SPIRIT LAKE NATION — As Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives Awareness Day approaches, the Spirit Lake Tribe and other tribal nations throughout North Dakota continue to face the widespread issue by advocating for legislation, offering reward money and organizing widespread searches.

“This day serves as a crucial call to action, spotlighting the urgent need for legal reforms and resources to combat violence against Indigenous communities,” says a press release issued by the Spirit Lake Tribe.

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives (MMIWR) Awareness Day is Monday, May 5. As of Tuesday, April 29, there are 14 Indigenous people considered missing in North Dakota, according to the state’s missing persons database.

Five have disappeared within the last six weeks, including

Renzo Bull Head, a 20-year-old member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe whose disappearance has inspired nearly 100 people across various tribes and regions to volunteer their efforts to search.

All tribal nations located in North Dakota, as well as some in South Dakota and Minnesota, have dispatched staff and equipment, including drones and boats, to help search, according to the release. Nonprofit organizations have offered their assistance as well.

More than a month after he went missing, these efforts continue.

“Spirit Lake is still assisting with his search,” Vicki Alberts, Spirit Lake Tribe’s public relations specialist, told the Grand Forks Herald. “The council has still been open to deploying resources, and still allowing me to help where I can with the family, as far as getting their story out, and continuing to help with some of their social media posts.”

The Spirit Lake Tribe acknowledges that while state and federal resources and support are vital to resolving missing persons cases, “they cannot always be relied upon,” the release said. “Instead, (tribal nations) must assist one another in all ways possible, reinforcing the importance of inter-tribal solidarity in the face of adversity.”

Alberts said the Spirit Lake Tribe will soon be reinvigorating efforts to find its own missing people —

Isaac James Hunt

and

Jemini Posey

— both of whom have been missing for more than a year.

“We have search efforts that will be deployed here in May,” Alberts said. “It’ll be posted on the main

Spirit Lake Facebook page

once we get all of the details put together because, with that one, it is more of a coordinated effort. We are working specifically with our emergency response team here at the tribe, and they’ll be bringing in some of the local nonprofit search-and-rescue teams to assist with that effort.”

The tribe is offering a $20,000 reward — which would come out of the tribe’s general fund — for information leading to the recovery of Posey and Hunt, the release said.

“These are our people, and we want the families to know that we stand with them in their search,” Chairwoman Lonna Jackson-Street said. “Every effort counts, and we are committed to utilizing all available resources to find Jemini and Isaac.”

A 5K walk/run in honor of Posey and Missing Indigenous Women’s Month is scheduled for 2 p.m. Sunday, May 11, in Fort Totten.

Another area of advocacy for Indigenous peoples has occurred at this year’s legislative session, during which two bills that could help have been making their way through the Legislature.

HB 1199, a bill that aims to establish a state-funded task force that focuses on missing Indigenous peoples, passed 46-1 in the Senate Monday, April 28, with an emergency clause that makes it effective immediately once filed with the secretary of state.

“This bill is about ensuring that when an Indigenous person goes missing, every available resource is mobilized to bring them home safely,” said Rep. Jayme Davis, D-Rolette.

The second bill, HB 1535, aims to establish a state “Feather Alert” system, which would allow for notifications to be issued when an Indigenous person is missing. When the bill returned to the Senate with amendments Thursday, May 1, it passed 45-1.

“The Feather Alert system is essential for empowering our communities to respond swiftly to missing persons cases,” Jackson-Street said. “We cannot afford to wait when lives are at stake.”