We are in a time where historians and the public are no longer dismissing the “conflict history” that has been minimized or blotted out. We now have the opportunity to incorporate the racial and patriarchal experience in the presentation of American reality. That is why today we are going to talk about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The preceding episode may feature foul language and or adult content including violence which may be disturbing some listeners, or secondhand listeners. So, discretion is advised.

Today, we are not talking about California History. This is an ad free episode. We are back to our regularly scheduled episodes next week.

Have you heard of #MMIWG? The meaning behind the hashtag is Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. 95 percent of these cases were never covered by national or international media. It’s a hidden epidemic. I bring this up in light of the case of Gabby P, and the national coverage the case is getting in comparison to media coverage on the missing Indigenous women in the nation. 18% of Indigenous female homicide victims had newspaper media coverage, as compared to 51% of White homicide victims and the newspaper articles for Indigenous homicide victims were more likely to contain violent language, portray the victim in a negative light, and provide less information as compared to articles about White homicide victims. This is not different for other communities of color. Education lawyer Johnathan S. Perkins tweeted, “Name one Black woman who went missing and garnered national media attention. I’ll wait.”

Indigenous people account for less than 3% of the population in Wyoming. The largest number of Indigenous people were Eastern Shoshone and the Northern Arapaho and living on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Fremont County. There were 34 Indigenous female homicide victims between 2000 and 2020. In the latter of the 10 years, the homicide rate was 6.4 times higher than the homicide rate for White females. Despite their small percentage of the population, Indigenous people experience violence, homicide, sexual assault, and are reported missing at disproportionate rates relative to any other race/ethnicity in Wyoming. I would like to take the time to acknowledge one of this year‘s most recently vanished Indigenous Women, and she also went missing in Wyoming, just like Gabby. It’s not that there shouldn’t be concern and outrage surrounding Petito’s disappearance, but despite the fact that 40 percent of Americans reported missing are people of color, this national outcry is rarely replicated for anyone other than a white person.

Jade Keilee Wagon born Feb 3, 1996 was a Northern Arapaho tribal woman, Her Northern Arapaho Indian name was Cedar Tree Stands Alone. She stood 5‘4‘‘ tall and weighed roughly 140 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. She had a one of a kind sense of humor and you could spot her cute silly laugh in the largest crowd. Jade was a dedicated mother of two children, MaeLeah and Raphael, and was close with her family. Wagon graduated from St. Stephens Indian School in 2014 and was preparing to attend the Wind River Job Corps to learn a trade and someday have a career in the medical field. From the time she was 19 she had the privilege of being a stay at home mother.

Before she was 23, she visited the following states; Utah, Montana, Colorado, South Dakota, New Mexico as well as Florida. She loved to spend time in the mountains. Being outdoors and enjoying nature gave her the feeling of empowerment of being free. Jade was devoted to her Native Ways attending sweats, fasting, and looking for guidance. She had a strong faith that no one could take from her. She was baptized into the Catholic faith and was a devoted member of both St. Stephen’s Catholic Church and St. Margaret’s Catholic Church. She worked at the Wind River Casino for a short time. 30 minutes away from the Wind River Casino was the Shoshone Rose Casino.

On January 2nd 2