Adorned with red handprints across their mouths and carrying signs bearing the faces of the missing, hundreds gathered last Thursday at the Capitol in Juneau.
Elected officials and Alaska Native dignitaries spoke before a solemn crowd amid flags bearing the red hand symbolizing the missing and murdered Indigenous persons awareness movement. The rally was held on Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day.
“I think the turnout was great. The message was shared across the state. … It’s gaining more attention on national levels through political streams,” said Jamiann Hasselquist, who took part in in the rally. “That’s exactly what we need. We need other people to amplify our Indigenous voices and come up with solutions for this epidemic.”
Speakers emphasized the need to reinforce the values that made the Alaska Native cultures resilient. Native Americans and Alaska Natives experience some of the highest rates of violence in the country, and Native women and girls in particular sustain appallingly high rates of sexual and gender-based violence in addition to disappearances, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.
The issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people has been a contentious one in Alaska, with critics calling for more attention to the problem.
President Joe Biden recently signed an executive order ordering multiple federal departments to work directly with tribes in order to improve public safety and criminal justice for Indigenous people.
“People are still looking for answers. With Anne Sears coming back onto the force, I’m really excited to see what kind of work she’s going to do and what she’s going to accomplish,” said Hasselquist. “There’s a lot of cases that have been mishandled, and in my opinion neglected. I’m hoping she can get some answers for the cases but more importantly for the families.”
Anne Sears, newly announced investigator for the state of Alaska’s missing or murdered persons initiative, spoke during the rally. Sears, who is Alaska Native, began her career at the Juneau Police Department before going on to a 22-year career in the state troopers, retiring and transitioning to the new initiative in April. The program is funded by a federal grant.
Native speakers voiced their appreciation for the support, but urged officials to work with Alaska Natives on their terms to stop the scourge.
“We have heard you, those who are working for the state. You want to help us,” said community elder Paul Marks. “Work with us with kindness and respect. We don’t want to be talked down to. We don’t want to be treated like children. We are a proud people. A strong people.”
Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska offers logistical support for families conducting search and rescue, Hasselquist said. There’s also the Red Blanket Fund, administered by the Na’ah Illahee Fund, which offers financial assistance in the form of a grant to Native American and Alaska Native families searching for a missing family member, or dealing with the many steps that come after the search.
Sears said some of her work will involve taking a new look at cases and seeing if something was missed, while also establishing new partnerships to bridge the gap between the Native communities and state government.
“That is one of my goals before I re-retire is to establish partnerships with our tribes here in Alaska,” she said.
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