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A2 UP FRONT
Saturday 23 November 2019

AG Barr unveils

plan on missing

Native Americans

Continued from Front cases. The FBI could then
deploy some of its special-
The National Institute of ized teams, including inves-
Justice estimates that 1.5 tigators who focus on child
million Native American abduction or evidence
women have experienced collection and special
violence in their lifetime, in- agents who can help do a
cluding many who are vic- quick analysis of digital evi-
tims of sexual violence. On dence and social media
some reservations, federal accounts.
studies have shown wom- The Justice Department
en are killed at a rate more also committed to con-
than 10 times the national ducting an in-depth anal-
average. ysis of federal databases
The Justice Department's and its data collection
new initiative would invest practices to determine if Attorney General William Barr speaks at a Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes council
$1.5 million to hire special- there are ways to improve meeting, Friday, Nov. 22, 2019, on the Flathead Reservation in Pablo, Mont. Sitting with Barr are
ized coordinators in 11 U.S. the gathering of informa- Kurt Alme, left, U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, and Tracy Toulou, director of the Justice
Department’s Office of Tribal Justice.
attorney's offices across tion in missing persons cas- Associated Press
the U.S. with significant In- es. the initiative, which calls of missing and murdered challenges, existing data-
dian Country caseloads. "This is not a panacea," Barr for some of the same things Native American women bases, federal policies, law
The coordinators would be told tribal council members already in legislation pend- is difficult to know because enforcement staffing and
responsible for developing of the Salish and Kootenai ing in Congress. He also of the dysfunction sur- notification systems and
protocols for a better law Confederated Tribes at spoke to tribal leaders rounding the issue. make recommendations
enforcement response to an event where members about how a surge in meth- An Associated Press investi- for improvement. The of-
missing persons cases. presented him with a blue amphetamine use may be gation last year found that fice said Thursday the work
Montana's coordinator, a blanket before a tradition- influencing violence in In- nobody knows precisely is under way.
former FBI agent, already al musical performance. dian Country. how many Native Ameri- Bills in Congress seek to ad-
has started in his position. "This is a step in the right di- On the nation's largest Na- can women have gone dress the crisis, and a half-
Tribal or local law enforce- rection, but we have a lot tive American reservation, missing or have been killed dozen states have vowed
ment officials would also more work to do working tribal members welcomed nationwide because many to study the problem.
be able to call on the FBI together." the extra resources and cases go unreported, oth- Meanwhile, activists have
for additional help in some Barr said he spoke to Presi- commitment to the issue ers aren't well document- held rallies at state capi-
missing indigenous persons dent Donald Trump about but questioned how far the ed, and no government tols, marched in the streets,
money will go, given how database specifically put up memorials and
widespread the problem is. tracks them. billboards, bought televi-
"This is stuff we've been ad- A report released last year sion advertising and cre-
vocating for, it's just fund- by the Urban Indian Health ated exhibits with space
ing a slice of it," said Amber Institute said there were for prayer offerings to draw
Crotty, a lawmaker on the 5,712 cases of missing and attention to missing indig-
Navajo Nation. murdered indigenous girls enous women.
Crotty pointed out that the in 2016, but only 116 of The movement has fea-
hiring of 11 coordinators as- those cases were logged in tured women with a red
signed to federal prosecu- a Justice Department da- hand print over their
tor offices nationally as out- tabase. mouths, in what activists
lined by Barr could have That study is limited in say is a symbol of the silenc-
limited value on the Nav- scope, however. ing of indigenous women.
ajo Nation, which is part of The report by the Seattle Curtison Badonie with the
three separate U.S. attor- nonprofit reflected data New Mexico-based Coa-
ney jurisdictions in Arizona, from 71 U.S. cities not on lition to Stop Violence
New Mexico and Utah. tribal land. Research- Against Native Women said
She said tribes are looking ers said they expect their the Justice Department's
to the federal government figures represent an un- plan is a positive move in
to fund advocates who dercount because some seeking justice for indige-
can greet families of vic- police departments in nous women and girls, and
tims, relay information from cities with substantial Na- their grieving families and
law enforcement and pro- tive American populations communities.
vide training. She said tribal — like Albuquerque, New "Finally, they're moving for-
communities have resorted Mexico, and Billings, Mon- ward with this and they're
to organizing their own tana — didn't respond to taking our existence seri-
search parties and posting records requests or Native ously and are listening and
fliers in communities and on Americans were identified knowing our sisters, our
social media when some- as belonging to another aunties, our grandmas, our
one goes missing because race. nieces are important," Ba-
they sometimes get little or Members of Congress donie said. "They are sa-
no response from law en- asked the U.S. Government cred, they are human be-
forcement. Accountability Office in ings. We feel hopeful. We
The extent of the problem May to review jurisdictional feel seen."q