OKLAHOMA CITY — Dozens of advocates for missing and murdered Indigenous people gathered at the state Capitol on Monday in an effort to spotlight the plight of hundreds of Oklahomans.They pressed for increased collaboration between Native residents and their local law enforcement, tribal, county and state leaders.The annual event coincided with the national Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Awareness Day, which took place Sunday. The Capitol Rotunda was filled with pictures of people who have gone missing, been murdered, killed by law enforcement, or whose deaths or disappearances remain unsolved.Most years, advocates hold the event outdoors, but this year, they held it indoors so that lawmakers could see them and hear their speeches, cheers and drumming.Fawn Tsatoke, president and founder of the Kiowa MMIP chapter, said there are officially over 530 missing and murdered Indigenous Oklahomans. She said the true number of missing and murdered is likely much higher due to issues with data and recordkeeping.Tsatoke said the chapter, which primarily serves southwest Oklahoma, started in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. It formed during a time when the number of runaways and incidents of domestic violence had increased.“We’re the in-between for the communities, law enforcement, OSBI,” Tsatoke said. “Sometimes people go missing, sometimes they’re hurt, sometimes they’re in danger, but they don’t know who to reach out to or how to reach out. Sometimes they have warrants. That doesn’t take away the fact that they need to be safe.”She said MMIP advocates are involved in just about everything a person can think of in Indian Country, including education.The state’s MMIP advocates, she said, were responsible for the creation of Savanna’s Act and Ida’s Law. The latter is supposed to improve coordination between law enforcement working cases involving Native people.“It started here in this place with most of these ladies here advocating, walking around, getting people to sign, talking to others, trying to get them to bring it to the floor,” Tsatoke said.Tsatoke said the advocates fight for those who might otherwise be forgotten.She said she presses for increased education for law enforcement who are interacting with Native residents. She wants them to visit Indigenous communities more and perhaps be “more of a friendly face.”If they did, maybe “there wouldn’t be such an issue,” Tsatoke said.
