May 5 marks the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
Native women face murder rates more than 10 times the national average. Here in Montana, Indigenous women are four times more likely to go missing.
MTN is sharing some of the stories from the MMIW crisis; some of which you might know, some of which you won't.
A Blackfeet and Hopi University of Montana PhD student is taking Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) cases into her own hands.
“I’ve just seen so many cases fall through the cracks of the justice system, and you know I'm kind of starting to get tired," Ohkomi Forensics founder and executive director Haley Omeasoo told MTN.
"I've been affected, and everyone in my community has been affected by MMIP in one way or another. I mean you ask someone if they know someone that has gone missing or been murdered, and oftentimes they'll know someone," Omeasoo detailed.
Omeasoo’s non-profit Ohkomi Forensics is re-opening cold cases by helping families search for missing loved ones on the ground.
"In the city, we can have people flying over, we can have cadaver dogs, we have FBI we have everyone on the ground, you know, just doing a lot of good work and you go back to the reservation and it's just us and the family that's out there searching," Omeasoo explained.
Plus, through an agreement with the Montana State Crime Lab, she’s analyzing DNA evidence and skeletal remains.
The goal is to create a collaborative network with law enforcement, bring more resources to reservations, plus advocacy and closure for families.
“This nonprofit, as an Indigenous person, as a woman, that you know we can kind of show people that we can we can take control over our own cases and we can have a seat at the table and you know put ourselves into these spaces," Omeasoo said.
Watch related coverage: Behind the billboards: Visibility and resources for the MMIW crisis
Omeasoo is wrapping up her PhD in Forensic and Molecular Anthropology this spring but plans to continue her partnerships with the crime lab and UM.
She is motivated by the idea that one day, all reservations will have advanced forensic testing facilities.
