Overview of the Resolutions Passed at NCAI’s Annual Convention Related To Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW)
The National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) thanks everyone who could travel to its 80th Annual Convention & Marketplace in New Orleans in November 2023. In addition to celebrating 80 years of advocacy, the Annual Convention witnessed the passage of several resolutions critical to the prevention and protection of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW).
NCAI resolutions are one of the policy mechanisms used to express the organizational positions on Tribal, federal, state, and/or local legislation, litigation, and policy matters that affect Tribal governments and communities. Over its 80-year history, NCAI has passed more than thirty resolutions relevant to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) and the MMIW crisis, and hundreds that aim to protect the safety of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women and peoples.
The three resolutions related to the MMIW crisis passed at the 2023 80th Annual Convention include:
NO-23-001: To Establish a National Federal Communications Commission Event Code for Missing and Endangered Persons
In acknowledgment that the existing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Event Codes for missing persons fail to account for the unique circumstances and challenges faced by missing and endangered American Indian and Alaskan Native adults, NCAI urgently petitions the FCC to establish a National Emergency Alert System (EAS) event code specifically designated for AI/AN Missing and Endangered Persons (MEP). Such a code would ensure that missing and endangered AI/AN adults who are over the age of 21 and thus not subject to Amber alerts are promptly identified and alerted via the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) to radio, television, and both wireless and wireline internet platforms. Establishing a specific event code for missing and endangered AI/AN adults would guarantee that these cases receive the alerting attention and the resources they rightly deserve, and would improve the likelihood of locating and protecting the endangered individual in a timely and effective manner. In addition to the creation of the code, the resolution calls for Congress to establish the necessary funding to support the implementation of this life-saving event code and sustain ongoing efforts to address the pressing issue of missing and endangered AI/AN adults.
NO-23-024: Opposing Federal or State Actions That Result in the Creation of a Mancamp On or Near Tribal Lands Without First Requiring the Development and Implementation of an Enforceable Community Safety Plan
In this resolution, NCAI calls on the United States Congress, federal offices and agencies, and state governments to require the development of an enforceable community safety plan as a
condition of any permit issued that would result in the development of a mancamp on tribal lands or near AI/AN communities. The Congressional Research Service defines “man camps” as “areas of temporary housing for oil and gas workers who are characteristically well paid, male and non-Indigenous.” In 2023, the Congressional Research Service found that “[l]aw enforcement often does not have the resources to serve these temporarily inflated populations and struggle to address the increase in crime” and that the “[r]rates of sexual assault, domestic violence, and human trafficking doubled or tripled in the Bakken oil-producing region of North Dakota and Montana where extractive industries were present.” This resolution aims to reduce the impact of these man camps on the surrounding AI/AN communities.
NO-23-070: Add Additional Tribal Coordinator for the Not Invisible Act Commission
NCAI supports the recommendations in the Not Invisible Act Commission report released on November 1, 2023, but it also recognizes that the work of the commission is not complete. In this resolution, NCAI calls upon Congress to extend the work of the Not Invisible Act Commission through reauthorization of the legislation. At least two full time employees are needed in the role of Coordinator to carry out the work of the Commission. The original Commission had only one Coordinator. Therefore, NCAI calls to add a second coordinator to carry out the work of the Commission and specifies that at least one of the two coordinators should be American Indian/Alaskan Native.
All three resolutions were passed on the General Assembly floor during the 80th Annual Convention in New Orleans. NCAI staff and partner organizations are committed to taking action to transform the resolutions into undisputable policies. For more information on these resolutions, email Laura Van Oudenaren at lvanoudenaren@ncai.org.
