Long before the Montana you and I have come to know, this land was widely inhabited by the Nakoda, Nakona, Lakota, Sioux, Apsáalooke, Anishinaabe, Pikuni, Métis, Tsetsehesestahase, So’taa’eo’o, A’aninin, Ne-i-yah-wahk, Ksanka, Qlispe, and Salish people.

Though Native Americans inhabited Montana for an estimated 12,000 years before colonizers appeared, Indigenous people have been dangerously overlooked and underserved. Today, it is especially important to be aware of the Native history and culture which American expansion and colonization minimized, and to be cognizant of issues still present today as a result of a brutal history. One such issue includes Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) in Montana. The tragedy of MMIP in Montana magnifies historical devaluation of Native culture, tradition, and autonomy.

In 1953, Blackfeet Elder Chewing Black Bones related the Blackfeet tribe creation story to reporter Ella E. Clark. Chewing Black Bones told the story of Old Man, the creator, who formed the earth as he moved across it. The story continues to explain landforms and plants, the pronghorn and the mountain goat, and their place in the world as determined by Old Man.

“Then Old Man comes to humans,” Chewing Black Bones said. He continued, “One day, Old man decided that he would make a woman and a child. So, he formed them both of clay — the woman and the child, her son.”

Chewing Black Bones continued “After he had molded the clay in human shape, he said to it, ‘You must be people.’ And then he covered it up and went away. The next morning, he went to the place, took off the covering, looked at the images, and said, ‘Arise and walk,’ They did so. They walked down to the river with their Maker, and then he told them that his name was Napi, Old Man. This is how we came to be people. It is he who made us.”

The story continues and tells, in part, the relationship between the earth and the people — how important their relationship to the land is, how the land intertwines with their being.

The land is now scarred by treaties, battles, and loss.

Representative Tyson Running Wolf of Montana’s House District 16 said there’s often contention occurring between tribes and government “because tribes are always trying to fight to maintain their sovereignty, maintain their relationship with the land.”

This relationship creates a point of tension within the missing persons issue. According to Running Wolf, “states don’t have no jurisdiction on tribal lands. And tribes don’t have no jurisdiction on state lands, except if they have treaty rights. So, there’s always this tug and pull, and crack implementing in using our sovereignty to establish who we are and maintain who we are in the United States governmental structure.”

Running Wolf asserted that a lack of education results in conflict when trying to address Native issues. Running Wolf said, “I think, if people understood then actually came onto reservations, or had people that were trainers, that went to them and showed them in our shared cultural knowledge, cultural exchanges, they would see why we’re in the situation we are, of all the treaties and historical trauma that treaties and agreements have caused for Native Americans.”

According to a data report by Montana’s Department of Justice (DOJ), 6.5% of the state’s population is Native, yet Indigenous persons account for 31% of missing cases. The DOJ also stated that in 2021, there were 650 missing persons cases in Montana. MMIP do not receive the same media coverage or lawful attention as other missing and murdered cases throughout the United States (U.S).

Montana Indians; Their History and Location is a publication released by the Montana Office of Public Instruction Division of Indian Education which states that the 12 tribes in Montana are recognized as sovereign nations by the U.S. This means that tribes have authority to self-govern. Treaties continue to shape legal standings and proceedings between tribal and federal governments.

Though there are 12 nations present in Montana, there are only seven reservations. These include the Flathead, Blackfeet, Rocky Boy, Fort Belknap, Fort Peck, Crow, and Little Shell Reservations. The treaties between tribal and federal governments resulted in the seven reservations inhabited today. As a result of settlers moving west, and the U.S. government’s continuous realization of land value in Montana, reservation areas shrunk exponentially.

Harold Dusty Bowl, a contributor of the publication Montana Indians: Their History and Location, wrote, “As long as the people continue to appreciate what the creator gave them, there will continue to be disagreement over stewardship of the land that was occupied by this great nation.”

One example of this is when the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 set aside a large area for Blackfeet tribes, but presidential orders and congressional acts largely decreased lands occupiable by the Blackfeet tribes in 1873 and 1874. Due to a decrease in buffalo populations, the Blackfeet tribe stagnantly occupied Blackfeet reservation lands to abate starvation. Blackfeet reservation lands continued to lessen. Eventually, the land separated into the current Blackfeet, Fort Belknap, and Fort Peck Reservations. Another contributor to the Montana Office of Public Instruction Division of Indian Education publication, Analicia Pianca, wrote, “The Crow have always felt that the U.S. government failed to give them adequate compensation for the land it acquired.”

Though Montana’s 12 tribes are recognized as sovereign nations, the U.S. government has a history of disrespecting the culture, history, and rights of tribes. This is evident in the United States’ historical aims of westward expansion and the consistent squeezing and stripping of tribes and their relation to land and culture.

The involvement of Native voices active in Montana’s state governmental structures has begun to adjust this narrative and bring Native issues to the consciousness of local politics.

In 2019, Representative Rae Peppers introduced Hanna’s Act, which authorized the DOJ to assist with the investigations of all missing persons cases in Montana. The act was named after Hanna Harris, who was murdered in 2013 on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, Montana. Hanna’s Act set the groundwork for MMIP Task Force to come to fruition.

As the Montana DOJ records, the MMIP Task Force held community meetings to listen and receive feedback from the tribal communities and families on missing Indigenous persons. They identified four themes among Native American communities concerning the topic; these included limited law enforcement resources, a lack of standard protocols when a person is reported missing, a lack of communication between law enforcement and families as well as between agencies, and a lack of accountability of system-based agencies.

In 2020, Montana’s DOJ and Attorney General’s Office conducted an in-depth review of missing persons. The goal of this review was to “help law enforcement agencies locate missing persons, inform policymakers to craft better solutions, and help communities prevent people from going missing.” The review found that of 5,570 missing person entries, 80.5% of the individuals were under the age of 18.

On December 28, 2018, Henny Scott was found dead in the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation, 20 days after she had gone missing. Henny Scott was 14 years old.

On August 29, 2019, Kaysera Stops Pretty Places was found dead in a Hardin, Montana neighborhood, five days after she went missing. Kaysera Stops Pretty Places was 18 years old.

On January 20, 2020, Selena Not Afraid was found dead near a rest stop between Billings and Hardin 19 days after she had gone missing. Selena Not Afraid was 16 years old.

As it currently stands, the function of the MMIP task force is primarily to create a database reporting on missing Indigenous persons. As per House Bill 163, necessary data reported annually must include the number of individuals reported to the MMIP database, the number of individuals recovered as a result of the database and looping in the Native Communities Network grant program, and the number of individuals searched for and recovered as a result of missing persons response teams. The annual report also includes analysis, by year of the characteristics of missing persons — including characteristics like age, gender, time missing, and the estimated cause. This task force was formed through legislation in 2019.

The aim of House Bill 83 (HB 83), sponsored by Running Wolf, is to institute a state revenue account for the Montana Indigenous People Task Force. Drafting for the bill began in September 2024, and now it is in enrolling status. This means it has passed in the House and Senate and now awaits a response from Governor Greg Gianforte.

“We feel 100% that the governor will sign this bill. We’re excited to be there for the signing day,” said Running Wolf. The bill came about per request of the State Tribal Relations Committee, a legislative committee which “acts as a liaison” between tribal governments and the states.

Previously, if a donation or grant was awarded to the task force, it was absorbed into the state’s general fund. Therefore, it was at the discretion of the state how these funds were actually allocated.

HB 83 passed through Montana’s House and Senate with a $1 appropriation from general state funds to a special revenue account for the task force. While $1 won’t fund the task force, it is substantial enough to activate a special revenue account. Running Wolf stated, “it allows private donors, other entities, tribal organizations, philanthropy, funders, other nonprofits, to go ahead and make donations to that account, and that’s what we’re wanting, because a lot of people were coming forward and saying, We want to help the missing Montana missing Indigenous persons Task Force do a good job. And so that’s why they needed to. That’s the mechanism of opening that account — that $1.” Now, the task force has an insured location for funds.

Although the bill does not depend on state funding, the Appropriations Committee has discussed allocating general funds from the state account to the new special revenue account, according to Running Wolf.

Though it passed with a great majority, HB 83 was not proposed without opposition. Newly elected 20-year-old representative, Lukas Schubert from north Kalispell, Montana offered amendments to the bill. These amendments would prevent the state of Montana from appropriating funds for the special revenue account. Not only would this prevent the Appropriations Committee from allocating state funds to the task force, but it would prevent the special revenue account from activation.

On the topic of opposition to forward progress for MMIP, Running Wolf said, “In some in some parts of Montana and other in even in the United States, there is the thinking that Indians don’t pay taxes — that Native Americans aren’t citizens, that Native Americans get a free ride and a free check, that Native Americans shouldn’t receive state funds because they get all this federal money, which is all wrong. That’s all wrong.”

According to the Montana Legal Services Association, tribal membership “does not exempt Native Americans from federal taxation.” Still, there are some tribal income sources which are not taxable. For example, income collected from the sale of crops or minerals extracted “from the land” is not federally taxable.

Still, there are those who don’t see MMIP as a state issue. “They just think that’s an Indian issue. They need to deal with it themselves, and we don’t need to fund that, and we just need to turn a blind eye to that,” said Running Wolf.

He suggested that with the disproportionate rate of missing populations, it becomes “a problem for everybody in the state. And so, it is a problem that we all need to address in the state of Montana.” It is imperative to pay attention to Indigenous issues and acknowledge the people who were born from this land long before generational farmers and transplants alike. Although the legal system has historically failed and hurt Native populations in Montana, a brighter, safer future may be on the horizon due to the work of activists and representatives like Rae Peppers and Running Wolf.

Currently, Running Wolf continues his work to strengthen the state infrastructure to address MMIP. Running Wolf said, “I am bringing some other legislation on actually adding, instead of just missing, we’re actually adding murdered on to that. So, it’ll be Montana, missing murdered Indigenous persons, and it’s not a task force. It’s actually going to be called an advisory board, and also a victim’s advocate, specialist for missing Indigenous persons and murdered Indigenous persons. So, families and victims them-selves will have somebody to turn to to get answers a lot sooner than waiting for local law enforcement agencies that may not provide that support they need.”