Montana Delegation Marked May 5 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day

U.S. Senators Jon Tester and Steve Daines on May 5 marked the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls after introducing their resolution designating May 5 earlier this week.

The Senators’ resolution raises awareness, honors the Native American women who are missing or murdered, and identifies solutions to end this violent epidemic.

“Raising awareness about the MMIW epidemic in Montana and across the country is an important piece of the fight to combat violence against Indigenous women and girls,” said Tester, a member and former Chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. “We’ve got to keep working to improve and enforce public safety measures in Native American communities and hold violent offenders accountable. I’ll keep pushing to ensure that our law enforcement officers have the resources they need to target offenders and ensure survivors have access to critical services as they work to get back on their feet.”

“While we must continue to shed light on the tragic Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls crisis that is plaguing Montana, our native communities and families, we must also continue working to find solutions,” Daines said. “Let us remember the countless lives lost due to this crisis, including Hanna Harris, who would’ve been 30 years old today.”

On May 5, Congressman Matt Rosendale joined 15 of his colleagues in cosponsoring a resolution, introduced by Congressman Dan Newhouse (R-WA), to designate May 5, 2022, as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls.

The resolution demonstrates the lawmakers’ solidarity with the families and loved ones of missing and murdered indigenous women, and it calls on the people of the United States to commemorate the lives of American Indian and Alaska Native women whose cases are documented and undocumented in public records and the media.

“It is far too common to hear of missing Native American women in the state of Montana with little effort to prevent these kidnappings from occurring,” Congressman Matt Rosendale said. “I am proud to cosponsor this resolution to bring more attention to this problem, and I hope more action will take place to stop this heinous crime.”

Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen also issued the following statement in observance of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day:

“I’ve seen the tragedy the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people has inflicted on Montana’s tribal communities, both as attorney general and a former prosecutor in Roosevelt County. At the Montana Department of Justice, we’ve taken important steps over the last year to address it, including working to eliminate human trafficking, a problem disproportionally affecting Native American women and girls. Our commitment to reducing the number of missing and murdered Indigenous people and bringing perpetrators to justice in Montana will not waiver.”