In an effort to combat high rates of violence, murder and disappearance among Native communities, a three-day listening event began in Albuquerque today.
It is the latest of several hearings by the U.S. Interior Department held in areas with high Indigenous populations. The process was laid out in the Not Invisible Act, which was proposed in 2019 by current Interior Secretary Deb Haaland when she was in Congress, along with three other members of Congress, all tribal members.
"A real solution will never be found without the voices of Indigenous survivors, which is what is so special about this bill," Haaland said in a speech at the time.
Now, a body called the Not Invisible Act Commission, including advocates, tribal leaders and law enforcement, is traveling the country holding discussions and collecting testimony.
At Wednesday's event, panelists discussed the difficulty of recruiting police, especially in tribal areas. And commission members raised their frustrations at inconsistencies in help from law enforcement from tribal police to the FBI. Commissioner Patricia Whitefoot's sister went missing decades ago.
"There was a lack of any consistent and meaningful communication with myself and my family of my sister missing for that long. And, it's difficult to say how angry you are about all of that, and the anger that family members may carry," she said.
Raul Bujanda, the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in New Mexico, responded that he was sorry for what she went through, and that he could not speak to historical examples but said he sought to do the right thing by the relatives of disappeared people.
"We are very deliberate in our intentions when we're speaking with the families to try to provide them as much information as we possibly can, to be transparent and for them to know who we are that are speaking to them," he said.
The U.S. attorney for New Mexico, Alexander Uballez, announced the creation of a new Department of Justice program assigning ten attorneys and coordinators in five regions to help combat the violence and disappearances.
On Thursday and Friday, the commission will hear from relatives of the disappeared. Two more hearings are planned this summer, one in Billings, Montana and a virtual hearing online, and the commission is expected to submit recommendations to combat the crisis in the fall.
