State’s missing Indigenous people alert system will be first in the US

MARYSVILLE, Wash. — Governor Jay Inslee is signing six tribal-related bills into law Thursday.

Two of the six bills are focused on helping missing Indigenous people.

House Bill 1725 creates a system similar to Silver Alerts.

When activated, the Missing Indigenous Persons Alert will broadcast information about missing Indigenous people on message signs and in highway advisory radio messages. It also will provide the information through press releases to local and regional media.

The alert system will be the first of its kind in the nation.

The bill sponsor, Rep. Debra Lekanoff of Anacortes, hopes the system will help solve the growing issue in the Indigenous community. She is the only Native American woman to currently serve in the Legislature.

Last year, the Legislature created a 23-member Washington State Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People Task Force to coordinate a statewide response and assess the causes behind the high rate of disappearances and murders.

Indigenous people disappear and are murdered at rates higher than any other ethnic group in the U.S., according to the Washington State Office of the Attorney General.

In Washington, more than four times as many Indigenous women disappear than white women, according to research conducted by the Urban Indian Health Institute in Seattle.

Tulalip Tribes is hosting a ceremony to commemorate signing the bill into law Thursday.

Inslee will sign the following bills Thursday:

• HB 1571 - Relating to protections and services for indigenous persons who are missing, murdered, or survivors of human trafficking.
• HB 1717 - Relating to tribal participation in planning under the growth management act.
• HB 1725 - Relating to the creation of an endangered missing person advisory designation for missing indigenous persons.
• HB 1753 - Relating to tribal consultation regarding the use of certain funding authorized by the climate commitment act.
• SB 5694 - Relating to recognizing Indian tribes as among the governmental entities with which the department of corrections may enter into agreements on matters to include the housing of inmates convicted in tribal court.
• SB 5866 - Relating to Medicaid long-term services and supports eligibility determinations completed by federally recognized Indian tribes.

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