Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force Receives First Hearing

St. Paul, Minnesota  – On Tuesday, January 29, Representative Mary Kunesh-Podein (DFL – New Brighton) will present legislation creating a new state task force to address the endemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Minnesota (H.F.111) in the bill’s first public hearing before the House Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee. There is currently no state or national system in place to collect data on missing and murdered Native women in Minnesota.

The task force will provide analysis regarding the systemic causes behind the number of missing Native American women in the state. The goal of the task force will be to better understand the causes of violence against Indigenous women and to reduce and prevent violence where it is happening. The task force will include members of the indigenous community, law enforcement, policymakers and the public.

What: First hearing on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Task Force

When: Tuesday, January 29, 2019 at 12:45 p.m.

Where: Capitol 120

Who:

Chief Author Rep. Kunesh-Podein

Nicole Matthews: executive director of Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition

Rene Goodrich: Bad River Tribal Elder

Dolly Boswell: sister of missing woman

Mysti Babineau: Red Lake enrollee

Mary Lyons: elder

 Stats and Figures:

• Murder is the third-leading cause of death among American Indian/Alaska native women.
• 5,712 cases of MMIWG were reported in the U.S. in 2016 and only 116 were logged in a DOJ database.
• Misclassification is a serious problem. From the 1960s through the early ‘80s, the Seattle Police Department used “N” to signify either Negro or Native American.