Attorney general addresses CSKT on missing and murdered indigenous people

PABLO, Mont. — U.S. Attorney General William Barr unveiled a new plan Friday to address the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous people.

The CDC says homicide is the third leading cause of death for Native American women aged 20 to 24 and fourth leading cause for those 15 to 19.

On Friday, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes gave Barr a special welcome to Pablo with a drumming circle and a blanket.

Barr unveiled his national strategy to address missing and murdered indigenous persons.

“I think that it was very exhilarating to know that he knew the issue. He had visited Alaska with Lisa Murkowski, so he is very aware of the issue and wants to address it,” policy analyst and council support for CSKT Jami Pluff said.

Pluff says she already feels Barr will make a difference.

Barr says he’s not waiting for Savanna’s Act to pass legislation. The act passed the Indian Affairs Committee and is now heading to the Senate.

The bill directs the Department of Justice to review, revise and develop law enforcement and justice protocols to address missing and murdered Native Americans.

“We are going to proceed and hire and in fact are hiring now MMIP coordinators for 11 United States attorney offices that have significant Indian country caseloads,” Barr said.

Barr’s initiative has three parts -- establishing coordinators, specialized FBI rapid deployment teams and comprehensive data analysis.

“MMIP is a very important issue in this country, and before coming here I did speak to the president about it, and he was fully aware of the issues and stressed to me he wanted not only the Department of Justice but other agencies to treat this as a priority,” Barr said.

One of CSKT members’ biggest concerns is resources, and they say it starts with the families of missing and murdered indigenous people.

“They don’t have the resources -- many of these families don’t have the resources to do searches. It costs gas money, making posters, billboards and even cadaver dogs,” Pluff said.