SOUTH DAKOTA FOCUS: Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women
VERMILLION – Join South Dakota Focus, Thursday, May 27, at 8p.m. (7 MT) on SDPB1 and SDPB.org for a full-hour dedicated to discussing missing and murdered Indigenous women in South Dakota.
Most cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women in South Dakota remain unsolved. State Representative Peri Pourier discusses legislation she sponsored to create a liaison in the attorney general’s office dedicated to these cases. Relatives remember lost loved ones after an MMIW awareness event in Pierre. Plus, a look inside the state’s only long-term shelter for victims of human trafficking.
The Sovereign Bodies Institute reports 173 missing or murdered Indigenous women in our state. Most of these cases remain unsolved. SDPB’s Lee Strubinger reports on a grassroots search for Susan Fast Eagle, who went missing earlier this month in Rapid City. State Representative Peri Pourier discusses legislation she sponsored this year to create a liaison in the attorney general’s office dedicated to cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people. Wiconi Wawokiya executive director Lisa Heth shares the origins of the Pathfinder Center—the only long-term shelter for human trafficking victims in the state. SDPB’s Max Tushla brings the story of an exhibit to remember lost women outside the Journey Museum called “The Earth is Weeping.”
We also hear from some of the speakers at an MMIW awareness event on the capitol steps in Pierre on May 5th. State Representative Tamara St. John remembers Debra Black Crow, who was murdered in California in 1997. A grassroots effort blocked the early release of the man convicted of killing Black Crow earlier this year. Anne Halverson remembers her sister Jessie Renae Waters, who was murdered in 2015. No one has been charged in her killing. Melanie Stoneman, founder of the Sahnish Scouts of North Dakota, reflects on her healing process and calls for further action to protect Indigenous women.
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May 27, 2021