Hanna Harris, a citizen of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, went missing from her reservation in July 2013 and was found murdered. Courtesy photo
The Northern Cheyenne Tribe is observing National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls on May 5. President L. Jace Killsback will be joined by Sen. Steve Daines (R-Montana) and the mother of Hanna Harris, a young citizen who was murdered in 2013, for a walk on the reservation on Friday morning. Participants will start at the Bureau of Indian Affairs office and finish at the Little Wolf Capitol Building in Lame Deer. The event honors the life of Harris, who was only 21 years old when she went missing on the reservation in July 2013. She was found murdered a few days later, the Native Sun News reported that year. Two people were eventually brought to justice for the crime but advocates for missing and murdered indigenous women and girls say most cases go unsolved. They also point to a lack of data regarding the number of victims. Daines is working to raise awareness of the issue and has introduced legislation two years in a row to designate May 5 as National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls. This year's bill is S.Res.60. "Too many families in Indian Country have known that unimaginable suffering” when a loved one goes missing, Daines said at a briefing hosted by Native women in Washington, D.C., earlier this year. Government Accountability Office Report:
Action Needed to Identify the Number of Native American Victims Receiving Federally-funded Services (April 6, 2017) National Institute of Justice Report:
Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and Men (May 2016)
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