Oklahoma tribal leaders are calling for a new FCC code to help with the MMIP crisis

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By SARAH LIESE / Oklahoma Voice

Leaders from Chickasaw, Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee and Seminole nations are urging the FCC to create a new event code to help locate missing and endangered adults – a critical tool for tribal nations affected by the MMIP crisis.

The potential code would alert the public if an adult goes missing through the IPAWS network, which sends alerts to radios, televisions and mobile phones. The leaders of the five tribes formally adopted a joint resolution in support of the move late last month.

Darcie Parton-Scoon serves on the board of the State Chapter of Oklahoma MMIP. She is also a private investigator and a citizen of the Caddo Nation. She said the new code could be good, but proper implementation is critical.

“I always hold my breath to see if the risk factors are accurately assessed during the process,” said Parton-Scoon. “So of course I support all changes and all laws. But then it’s only as good as the application.”

Parton-Scoon said Indigenous women are at greater risk of violence and sexual assault, so these warnings can be helpful. She pointed to Justice Department data showing that four in five American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced violence.

The resolution passed by the Inter-Tribal Council also emphasized the need for the code for Indian Country as a whole, citing a National Crime Information Center report that found that 2.5 percent of missing persons cases in the country applies to indigenous peoples, who make up 1.2 percent of the U.S. population.

“You never want to say one thing is more important than another,” Parton-Scoon said. “But it is also important to understand that one person, based on their socioeconomic status, is more at risk than another.”

According to the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, there are 85 Native Americans and Alaskan Natives missing in the state of Oklahoma and 19 of an unidentified race who could also be Native.

This article was originally published by KOSU.