Sacramento Bee takes steps to create California MMIP database
A survey launched this spring focuses on gathering community input to build a database of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People in California.
By Christine Trudeau
On April 30 of this year, The Sacramento Bee’s Equity Lab launched a survey to begin gathering data to create a database of missing and murdered Indigenous peoples in California.
Emma Hall (Cherokee/Blackfeet) is the Equity Reporter for the Sac Bee, working with the Equity Lab team, overseeing the project. There is no deadline or end date for the survey, Hall says, and adds that they’re “keeping it open as we report the MMIP Project out.”
“This survey will serve as a starting point for the database and is for those affected by the MMIP epidemic in California,” the Sac Bee’s google form reads. “We’re looking for families of a loved one who has gone missing or has been killed and survivors.”
The project’s stated aim is to find out why, “California ranks fifth in the country for the most MMIP cases.” The ranking was pulled from a 2018 study by the Urban Indian Health Institute (UIHI). The report details data collected from cities across the country, including 12 in California. Of the top ten cities with the highest number of MMIWG cases, of the 71 total surveyed, San Francisco ranked number ten. The UIHI report also states that the number of cases found in the data was likely an undercount, due to several factors including a lack of records to inconclusive datasets where individuals might be racially misclassified. The UIHI report also found that of the MMIWG cases included in their study, that “one-quarter of the total number of cases were covered by local, regional, or national media.”
In 2023, the State of California made MMIP grant funds available to assist federally recognized tribes in the state with investigations into missing and murdered Indigenous persons, and is currently in its selection process for the second cohort of grant recipients.
California Assemblymember James Ramos (Serrano/Cahuilla) has also announced three pieces of legislation he is sponsoring that seek to address MMIP in the state. A May 23 press release from Ramos’ office states that the, “three proposals to increase safety in California’s Indian Country and reduce the disparate numbers of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) are headed to the Senate this week as California works to reduce its fifth-highest in the nation unresolved MMIP case load.”
The Sac Bee’s google form goes on to state that it is their, “hope that by sharing these stories, we can empower Native communities and families.”
Survey Link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfDyT5ol8DqfxgDucjYaTeKwlvE82sUexlouTfvAkfPfoPeOw/viewform
Social Media Posts:
X: https://twitter.com/emmahhall1/status/1785364471046943053
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7191141759144333312/
This piece was reported and written with the support of an Ethnic Media Outreach Grant, made possible by the Stop the Hate initiative, funded by the California State Library (CSL) in partnership with the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs (CAPIAA). To learn more about Stop the Hate or to report a hate incident, visit stopthehateca.org.
