A bill brought by Rep. Tyson Running Wolf on behalf of the State-Tribal Relations Committee aims to bolster these community-led search efforts by providing formal training, resources and structure.
missoulian.com
‘We are in need’: Bill would help missing person searches
When 3-year-old Arden Pepion went missing on the Blackfeet Reservation in 2021, more than 150 members of the Blackfeet community showed up to search for her.
They brought dogs and flashlights. They learned how to ward off bears, and they waded through rivers.
When a loved one goes missing, Native families often get
tangled in a web of criminal jurisdictions shared among state, federal and tribal law enforcement entities. Frustrated with law enforcement response and a general lack of media coverage and public outcry, Indigenous families often turn to their communities for immediate assistance in finding loved ones.
Their searches rarely get the attention and public assistance that missing white people receive, to the point sociologists have a special term for the difference. “Missing White Woman Syndrome” refers to the idea that young white women — and especially those who adhere to common beauty standards and who come from wealthy backgrounds — are overrepresented in media coverage, when compared with women of other demographics. A new Columbia Journalism Review
tool estimates a 21-year-old missing Native woman in Montana would receive about 35 news stories, where as a missing white woman in her early 20s would receive at least 120 articles.
These community-led searches are not uncommon. When Hanna Harris, a 21-year-old Northern Cheyenne woman, went missing in 2013, it was her mother, Malinda, who posted on Facebook to organize a search. When Selena Not Afraid, 16, went missing in 2020, her aunt Cheryl Horn helped coordinate the search, gather resources for volunteers and share updates on Facebook.
While the Blackfeet community turned out for
Arden’s search, the effort did not go as planned. According to several people who attended, the search was chaotic, as it lacked a leader, coordination, resources and direction.
Diana Burd is a member of Holding Hope, a grassroots search and rescue team created for Arden. She said she was sure the search team would find “baby Arden,” but added that “because of the lack of collaboration … she was not found.”
She recalled participants wondering, “What exactly should we look for? How should we organize the group? Who is in charge?” These are some of the questions that plagued grieving community members as they roamed the reservation looking for Arden.
While community members do their best to assist in these searches, they often lack formal training and appropriate resources.
A bill brought by Rep. Tyson Running Wolf, D-Browning, on behalf of the State-Tribal Relations Committee aims to bolster these community-led search efforts by providing formal training, resources and structure.
The bill passed the House and was heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday.
What’s this bill about?
Specifically, House Bill 18 would establish a missing persons response team training grant program administered through the Department of Justice. In his address to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Friday, Running Wolf emphasized that House Bill 18 is not just for Native people but would benefit all Montanans. It would create a corresponding grant account and provide a fund transfer. The bill establishes July 1 as the effective date, and the initial appropriation would cost the general fund $61,000.
The bill would also fund training opportunities for community-based response teams made up of members across agencies and jurisdictions as well as local entities and volunteers. House Bill 18 would also fund expenses, including the cost of a training program and facilitator as well as conference location fees and travel expenses for staff and trainees.