The awards were part of a second round of state funding given to federally recognized tribes in the state to address what California Gov. Gavin Newsom called a crisis.
“Too many Native people, many of them women and girls, are missing with no answer,” Mr. Newsom said in a press release Thursday. “Behind each Missing and Murdered Indigenous Person case is a family and community grieving a loved one. These grants will support tribal governments in helping those families find peace—and in stemming this tragic epidemic.”
A state budget passed in 2022 established the grant program to support tribes’ efforts to identify, collect data, publicize, investigate and solve cases and improve communication with state, local, federal and tribal law enforcement.
There have been at least 165 cases in California of missing or murdered Indigenous persons since 1900, according to a 2020 report by the Yurok Tribal Court—which sets and interprets Yurok laws for the Yurok Tribe in Northern California—and the Sovereign Bodies Institute, a research organization addressing violence against Indigenous people.
California, according to the report, is fifth in the nation for such cases.
Additionally, 84 percent of native women and 82 percent of native men will experience violence in their lifetimes, according to the governor’s press release. Such cases are seven times less likely to be solved than any other group, and native women are murdered at rates more than 10 times the national average, according to the press release.
Some of the work funded by this round of grants includes $1 million for the Pit River Tribe to develop support and resources for family members whose loved one is missing.
The Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indian Nation, located near the north end of the Salton Sea in Southern California, will use its $500,000 grant to establish a small home village, for safety reasons, for unhoused members and a culturally sensitive living environment for the tribe’s most vulnerable members.
The Pechanga Band of Indians, located near Temecula in Southern California, was awarded nearly $1 million and plans to hire a law enforcement investigator, a human trafficking coordinator, and a social worker versed in commercial sexual exploitation to respond to runaway youth, missing people, and victims of human trafficking.
In the first round of funding awarded last year, four tribes were awarded a total of $2.8 million to address the issue.
The Yurok Tribe was awarded $1 million to help pay for a project called “Yurok To’ Kee Skuy’ Soo Ney-Wo-Chek,” which translates to “I will see you again in a good way.” The project created a database on missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit people in California, and for improved investigations and enhanced protections.
Located in Northern California near Klamath City, an unincorporated community of about 600 in Del Norte County, the tribe has held summits the past three years with other tribes and state officials to discuss the issue.
According to the tribe, at least 20 missing or murdered Indigenous people are recorded every year in Northern California, but the actual number, it says, is significantly higher.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta is working with tribes in the state to improve the quality of data and spoke at this year’s summit, the tribe reported.
The state has set aside an additional $13.25 million for a third round of awards in its 2024-25 budget, which started July 1 and ends June 30, 2025.
