, too RW snowflake to see the irony of yer words.
. Im proud to report i havent killed or harmed a single native. Nor have i owned any slaves. Ive never stolen an inch of land. In fact i made payments for 30 years for mine. Its not in my power to change the past. But i do know. The separating of people. Is what allows racism to continue. I dont differentiate when i meet a person. Behavior determines my opinion of ppl There are patterns among cultures. That can be observed once you stop wimpering and take an honest look. Thats when hope for change starts otherwise we are all stuck in the mud of the past
Are the patterns in cultures you observe the ones where too many white folks deny that the past has anything to do with the present?
How do you think your kids would be affected if someone came and chased them off their land, decimated the folks who looked like them and shared the same culture, if someone put them into religious schools that didn’t fit their spiritual beliefs, forbade them from speaking English, and stripped their wealth from them? Do you think they might be affected? Do you think that ignoring that would be fair? Don’t you think that while you hope your kids would rise above that that they might struggle to do so?
Yes even the patterns among the dreaded white man. I did not say history was fair or right. The point i believe gets missed is we cannot change the past. I for one am not trying to tear down statues as some are…. If we apply some degree of critical thought we can learn from history. People of any race, color,sex,shoe size, bla bla bla.(other than sex all that is divisive too) Working together can do incredible things. But divided and squabbling we are crap . moving forward is the hope of improvement Putting away all the dwelling on what happened 200 years ago The reality is the native tribes on this continent were raiding, killing, raping ,robbing and enslaving one another prior to the spaniards and europeans arrival. Slavery and genocide were not invented in 1640 In fact america was fairy quick to abolish formal slavery. And it still exists globally this day. In china workers live in the factory. If you are convinced what ppl did 200 years or 100 years ago. Please donate your possessions to a tribe of your choice. My kids didnt have land until after i made payments for 30 years and still dont if the taxes arent paid. I dont get any government grants or aid. And i am raising mixed race step children who had baggage from their pos father. What i do kno becus i live it daily is this no matter your race color sex shoe size bla bla bla. Starting with 0. If you focus and make good choices. Dont allow the past to hold you back you can build a good life in america. And yes its a struggle
We can’t change the past but we can change the future. One of the ways to do that is to address inequalities.
If in the first half of the game, people of color were forced to start with 1/2 the game money of everyone else, is it really fair to say well, the first half of the game was unfair but, you’ll be given an equal amount from now on without addressing that they didn’t start with the same amount?
Yes, each individual has to overcome whatever challenges and unfairnesses they were born with and those that were handed to them along the way without spending all their time being angry about the inequality.
But that said, those of us born ahead in the race, should recognize that we were lucky and work to provide a more solid platform for everyone.
I was not born ahead of anything my father was killed when i was 5 my mother married a part native violent lunatic i left home at 16 with my clothes only i fought my ass off for a semi decent life. As i mentioned if you feel guilty for being white give up your belongings nobody will fault you for that im tired of being taxed for administrative fees that solve 0 problems. If we give billions it wont solve the issues. The casinos dont help do they ? You cant buy some solutions any more than you can make laws to solve them. I have mulitiple native friends and we have discussed these things. ( sometimes heatedly) Hence the patterns. We are stuck missing the forest becus we are all focused on the tree at the end of the day people suffer and die now. We cant stay stuck on the past for the sake of these ppl. The ones that died 100 years ago arent that concerned. I spent some weeks in willow creek this year. Fighting fire on tribal land shoulder to shoulder with native men Im not an armchair commenter some that are able to put that thread-bear victim mentality down are great ppl to be around and seem to be doing quite well
First, I am sorry for what you went through. That sounds terrible. And good for you for finding a way forward to making life better not only for yourself but for your family. I’m in no way dismissing what you went through.
In a perfect world, we’d be able to lay everyone’s struggles end to end and decide individually who needs a helping hand. But we can’t. However, we can pretty easily see what cultures have relatively recently had a rougher time than others. And we can help achieve some sort of rough justice as a whole. But even more than justice in my opinion, it’s about seeing how we can make the world better for everyone. If we can help folks be healthier/safer, they can in turn be less likely to claw someone else down in their efforts not to be on the bottom. According to what I’ve heard, a drowning person will often try and climb on anything nearby including a fellow swimmer to try and get air. If they have a life saver to assist them, they don’t feel the panic that makes them pull someone else down.
Fishy.
Biology requires a male and a female to create children. I don’t think a violent, controlling, and dominating man is a good example of a father or a partner in life no matter what your religious beliefs.
I didnt say all. And im not the one asking for millions of dollars to solve problems that start in the home. It dsnt matter what you say. Some liberal will be offended. Too bad all that energy spent being offended wasnt spent teaching all of our children better morals and values There may be fewer cases of abuse , assault etc. in the population in future years
Meh. You implied plenty, and know it. If your forefathers ‘n mothers were on the receiving end of relative genocide for hundreds of years then shunned as citizens, of their own continent then “country” until fairly recently, you might think differently. Too bad nobody clued in sooner, back then, to the fact that their high Christian Morals and gold-digger manifest destiny BS was creating a train wreck for First Nations all over this country, folks today still denying it then whining about a few of the USA’s dollars going to assist.
I didnt say you cant donate? But throwing money at these wounds is not the answer Casinos dont seem to be helping much.
Mothers have tried to raise nice boys since the dawn of time. Maybe the fathers need to be less of a bad example.
Yes indeed a family of a mother and father preferably not stoned and drunk out of their minds. Supporting each other and remaining committed is the way be are best able to raise healthy. Well adjusted young people prepared to live productive and happy lives.
I don’t care about weed usage. I care about the violence in the home. If the father can be a good example of a man who is “not like that” then who gives a fart if he smokes weed. It is the men who teach their sons that men have a right, as men, to beat and abuse women when women displease them.
This. Is. Not. About. Gender.
This is about violence. You do realize that women are actually more likely than men to be the agressors in situations of domestic violence? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1854883/
But, again, this is not about gender. We need to work together a a communty to solve our problems. Singling out and blaming one particular group is not helpful.
No it is not about gEnDeR.
It is about men’s violence against women and children. Family annihilators, pimps, violent angry men, and rapists.
I dont advocate for any race to beat their wives/ family. Yes men teach sons how to be men. Or fail to teach them that. I kno nobody wants to hear Gods opinion. But the bible says men are to cherish their wives and sacrifice for them and women are to honor their husbands. The key to that working is the husband has to first love his wife and walk in a way worthy of her honor. Then she can feel safe honoring and following him. Its a 2 way street . a man is to provide and protect his family. You cant do that if you are drunk or high laying around on the sofa. The good news is if any race of husband and wife follow those instructions theres no percieved need to beat , abuse , kidnap and or murder your wife or husband ill call that a win win
Yeah. I don’t think women should “follow” men. I also don’t believe in your imaginary friend “Jesus”.
Your comment made me wonder what the data shows. With just a quick check on Wikipedia: “One in three Indigenous women is sexually assaulted during her life, and 67% of these assaults are perpetrated by non-Native perpetrators.” The article lists a lot of citations to studies, crime data, etc., that you can take a look at.
Thank you. If you don’t know what you are talking about, keep your comments to yourself. The natives will help “whitey” look for and protect your women and kids.
But it is still women and children so “people” is still erasing language. Women and children are disappeared in the language. Nothing is going to change, but “people” will get a bunch of money.
Are woman and children not people?
Not to the “people” (men) that are missing and murdering them, apparent
I have no comment about the stats other than to say Wiki is unreliable.
Worse. The tribes want money for “missing people’ and they are not naming women and children. They want money and they don’t want to hear a word from the tax payers paying for it. Just give them money. They don’t want to talk about violence in the home.
It’s a femicide and they don’t want to admit it. They do want your tax dollars. No they don’t care what the tax payers have to say about it any more than they want women and children to be the focus of the funding. It’s “people”. Peeeeeeeeple, you bigot! 2 spirits. Transwhatever.
And the femicide continues.
Grant vultures smelling the money. This is SOME-vs-ALL phony rhetoric. It’s true in SOME places in the country, first nations women and children are truly in immediate serious danger. Now expand that SOME to ALL. Then say you’re absolutely sure statistics show non-First People people are doing these crimes, then in your next breath say you don’t have valid statistics because non-First People don’t care enough to collect statistics. Now start the consciousness raising and grant requests.
I’m 100% for vigorously fighting crime, especially violence against children, and I applaud any community taking action and sticking up for their people. Vulnerable members of our community deserve our well-funded protection, and our families deserve closure on missing loved ones. Buts lets not slap on a “racism” label to raise money. Solve the real problems, like giving tribal police access to all crime databases, improving tribal police pay and benefits to retain experienced officers, and sicking the FBI on serial crimes. Fight the right war.
For example, the Yuroks recently got a third of a million dollar grant to hire special law enforcement for this issue. If you look at the stats, out of 6300 Yurok people, I count 2 missing Yurok people in the past 2 years. One was a juvenile who was found and one was an unfortunate women who is either dead or in hiding. Out of 6300 people. My tribe has a higher disappearance rate.
I read in other places in the country, First People women are in actual serious ongoing danger. Send the grant money there!!! Don’t feed the grant vultures at the expense of the truly vulnerable.
I read somewhere Sovereign Bodies Institute reports 62% of missing are not documented in any data base. Significant. Makes one wonder who’s gone missing from where. Curious, since you brought it up: tribe are you and what’s the disappearance rate?
“My tribe has a higher disappearance rate.”
Sorry, maybe my question wasn’t clear: which tribe are you with and what’s the disappearance rate?
My tribe is caucasian. If you run the numbers using census data, 0.12% of caucasians disappeared in 1 year, 2021. As opposed to, 2/6300 = 0.03% of Yuroks in the past 2 years. i understand disappearances of First Nation women up in Alaska are much much higher than the general population, and in some places in the plains states. Once again, every person is valuable and deserves protect, every disappearance deserves thorough investigation. Just fight the right fight. Don’t fund those exploiting a serious issue for profit.
Profit? Get a grip.
“My tribe is caucasian.”
Your original post had whiff of something. If the actual tribes get a infinitesimal amount of National Treasure for good efforts, so what. And the Yurok hosted first STATEWIDE MMIP Summit for 110 tribes. That’s a very big deal.
It’s a subject that greatly deserves attention. The percentage that are reported versus the ones that are not reported perpetrated amongst themselves. This can’t keep going on multiple “men” standing up for the women at these events are domestic abusers. They walk two sides of the fence I say one thing and do something else behind closed doors. Until the communities can truly stand up for doing better all the way around nothing much is going to change the levels of abuse and suffering experienced by indigenous populations.
I really don’t understand why there are not more tribal women speaking instead of the men. If they listened to the women who are at risk they would have a better shot at working on the problem. Instead, they can’t even say which people are being disappeared and murdered and why. People are disappearing. Which people are disappearing and who is disappearing them? We should name the problem, clearly.