State-Tribal Relations Day highlights collaboration and MMIP awareness

PIERRE – More than one hundred people attended the 2026 State Tribal Relations Day held at the Capitol Rotunda in Pierre on Wednesday, February 25. Some of those in attendance were Governor Larry Rhoden, Yankton Sioux Tribe Chairwoman Chelaine Knudsen, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairman Steve Sitting Bear, Vice Chairman Mike Faith, the Cheyenne Eagle Butte High School student council, speakers, legislators, and council representatives.

The purpose of the annual event is to provide opportunities for state, tribal, and legislative leaders to network and engage on issues that impact the state’s tribes and Native American constituents.

“Our responsibility is building relationships with the tribes and the state. There are many Tribal leaders here today and we continue to reach out to them on a weekly basis. It’s one step at a time and we have to continue those communications and collaborations with them,” Secretary of the Department of Tribal Relations Algin Young told Native Sun News Today.

This year’s theme, Bringing Awareness to the MMIP (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons) Crisis Through Collaboration, focused on bringing together MMIP organizations to foster collaboration, awareness, and dialogue.

There are currently 118 individuals listed as missing as of January 1 of this year, 61 percent of whom are Native American, according to the South Dakota Missing Persons website. Young addressed attendees by saying the day is more than an observance.

“Today we seek to foster connections among MMIP organizations, Tribal leaders, and state legislators, to deepen our understanding of the systemic challenges Indigenous communities face, and to strengthen our shared resolve to work toward prevention, accountability, and justice. Together we can be a catalyst for meaningful change, ensuring every individual is valued, every voice is heard, and no family is left unseen,” Young said.

Troy Morley, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, is a tribal liaison with the South Dakota U.S. Attorney’s Office covering the Dakotas, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Alaska, and serves as the primary liaison for South Dakota.

When someone goes missing, Morley said the first call should be made to the state, which can send resources and offer services such as radio and planes to assist in searches.

“Every tribe will tell you that they are underfunded. In the law enforcement capacity, the FBI also has funding issues. Sometimes it’s not readily apparent who committed a crime and it could take serious investigation. But under federal law, there is a five-year statute of limitation on second degree murder, and to say that hamstrings us would be an understatement,” Morley said.

He said that both Senator Mike Rounds and Representative Dusty Johnson have introduced Kamisha’s Law to abolish the statute. Kamisha Nyvold was a toddler who was murdered in Sisseton in 1992. New information led to a suspect decades later, but the original five-year statute of limitations prevented prosecutors from filing second degree murder charges. Those bills are currently pending in the Senate and the House.

Morley said his office developed the Savanna’s Act guidelines. The Act was signed into law in 2020. While there was an extensive search for Savanna LaFontaine Greywind after she disappeared in 2017, the case highlighted flaws that Morley said the Act addresses.

The Act establishes strict, standardized federal expectations of accountability so that no case is dismissed simply because an agency claims it is not their problem. Police conducted an initial search of a neighbor’s apartment the same day Savanna went missing and found nothing. On day six, police obtained a formal search warrant to search the neighbor’s apartment and found Savanna’s newborn alive. Law enforcement had said they did not have a link to justify a search warrant earlier. The Act addresses those failures by shifting law enforcement from a discretionary response to a mandatory, standardized protocol.

Shelby Lorenzo Homer, a member of the Diné Nation and a South Dakota resident, is the founder, and CEO of Mako Sika K9 Search and Rescue based in Mission, South Dakota. She said her organization cannot self deploy and must be requested by state law enforcement.

“So there is a lot of red tape. There was an instance where an elderly woman was abducted in the middle of the night and we had to wait two weeks before we could assist,” Homer said, emphasizing that time is critical in missing persons cases.

“This has been happening for so long — the seventies, eighties, and nineties — and now it’s grown to the magnitude that it is, and we still don’t know what to do or where to start. We don’t have protocols in place for families and for law enforcement,” she said.

Homer has a lifeline dog, and a human remains detection dog, both of which she trained herself. She now has five volunteers who assist with efforts in the local area.

“We are trying to grow our capacity and reach out to more tribes so they can establish their own teams within their tribe to assist families and missing individuals,” she said.

Rachel Foltz, Director of Impact and Program Relations at Call to Freedom, an organization that provides services to victims and survivors of human trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation, also spoke at the event.

“Native people are disproportionately impacted. Despite making up only about eight percent of the population in South Dakota, Native American women and girls represent about forty percent of trafficking victims. We have a moral obligation to engage in broader advocacy around this issue,” Foltz said.

Two bills are currently before the legislature. House Bill 1175, which was up for a hearing in the Senate on Tuesday, would amend existing law to expand the scope of tribes that can request national criminal history record information from the Division of Criminal Investigation. This would allow Indian tribes in the state to request background checks for individuals seeking or holding positions such as tribal council members, judges, conservation officers, and child protection staff.

House Bill 1232 would establish principles for state agencies interacting with tribal members. While the bill appeared on committee agendas for both Monday and Tuesday, its status as of late Tuesday was pending.

(Contact Marnie Cook at cookm8715@gmail.com)

The post State-Tribal Relations Day highlights collaboration and MMIP awareness first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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