DOJ officials visit Nome to talk about MMIP work
Federal officials from the U.S. Department of Justice made a threeday visit to Nome last week to discuss the missing and murdered Indigenous peoples (MMIP) crisis with a variety of stakeholders. Ingrid Cumberlidge was appointed by the U.S. Attorney’s office in July 2020 to be one of 11 MMIP coordinators across the nation. Her region covers all of Alaska. Cumberlidge’s visit coincided with a national day of awareness for MMIP, and it was her second trip since assuming the coordinator role. “I was struck the first time, and I was struck this time, with how committed people are to the concerns with missing and murdered Indigenous people,” Cumberlidge said in an interview with the Nugget on Thursday afternoon. Cumberlidge was accompanied by Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney E. Bryan Wilson and Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Vandergaw, both serving the District of Alaska. They coordinated with Kawerak to hold listening sessions and they met with various groups, including tribal representatives from the surrounding villages, school administrators and the Nome Police Department. While these meetings were aimed at finding solutions and identifying areas where resources are needed, federal officials are still simply trying to build trust by listening to stories about MMIP in the region. “Nome has a long history of Indigenous people going missing and being murdered, including by local law enforcement,” said Sigvanna (Meghan) Topkok, a staff attorney with Kawerak. “There’s a lot of grief in the region, there’s a lot of trauma, a lot of hurt. To an extent, you do have to have a lot of conversations, you have to have the words to know how to talk about it, and you have to understand the history of colonization in the region and the impacts of different institutions like churches, missionaries, and even the city and other actors that have contributed to the hurt that families have built over generations. But I think we’re starting to release that and trying to figure out solutions. A lot of the conversations we’ve had with Ingrid have been trying to get everything out on the table and then figuring out, what do we do with it? How do we move forward?” Kawerak is expanding its tribal court capacity in the region, Topkok said, and “trying to take back control of safe public safety in our communities.” But state and federal agencies will still be involved in major criminal cases, like when somebody goes missing, is murdered or is kidnapped. Part of the challenge is figuring out how to partner with those agencies to see better outcomes, to see these cases be taken seriously and to rebuild trust within the community, she said. Cumberlidge explained that when she is contacted about a specific case right now, the U.S. Attorney’s Office will review that case. The office will then contact the lead law enforcement and often the state law enforcement let them know about the concerns, to get a status update and to offer any federal and other resources that might be available to support them in the investigation efforts, she said. The Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Missing and Murdered Unit Special Agent, the FBI, and the U.S. Marshal Service are sometimes notified about the inquiry when it’s appropriate, Cumberlidge added. But the U.S. Attorney’s Office is still working on ways to review old cases. “We are trying to get a working group established with various stakeholders so that we can have a method for people to bring us cases, and then we’ll try to work through them,” said Wilson. “These would be the ones that are called cold cases that are not being investigated anymore.” Until June 30, Cumberlidge’s office is also taking recommendations for how to improve the response to active MMIP cases. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska published guidelines for these cases last August in accordance with Savanna’s Act, a federal law that was signed in October 2020 and had been co-sponsored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Though the guidelines are not legally binding, they offer best practices on the collection, reporting and analysis of MMIP data. These standards include the culturally appropriate handling of human remains and ensuring access to victim services. All comments and recommendations to improve MMIP response across the state can be submitted to the U.S. Attorney’s Office or by email to Ingrid.Cumberlidge@usdoj.gov.