Once again, the Minnesota House has passed a bill to create a task force to address the brutal facts of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. At Session Daily, Tim Walker reports in House OKs bill to address ‘historic epidemic’ of violence against indigenous women:
On the House floor Thursday, lawmakers heard stories of violence, rape, death, injustice and other trauma affecting Native American women and girls at rates far above other populations.
Murder is the third-leading cause of death for 10- to 24-year-old indigenous girls and women, said Rep. Mary Kunesh-Podein (DFL-New Brighton).
“This is a real historic epidemic” that can finally be addressed, said Kunesh-Podein, who sponsors HF70. The bill would create a task force to analyze systemic reasons for the high rate of violence against Native American women and girls in the state and track the number of those who have gone missing, most presumably dead or victims of sex trafficking.
Passed 128-0, the bill goes to the Senate where Sen. Patricia Torres Ray (DFL-Mpls) is the sponsor.
The vote came after several representatives, including Kunesh-Podein and Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn (DFL-Roseville), recited names and told the tragic stories of several women that have recently come to light.
Both representatives have Native ancestry, and both said it’s important to speak the names of those indigenous women and girls who have been traumatized by violence because mainstream society has kept them in the shadows for far too long.
“We are more than our traumas, we are survivors and we are still here,” said Becker-Finn. “Your stories matter, and I hear you.”...
Read the rest at Session Daily. Here's the video of the floor debate:
Here's hoping the Senate passes Sen. Patricia Torres Ray's companion bill. Nationally, this isn't a partisan issue. Here in South Dakota, News Center 1 reported n late March in Bill addressing missing and murdered indigenous persons signed into law:
A bill designed to address the problem of missing and murdered indigenous persons has been signed into law.
Gov. Noem signed Senate Bill 164 last week. The bill would lay out guidelines for how law enforcement officials handle and report on cases of missing and murdered indigenous persons.
It would also establish additional training programs for law enforcement on how to conduct investigations into such cases.
For decades, advocates have voiced concern at the issue of missing and murdered Native American persons, particularly women and children.
Indigenous women, who make up less than one percent of the population, represent a disproportionately high number of ongoing missing person cases in the U.S.
Additionally, the Department of Justice reports that Native American women are murdered at ten times the national rate, according to Sen. Lynne DiSanto, the main sponsor of the bill.
There’s also been an overall lack of coordination and data collection due to a breakdown in communication between tribal governments, the FBI and local agencies.
The new law will require that the Division of Criminal Investigation prepare and distribute uniform guidelines on reporting and investigating these cases to law enforcement agencies throughout South Dakota.
Annita Lucchesi, a doctoral student at the University of Lethbridge, worked to establish an estimate of the number of indigenous women and girls that have gone missing or been murdered in South Dakota, Montana and North Dakota since 1972.
She found a total of 296 documented cases between the three states. Of those, 30 are still active missing person cases, 192 are murders and 74 have an unknown status — in which it isn’t clear whether they’ve been found or not.
According to Rep. Tamara St. John, there are likely many more undocumented cases.
Advocates say the issue has long been on the minds of many in the Native American community, and that they hope the new law will help better protect indigenous women going into the future.
Archivist for the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate of Dakota, St. John represents SD1, which includes much of the Lake Traverse Reservation on the Minnesota border. The SWO, many of whom lived in Minnesota before the 1862 US-Dakota War, negotiated a treaty in 1867 for the reservation.
In her remarks on the floor, Kunesh-Podein discusses the urban dimension of the crisis. The death this winter of SWO member Amber Hopkins, reported in the Star Tribune article, Death of woman found in Minneapolis snow pile haunts family and community, ties the tragedy together across state lines and other jurisdictions.
Part of the Lake Traverse Reservation is In North Dakota. Forum Communications reported in Bills to curb violence against indigenous people, human trafficking sent to North Dakota governor:
A package of legislation aimed at preventing human trafficking and violence against indigenous people is heading for Gov. Doug Burgum’s desk.
Freshman Rep. Ruth Buffalo, D-Fargo, first brought forward one of the bills, House Bill 1313, to create a database for missing indigenous people. But the legislation expanded to include all North Dakotans because the state doesn’t collect this data.
Already approved by the North Dakota House, the bill passed the state Senate unanimously Friday, March 29.
Two other related bills with Buffalo as the main sponsor have been sent to Burgum: House Bill 1311 for law enforcement training on cases of missing and murdered indigenous people, and House Bill 1507 to prevent human trafficking by training hotel employees.
Such training would be encouraged – not mandated like in Minnesota. . . .
Governor Burgum signed HB1313 according to West Dakota Fox's Gov. Burgum signs bill for missing/murdered indigenous people database:
Gov. Burgum has signed the first of two bills sponsored by Rep. Ruth Buffalo, D-Fargo, designed to fight the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous people.
HB 1313 would create a North Dakota specific database for missing persons. The Bureau of Criminal Investigation says every missing person is put into the national system run by the FBI but they can't search that place for a list of every missing person in North Dakota.
As for the other bills, on April 1, Burgum signed HB1311, which would train law enforcement personnel "on missing and murdered indigenous people." HB1507, voluntary human trafficking prevention training for hospitality industry personnel, was signed by Burgum on April 4.
Given that on the federal level Savanna's Act is Back and seems to be going nowhere, it's good that states are working on this issue. Savanna's Act was originally introduced by former North Dakota US Senator Heidi Heitkamp, passed the Senate and then was stalled in the House late last year by retiring Congressman Bob Goodlatte. The bill is named for Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, Spirit Lake Dakota and Turtle Mountain Chippewa, who was eight months pregnant when she was brutally murdered and her child cut from her womb.
Does the increased presence of indigenous women legislators in the Minnesota, South Dakota and North Dakota legislature lead to the passage of bills like those discussed above? As Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn noted on the floor (and we paraphrase), the perception of native women as leaders, not merely victims. "We are more than our traumas, we are survivors and we are still here," she noted. We're happy that Ruth Buffalo, Tamara St. John, Kunesh-Podein and Becker-Finn are now in office.
Photo: Rep. Mary Kunesh-Podein gives the thumbs-up to supporters and advocates in the House Gallery after HF70 is passed on the House Floor May 9. It would establish a Task Force on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Photo by Andrew VonBank, via Session Daily.
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