MMIWR

The public won’t be allowed to make comments at a state-run meeting this week about a crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people.

It is unclear who is on a state advisory council on missing and murdered Indigenous people announced nearly eight months ago by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham amid upset over her decision to disband a task force focused on the crisis.

Lawmakers and advocates came together over the weekend to celebrate Indigenous Women’s Day at the Roundhouse.

Five New Mexico lawmakers want the state attorney general to establish a task force focused on missing and murdered Indigenous people.

The request is a response to a wide-ranging action plan the now-defunct state Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives Task Force published last year.

Native American women in New Mexico have the highest rate of homicide among all racial and ethnic groups, and Albuquerque and Gallup are among the top ten cities in the United States for missing and murdered cases. The federal Not Invisible Act Commission recently visited Albuquerque to hear from stakeholders. On the next Let’s Talk New Mexico, we’ll discuss what still needs to be addressed.

It is the latest of several hearings by the U.S. Interior Department has held in areas with high Indigenous populations.

The Navajo Nation Council is calling on Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to withdraw her appointment of a former governor of San Ildefonso Pueblo as Indian Affairs cabinet secretary. Passed unanimously last week by the tribe’s governing body, the resolution adds to growing opposition to James Mountain as Lujan Grisham’s pick to head the state agency.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced earlier this month the appointment of the former governor of Pueblo de San Ildefonso James R. Mountain to lead the state’s Department of Indian Affairs. As he awaits confirmation by the state Senate in the remaining weeks of the legislative session, New Mexico In Depth’s Bella Davis reports Indigenous women leaders are fighting his nomination.