California Sheds Light on Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, Legislators Call for Action

The state of California is bringing more attention to the overwhelming crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people this week.

This comes on the heels of Round Valley Indian Tribes in Northern California declaring a state of emergency based on this issue just last month after two members were found murdered within weeks of each other.

But this isn’t new.

In 2016, almost 6,000 missing and murdered Indigenous cases were reported to the National Crime Information Center and recently, the unsolved, almost two year old case of a missing woman Emmilee Risling from Northern California.

So this week, the state is putting together many firsts to bring awareness to this crisis, including lighting the Capitol dome red all week for the first time and a historic candlelight vigil being hosted Wednesday night on the West Capitol Steps.

Other events included news briefings and hearings led by San Bernardino Assemblymember James C. Ramos who represents California’s 45th district.

“California was among the top five states with the highest number of cases of MMIP in the nation according to a report in 2021,” Assemblymember Ramos shared. “The time has come to call on the state to thoroughly look into these issues of why these crimes continue to be perpetrated against Native American people here in the state of California.”

“We all have a very important role to play here,” Ione Band of Miwok Indians Tribal Chairwoman Sara Dutschke said. “If we work together honestly and sincerely, we can bring an end to the suffering on ourselves, on our people, on the ones that we’ve lost and bring those who are missing home.”

The statistics are staggering.

California has the largest population of Native Americans, but even then, cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women are seven times less likely to be solved than any other demographic.

Homicide is the third leading cause of death for indigenous women between the ages 15 and 24.

Violence against American Indian and Alaska Native women face murder rates 10 times higher than the national average.

The candlelight vigil is Wednesday night at 6:30 and on Thursday morning, there will be a presentation and vote on ACR 15 which would designate May as Missing And Murdered Indigenous People Awareness Month in California.