I recently watched Reservation Dogs on Hulu and I remembered a podcast where on one episode they covered how many Native American people (specifically women) go missing without any outside intervention to help them be found. However this isn’t a new concept, it dates all the way back to when America was found by Columbus. The Natives were slaughtered, enslaved and they were treated as others, and in fact they still are to some degree. Since 2011 (in Wyoming alone) there have been approximately 700 missing person’s cases that involve Natives according to the MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women). Even though Natives make up 3 percent of the whole population of Wyoming they account for approximately 21 percent of the murder victims. However this isn’t the case for just Wyoming, this is the case for almost every state. For example in Montana a Native American is 4 times more likely to go missing than a white Montanan. Even with these alarming rates Native American people are less likely to be reported missing due to a stigma that is applied to them. When they are reported missing and their cases get reported on in the media the stories tend to have a more negative connotation, the writers tend to use more graphic language and they tend to focus more on the murder instead of details about the victim. In the case of Gabby Petito a 22 year-old white woman was reported missing in early September, within 4 weeks her body was found near an undeveloped campground. Her case made headlines, she got a #gabbypetito which gathered over 820 million views on TikTok. This essentially put pressure on the FBI and police to find her. On the other hand if a Native American goes missing in the same state (Wyoming) there is almost zero media coverage. This could also be due to the fact that Native Americans do in fact have their own justice system and they may not want outsider help. The Tribal courts have power over all offences that happen on tribal. However we still need to reform our Justice system to assist the tribal justice system should there be an occasion that arises where they need more people to resolve a situation or if there is a case that involves an outsider vs the natives. This reformation could help solve some of the othering that involve Native Americans on their own land and it could help to bring light of all the missing person cases involving Native Americans.
Article on the Gabby Petito case
https://www.npr.org/2021/10/12/1045344198/gabby-petito-was-strangled
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
https://www.nativewomenswilderness.org/mmiw