In 2016, the reports of missing American Indian and Alaska Native women numbered 5,712, though the US Department of Justice’s federal missing persons database, NamUs, only logged 116 cases (Urban Indian Health Institute, 2019). This difference of 5,596 women shows a clear disconnect between the tribal and federal reporting systems of missing persons, leading to a severe reduction in response times to reports of missing women, conflicting areas of jurisdiction, and bureaucratic red tape, all of which lead to women in native tribes either not being found prior to their murders, or being completely lost without a trace.

Thankfully, there was a bill introduced to the United States Senate in 2017 (S.227) designed to remedy some of these issues. Known colloquially as "Savanna's Act," the bill was introduced after the disappearance and murder of a young mother-to-be, Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a member of the Spirit Lake Tribe, whose mother is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, which are clustered in northeast North Dakota.

On August 17th, 2017, Savanna was offered a quick job helping with a sewing project by her neighbor from the third floor of her building, Brooke Crews. Around 1:24 p.m. she sent a text message to the father of her unborn child, Ashton Matheny, before heading up to Crews’ apartment. She would never walk back down those stairs (Gable, 2019).

Five days later, on August 24th, Fargo, ND police obtained a no-knock search warrant and broke down the front door to Crews’ apartment, where they found Crews and a newborn baby. Savanna, who was not due for another month, was nowhere to be found. Her physical description and photograph was quickly circulated around social media, and tribes from across the Great Plains swept into Fargo to help search for the young woman. Hundreds of Natives and non-Natives alike held vigils, burned sage, and helped with the search, and at 8:20 p.m. on August 27th, 2017, local law enforcement pulled a body from the Red River. It was positively identified as Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, and another tally was added to the rising count of Native women and girls who are murdered each year (Gable, 2019).

Unfortunately, there has been a lack of legislative movement on this act due to the changing leadership in the Attorney General’s office over the past two years, and the fact that the bill outlines actions to be taken specific to the DOJ in order to “review, revise, and develop law enforcement and justice protocols appropriate to address missing and murdered Indians” (S.227, 2019).

My goal is to garner a minimum of 5,712 signatures (in honor of the number of American Indian and Alaska Native women missing in 2016) in support of having Savanna's Act moved to the Senate floor for a vote. I will then send this directly to Senator John Hoeven (R-ND), who is the head of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in hopes of influencing movement on Savanna's Act.

My main fear is that with the current impeachment investigations in the House and the upcoming elections in 2020 this important piece of legislation will be swept aside in favor of the media circus surrounding our current executive leadership. We need to stop letting our representation in Washington be hijacked by the circus in the White House, and hold our leaders accountable to acting in the best interests of their constituents.

Please feel free to share this with anyone and everyone that believes in justice for these missing Indian women, and thank you for your time.