May 5 marks the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, also known as Missing-Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP). Native women face murder rates more than 10 times the national average. Here in Montana, Indigenous women are four times more likely to be reported missing. MTN is sharing some of the stories from the MMIP crisis.
PABLO — When families are grieving a loved one, often they also have to do their own advocacy work. In order to make that process easier, Just Indigenous Corporate Services steps in.
"We are working for these families, and you've probably heard of a lot of our cases, but you haven't heard of us yet. This is why, because we like to keep the decedent, our client, the missing person at the forefront of everything and highlight them," Erica Shelby with Just Indigenous Corporate Services told MTN.
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With so many Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) cases in Montana, each process is unique. The group utilizes connections to take the investigation burden off of families.
"We not only bring some legal expertise, some organizing expertise, but we also try to cultivate relationships with the authorities and the families. We do it in a way where we are culturally competent to our area and to our region," Shelby explained.
Just Indigenous Corporate Services has been privately funded so far. Families utilizing services do not have to pay anything out of pocket.
"We don't ever charge indigenous families for the work we do," Shelby said.
They work solely with Indigenous contractors, conduct interviews, liaise with police and attorneys, and act as what they say is a necessary link in the chain for justice.
"We believe that to solve this problem that it has to be led from within by indigenous people, at all turning points of the work, but that we can't do it without our allies, that it takes all of us," Shelby said.
The group says they hope to change the trajectory of the justice system, bettering investigations for MMIW cases and removing racial bias.
“If you need organizing, if you need a movement, if you need legislation written, if you need anything like that, then we can go to our contractors and make sure that gets done for you," Shelby detailed.
Just Indigenous Corporate Services is setting up a contact email and accepting clients if you need a family liaison or help investigating a family member’s disappearance or death.
