To: Board of Supervisors
From: Supervisor Natalie Arroyo
Agenda Section: Consent
Vote Requirement: Majority
SUBJECT:
title
Proclamation for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Month in Humboldt County
end
RECOMMENDATION(S):
Recommendation
That the Board of Supervisors:
1. Adopt the Proclamation.
Body
STRATEGIC PLAN:
This action supports the following areas of your Board's Strategic Plan.
Area of Focus: Safe & Healthy Communities
Strategic Plan Category: 9999 - Core Services/Other
DISCUSSION:
The Board of Supervisors would like to recognize that nationally, May is MMIP Awareness Month and May 5 is Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Awareness Day. The Board wishes to increase awareness of missing or murdered Indigenous persons, whose cases far too often go unsolved, by proclaiming May as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons month in Humboldt County.
Research indicates that California has the largest population of Native Americans, more than any other state in the country and Humboldt County is home to many Indigenous Tribes, including the Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria, Big Lagoon Rancheria, Blue Lake Rancheria, Hoopa Valley Tribe, Karuk Tribe, Pulikla Tribe of Yurok People, Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria, Wiyot Tribe and Yurok Tribe, among others. MMIP cases often go unsolved for a number of reasons, lack of data and public awareness, a lack of funding for law enforcement and a lack of coordination among federal, state, Tribal and local law enforcement agencies that could assist in resolving cases.
Since data tracking of MMIP is scarce, the actual number of cases is unknown. However, statistics show that American Indian and Alaska Native women face murder rates 10 times higher than the national average and that cases of murdered and missing Indigenous women are seven times less likely to be solved than any other demographic.
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