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Addressing The Crisis Of Missing And Murdered Indigenous People In Idaho

Elsie Cree
“Matriarchy” by Elsie Cree, Nimiipuu, Lapwai ID";s:

 

In late 2019, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to create a task force – called “Operation Lady Justice” – that would address the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in the United States. The order was one of the first federal acknowledgements of the epidemic. 

 

According to the Department of Justice, indigenous women and girls face higher rates of domestic and sexual violence than other populations. And since reporting mechanisms are inconsistent across the country, there is a huge gap in the data. In other words: the problem is likely much larger than we know. 

 

One goal of the task force is to bridge this gap and understand just how widespread this issue is. Tara Sweeney is the Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior, and a member of the Operation Lady Justice task force.

 

“We are scheduling listening sessions and consultations throughout the country to listen, to learn, and to provide recommended solutions,” she said in an Idaho Matters interview. 

 

Ultimately, Sweeney hopes the task force will be able to “improve, clarify and communicate the multi-jurisdictional protocols [and] find agreement on federal best practices to address these types of epidemics.” 

 

But not everyone in the indigenous community is thrilled with the federal response, especially with the long history of broken treaties in the US. 

 

"Idaho is doing something very innovative in the way that we're collaborating around solutions here, because it is indigenous voice-centered." -Tai Simpson

Tai Simpson is with the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence. She said that doing more than just bringing native voices into the negotiation is critical to a successful outcome.  

 

“Any effort around missing and murdered indigenous people… all of the solutions need to be indigenous community informed,” Simpson said.

 

Idaho State Representative Caroline Nilsson Troy (R-Genesse) said that Idaho has been very intentional in involving indigenous advocates while they begin to address the crisis at hand. “Let’s make sure the tribes are part of this conversation and that they are helping to lead the conversation.” 

 

Idaho is doing things differently, Nilsson Troy said, and that’s a good thing. 

 

Have a question or comment for the show? Tweet @KBSX915 using #IdahoMatters

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Molly Wampler is a newsroom intern at Boise State Public Radio. Originally from Berkeley, California, she just graduated from the University of Puget Sound in Washington state. There, Molly worked for her university's newspaper but is stoked to try her hand at and learn all there is to learn about radio journalism.

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