Eastern Washington University students, faculty and staff continue to be powerful allies in the fight to raise awareness of violent crimes and abductions in Indian Country, where complex jurisdictional issues sometimes allow perpetrators to escape justice.
During a May 5 campus rally supporting the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People (MMIW/P) dozens of university community members and guests gathered to show their support. The event drew tribal members from across Washington, Montana, and Idaho, along with students from area high schools and colleges.
Evanlene Melting Tallow, program coordinator and recruiter for EWU’s American Indian Studies Program, started the campus rally three years ago after talking with students in the Native American Student Association (now renamed the Native American Student Coalition, or NASC).
This year, Melting Tallow led a team of 15 NASC members and work-study students in organizing the event, which included a march, resource fair, guest speakers and a segment to honoring the victims. The students, she noted, are deeply committed to the cause.
One student went above and beyond by reaching out to nonprofits and securing their participation in the resource fair. Thanks to her efforts, organizations including Kaiser Health, Lutheran Community Services, Transitions, and the YWCA set up booths at the rally, offering support and resources for those who may have experienced domestic violence.
The event, Melting Tallow said, “is about awareness, and about being an advocate for our Indigenous people who are dealing with loss.”
Sebastian Whiz-Smartlowit, a 19-year-old freshman from Wapato, Washington, is studying political science with a focus on pre-law. He volunteers with NASC, helping with communications and special projects. For Whiz-Smartlowit, a member of the Yakama Tribe, helping with the National Day of Awareness for MMIW/P is personal – as his own aunt is among the missing.
“There’s something visceral about losing a family member, especially when you already feel like you are marginalized,” Whiz-Smartlowit said. “There’s something so intense about that and it’s not talked about. It’s almost like an inhumane feeling.”
He channels these emotions into poetry, which he shared during the campus rally.
“There are many families out there who don’t have answers, and I want to give an understanding for people like that and situations that are just so circumstantial and need context, Whiz-Smartlowit said. “There are just so many factors that go into the movement.”
Margo Hill, director of EWU’s American Indian Studies Program and associate professor of urban and regional planning, has been involved in the MMIW/P movement for eight years.
She oversees EWU student researchers who map counties and locations where indigenous people disappear. The maps provide powerful visuals for presentations to educate lawmakers, Washington’s Department of Transportation employees, tribal members and others who can make a difference.
Because Indigenous women often travel alone from cities, where they work or attend school, back to their rural reservations to visit family and attend ceremonies, they are at heightened risk of abduction and trafficking. This intersects with transportation, she said, as it is about how indigenous people move about and what makes them vulnerable.
Hill was also appointed to serve on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Human Trafficking Task Force, where she brings a much-need perspective as a tribal member, a former tribal attorney and a transportation expert. Closer to home, she has trained Washington State Department of Transportation employees on how to spot signs of human trafficking taking place rest stops and other public places.
Hill noted that progress has been made as Indigenous people have been elected and appointed to serve in key leadership roles. In 2024, five U.S. attorneys were appointed to prosecute MMIW/P cases nationwide.
In the northwest, Hill points to assistant U.S. Attorney Bree Black Horse, who is based in Yakima, Washington and is actively prosecuting MMIW/P cases.
“There’s lots of good work happening,” Hill said. “Fortunately, my job at Eastern has allowed me to do research and work that matters.”
Photos taken by Aaron Weer.
