After the initial grief of losing her daughter to a hit-and-run driver on the Flathead Indian Reservation, Carissa HeavyRunner faced months of inaction by local law enforcement to adequately investigate and charge the person responsible. Her frustration grew into a personal mission to see justice served. HeavyRunner’s story is one of the chief complaints by Native Americans who have lost a loved one and wake up every day without any progress toward getting any answers. We’ll learn about some outstanding Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) cases and the effort to improve the statistics in spite of law enforcement foot-dragging.

GUESTS

Adrian Jackson (Yakama). eldest son of Mona Vallo

Carissa HeavyRunner (Blackfeet and Diné), founder of Mika Matters, MMIP advocate

Ahli-sha Stephens (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), co-host of “We Are Resilient: A MMIW True Crime Podcast”

Sheyahshe Littledave (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians), co-host of “We Are Resilient: A MMIW True Crime Podcast”

Darlene Gomez, attorney and activist for MMIP

Break 1 Music: Remember Me (song) Fawn Wood (artist) Kikāwiynaw (album)

Break 2 Music: Chicken Dance (song) Blackfoot Confederacy (artist) Confederacy Style (album)