On Thursday, Washington became the first state in the country to launch a dedicated, statewide alert system specifically for missing Indigenous people, with Gov. Jay Inslee signing into law the “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s and People’s Alert System” that will mirror existing programs like Amber and Silver alerts for missing children and seniors, respectively.
“It’s not just an Indian issue, it’s not just an Indian responsibility,” Washington State Rep. Debra Lekanoff, a former Governmental Affairs Director for the Swinomish Tribe and the state’s only current Indigenous lawmaker, told the press. “Our sisters, our aunties, our grandmothers are going missing every day … and it’s been going on for far too long.”
