Last year, Debbie Hassler said she doubted the running list of six missing or murdered Cowlitz tribal members was complete, and she was right.
A couple months ago, the Cowlitz Tribe’s Pathways to Healing program added the seventh name.
But the victim services and advocacy program has also removed names three times, when those missing for years or for a short time were found, said Hassler, Cowlitz Tribal Health and Human Services deputy director.
“I do think the number is much higher, but we’ve also been fortunate to take people off the list,” she said.
Friday was Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Awareness Day, and the Pathways program held activities throughout the week to honor the seven tribal members, as well as anyone else affected.
Pathways set up displays in its office lobbies in Longview, Vancouver, Toledo, DuPont and Tukwila acknowledging the missing or murdered Cowlitz members. The program invited people to create yard signs; hung red dresses to represent Indigenous people victimized by violence; and gave away keychains and stickers with MMIP and anti-human trafficking messages.
On Friday, Pathways held a virtual screening of Al Jazeera English’s documentary “The Search: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women,” followed by a panel discussion.
The 2019 documentary explored four cases of missing or murdered Indigenous women and girls, including two from Washington state. The case studies highlighted commonalities, such as a lack of comprehensive missing persons data, slow or inadequate law enforcement response and little communication from investigating agencies.
Indigenous women and girls go missing or are murdered at disproportionately high rates in the United States, according to the Urban Indian Health Institute.
In Washington, Indigenous women go missing at a rate four times that of white women, according to 2018 data.
As of May 1, there were at least 142 unsolved cases with Native American victims in Washington, according to the Washington State Patrol. This includes Cowlitz tribal member Misty Copsey, who went missing in Pierce County, and Kelly Sims, who was last seen in Kelso.
There are many contributing factors to the disproportionally high rates of missing and murdered Indigenous people — such as racism and poverty — but the underlying reason is colonization, said Lynsey Dearth, mental health clinical supervisor at the tribe’s Tukwila location, during the panel discussion.
“The attempt to erase the first peoples was the agenda and that’s permeated throughout time,” said Dearth, a Northern Cheyenne, Crow and Turtle Mountain Chippewa descendent.
Although the movement initially focused on the high rates of missing or murdered Indigenous women and girls, people of all genders are affected, panel members said.
The attention to missing and murdered Native Americans has only recently risen to a similar level other people receive, Dearth said.
“The unfortunate reality is, it’s taking the story of MMIP to have our voice heard, to be seen in that way,” she said.
As mentioned in the documentary, federal and state governments have begun taking steps to address the MMIP crisis.
Last year, Washington lawmakers established an alert system for missing Indigenous people. The law requires Washington State Patrol to treat missing Indigenous people with the same alerts as missing children and medically vulnerable adults.
In April, the Legislature passed a bill to create a cold case unit to investigate missing and murdered Indigenous people cases in the state.
Indigenous victims make up 5% of unresolved cases in the state but less than 2% of the state’s population, according to the Attorney General’s Office. Due to reporting practices, racial misclassification, data collection and other issues, the actual disparity is likely higher, the office stated.
“I think that’s the most harmful thing we can do because we’re not providing culturally responsive, appropriate resource to families,” Hassler said of racial misclassification.
Although awareness has grown, particularly in the last five years, MMIP is not new, Hassler said.
“Our history is sadly rooted in violence and victimization of Indian people,” she said.
Hassler emphasized the need for continued work beyond the official awareness day.
“It’s about seeking out information, learning and bringing that into your circle, your communities and to every person so we can stop rape culture language, stand up for equity,” she said. “That’s the stuff that’s real meaningful every day a week, not just one day.”
Pathways, under new manager Amanda Workman, will continue providing information and support for families of missing and murdered Cowlitz members throughout the year, Hassler said.
That includes offering resources for families and survivors, adding names to the list to be honored, sharing missing persons posters, and other efforts to help with healing, Hassler said.
The program’s coordinated community response team — created in 2018 to talk about human trafficking, antiviolence and raise awareness around MMIP — is wrapping up projects with ilani Casino Resort and Hotel, Hassler said.
The team coordinated with ilani executives to place anti-human trafficking signs around the property and on the back of every room key, Hassler said. The prevention efforts help tribal members and anyone who comes to the Cowlitz reservation, she said.
The panel also discussed the need for people to take care of their own mental health while addressing MMIP overall or when affected by a case.
People feeling overwhelmed should recognize and honor those feelings, then come back and to take care of spiritual, mental, physical and emotional needs in a balanced way, Dearth said. That could include talking to someone, making sure they are eating and drinking water or going for a walk, she said.
“It can take over our lives if we’re not careful because it is such a heavy thing to carry,” Dearth said. “There are families doing this all day, every day because they have to, but making sure to find ways to bring ourselves back ensures we can do that work when we have the capacity to do so.”
