Combined MMIW Bill Passes House Committee Unanimously

A bill that directs the South Dakota Attorney General to collect information on missing and murdered indigenous persons is now one step from the governor’s desk.
 
Native American women experience some of the highest rates of homicide in the United States. Data on missing and murdered indigenous people is either difficult to gather, or nonexistent.
 
A house panel is again passing a bill that requires the Department of Criminal Investigation to gather information on missing and murdered indigenous people.
 
State Representative Tamara St. John says this bill is not about pointing fingers, but addresses a larger issue.
 
“Some of these things just happen,” St. John says. “Because of how things are on tribal reservation lands jurisdictionally. There’s questions. Who have jurisdiction? Whose responsible? I think we as tribal people, we need to know who to call and who is in charge of getting us information.”
 
South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg says he supports the bill and has been meeting with tribal governments.
 
The effort to collect data on missing and murdered indigenous women isn’t stopping at the state level. It’s part of a larger effort to get the federal, state and tribal governments to communicate.
 
Cante Heart is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and lives in Rapid City. Heart is a community organizer. She says tribal governments are passing similar bills.
 
“I’m really proud of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Yankton Sioux Tribe for also passing this bill in their tribal government as well,” Heart says. “I think that this needs to be looked at as a national tragedy, not just a community issue. It’s happening all over the place, so it needs to be looked at as that.”
 
 The bill now heads to the house floor.