‘Murder in Big Horn’ examines deaths of Native women

a pattern: Girls go missing after going out with friends, a search yields nothing and then later their bodies are found, often in public areas or areas that had been searched.

Inevitably the cause of death is either unable to be determined or ruled as hypothermia.

The documentary focuses on four teens and young women: Henny Scott, 14, who went missing in 2018; Shacaiah Harding, 20, in 2018; Kaysera Stops Pretty Places, 18, in 2019; and Selena Not Afraid, 16, in 2020. Each had problems at home that might have made them vulnerable.

It’s an effective narrative decision – delving into the lives, troubled and otherwise, of these young women puts a face on the problem. And it is a problem. Brien calls Big Horn County the “most dangerous place for Native people in the country.” There are 82 MMIW cases in the area.

Yet in an interview with Eric Winburn, the former county undersheriff, he says he doesn’t even believe there is such a thing as MMIW. Instead, he says, Native people won’t take responsibility for problems in their own community. (Winburn is the only law-enforcement officer to agree to be interviewed.)

Benally and Galkin tell the story in the format of the true-crime genre while also making it something more than that. Indeed, as Brien says, “These cases are not true-crime stories to us. These cases are our relatives.”

Hers, as well – her aunt, Beverly Diane “Dee Dee” Brien – went missing in 1977. There is a moving scene in which Luella Brien takes her daughter to the fairgrounds where her aunt was last seen alive. It’s a passing of a complicated torch, seemingly.

Robert Kurtzman, the county’s medical examiner, stands by his findings, not surprisingly, but also acknowledges that in some cases foul play can’t be ruled out. Entangled jurisdictional issues complicate the investigations. But it’s impossible to escape the feeling that, left to traditional authorities, there’s a lot of wheel-spinning going on here.

The directors delve into the history of the Crow people and how the U.S. government stripped them of their traditions and their identity, as it did with so many Native people. Women were particularly powerful in the Crow nation, yet have been forced into identities where they are seen as disposable. It is a sad crumbling of a social structure, and “Murder in Big Horn” doesn’t shy away from showing it.

Henny Scott’s death serves as a kind of catalyst for more community involvement when other girls go missing. But results remain elusive. Brien begins her own investigation and turns up some interesting insights. She is stymied, however, by reluctance on the part of family members and other members of the community to talk.

At least she’s trying. And perhaps that is the feeling we’re left with most in “Murder in Big Horn” – a feeling that something must be done, and gratitude for those who are doing it.