Race should not matter in search for missing women, advocate says

Sep 21, 2021, 4:18 PM | Updated: 4:18 pm

jingle dress project missing indigenous women...

Jingle Dress dancers Erin Tapahe, Joanni Begay, Sunni Bebay and Dion Tapahe stand in front of the Grand Teton wearing red masks as part of the #WhyWeWearRed campaign to draw attention to violence against Indigenous women. Photo: Eugene Tapahe -- Art Heals: The Jingle Dress Project @thejingledressproject / Instagram

SALT LAKE CITY — Indigenous people have a difficult time receiving news media attention when Native people, especially women, are reported missing. And an advocate said a person’s race should not matter when drawing that attention to the case of any missing and endangered person. 

Gabby Petito case shines light on missing women

The FBI executed a search warrant Monday morning on the North Port, Fla., home of  Brian Laundrie, who is the fiancé of Gabby Petito whose remains were likely found Sunday on the eastern edge of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.

Investigators continue to search for Laundrie, who returned home Sept. 1 to Florida without Petito, 10 days before she was reported missing according to police. 

Related:

Leading up the discovery of her remains, everyone in the country, it seemed, wanted to know where Gabby had gone.

Missing and murdered Indigenous women fare worse in Utah

But what about the missing and murdered Indigenous women in the United States? Where are they, and where are their killers?

Utah ranks eighth in the US for the number of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW). Salt Lake City ranked ninth on the list of cities with the highest number of cases of MMIW, according to Urban Indian Health Institute.  But the Salt Lake City Police Department in 2018 disputed the report and called the data “highly erroneous.”

The UIHI study listed 22 indigenous homicide victims in Salt Lake City; however, SLCPD Detective Greg Wilking said there were only two. Wilking partly blamed his department for the miscommunication.

“We’ll be the first to admit our data wasn’t great,” he said, as reported by KUER in 2018.

At least 25 missing Indigenous women in Utah

The FBI reports 565 actively missing indigenous women nationwide. According to Utah Department of Public Safety, there are 25 missing Indigenous women in Utah, as reported by KUTV in February.

Native Americans are often mislabeled in race-specific statistics in censuses, surveys and other types of data collection, according to Taylor & Francis Online. This creates a vast margin of error for research published on this issue, as Indigenous people are sometimes mislabeled as white, Latinx or “other,” says the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration.

On some reservations, Native American women are murdered at a rate more than 10 times the national average, says the US Department of Justice.

Missing almost one year 

Where is Kayla Blackbird?

 

She was last seen on Sept. 26, 2020, leaving her family’s residence in Aneth, Utah. Blackbird is 29 years old, 5-foot-2 and weighs 100 pounds. The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office is offering a $200 reward for help in locating Blackbird. If you have any information, please contact the Sheriff’s Office at 435-587-2237 or the Shiprock Police Department at 505-368-1350.

Tribal police and investigators from the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) serve as law enforcement on Native American reservations, which are sovereign nations.

Navajo advocate laments inattention from news media

Eugene Tapahe, a Navajo and managing partner and creative director at Tapahe Inventive Design & Tapahe Photography, joined KSL NewsRadio’s Dave and Dujanovic to talk about the media attention — or the lack thereof — to the plight of missing Indigenous people, especially women.

“It’s difficult for Native people to sit back and see how much publicity a non-Native girl gets when she’s missing, even if it’s less than 24 hours. . . . When there’s a native girl missing, we have to wait 24 hours. We have to wait 48 hours. We have to wait until the police say it’s OK for us to do a missing-persons report,” Tapahe said.

He hopes his Jingle Dress Project, which KSL featured in its Heart of Utah series, will lead to more awareness about missing Indigenous women. 

Asked what the media can do to improve coverage and draw the public’s attention to these stories, Tapahe said race should never matter when it comes to missing women. 

“There’s only one solution . . . that all women and girls are all treated equally in the sense that they are all, you know, precious and life-givers and sacred; they all should be treated that way,” Tapahe said. “It doesn’t matter if they’re Native or non-Native.”

You can hear the full conversation Dave and Debbie had with Eugene Tapahe below: 

Dave & Dujanovic can be heard weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon. on KSL NewsRadio. Users can find the show on the KSL NewsRadio website and app, a.s well as Apple Podcasts and Google Play.

We want to hear from you.

Have a story idea or tip? Send it to the KSL NewsRadio team here.

A screenshot from the Utah Avalanche Center website shows the approximate location of the Monte Cri...

Mariah Maynes

Monte Cristo Avalanche report details slide that killed one

A report published by Utah Avalanche Center revealed the details of the Monte Cristo avalanche, which killed one snowmobiler on Feb. 3.

1 hour ago

Water meets the southern shore of Great Salt Lake in Aug. 2024. Grow the Flow is displaying Great S...

Mariah Maynes

New Great Salt Lake billboards show lake’s status

Grow the Flow's new Great Salt Lake billboards were designed to make lake-level data more visible.

2 hours ago

A flag is raised during halftime of the NFL Kendrick Lamar Super Bowl 59 football game between the ...

JON GAMBRELL Associated Press

What’s happening in the Gaza Strip and Sudan that sparked a protest at the Super Bowl halftime show?

A brief protest by a performer at Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl halftime show unfurled a flag emblazoned with the words Sudan and Gaza.

11 hours ago

SpaceX launched 23 Starlink satellites from California on Feb. 10, 2025. They could be seen from so...

Carlysle Price

SpaceX launch seen soaring across southern Utah

According to SpaceX, 23 Starlink satellites were launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base at approximately 7:09 p.m. Mountain Time.

13 hours ago

FILE- A large soft drink with a plastic straw from a McDonald's restaurant is shown in Surfside, Fl...

Associated Press

Trump pushes for plastic straws, declares paper ones ‘don’t work’

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is moving to reverse a federal push away from plastic straws, declaring that paper straws “don’t work.” Trump signed an executive order Monday, saying: “It’s a ridiculous situation. We’re going back to plastic straws” The move by Trump — who has long railed against paper straws, and whose 2019 […]

13 hours ago

Clearfield High School's Leah Crossley, left, and Northridge High School's Anabelle Ure study medic...

Heather Peterson

Utah’s house speaker seeks funding for technical education

Utah House Speaker Mike Schultz is looking to give Utah high school students more technical education opportunities.

14 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

Full speed through the snow. A man on skis is pulled by his through the snow at full gallop Skijori...

Bear Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau

Get ready for an unforgettable skijoring adventure in Bear Lake!

“Skijoring the Bear” takes place this year on February 21-22 in Garden City, Utah.

the bedroom in a geodesic dome shows the night sky...

Clear Sky Resorts Bryce Canyon

Your front row to an extraordinary cosmos show

As America's first glass dome stargazing resort, Clear Sky Resorts Bryce Canyon is one of the world’s most unique and spectacular places to stay.

2 people huddled up in a blanket and warm clothes sipping hot chocolate...

Bear Lake Convention & Visitors Bureau

The best ways to spend your Christmas vacation in Bear Lake

If you're dreaming of a white Christmas this year, Bear Lake should definitely be on your radar. Read this guide for more!

big crowd of people under holiday lights in an outdoor market...

Western Nut

Our favorite family Christmas activities in Utah

We gathered up a list of our favorite activities, movies, and treats to try this holiday season that the whole family can enjoy.

an IT tech looks at a laptop in front of a server network...

Comcast Business

Tips to protect yourself from phishing attacks

Check out this resource from Comcast Business to learn more about phishing attacks and how to protect yourself from becoming a victim of one.

A surprise gift, wrapped and ready to bring holiday cheer! Whether for Christmas, a birthday, or an...

Western Nut

10 Holiday Gift Ideas to cover everyone on your list

This guide is for you if you need holiday gift ideas that will make a lasting impression. 

Race should not matter in search for missing women, advocate says