The feeling of being unsafe in public places is something young women struggle with in America nowadays. The media has painted a picture in my mind that I could potentially be taken at any time in public by some creepy guy or girl, but no one would look for me. I could be “lost” for years but the media will not say a word about it. Unlike the situation with Gabby Petito where the whole nation was searching for her. The topic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women has been around for at least half a decade now, yet nothing has really been done to solve any of these cases.

One case that has really caught my attention was about a missing Indigenous man that was from Zuni. I didn't hear much advocating about finding missing Indigenous men until I read this article I had come across as I was scrolling through social media. It was about a man named Travis Nastacio who was 51 at the time. His body was found in the trunk of a burning car. This car was found off Pipeline Road in an isolated area north of Church Rock. This case happened during July the year of 2019. It is going to be three years since this has happened and I have not seen or heard anything about this. Mr. Nastacio’s case I’m sure is not the only case out here in the village that “has gone cold”.

During the start of the COVID-19 pandemic began I remember hearing news about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous women. It is something that really caught my attention because I had never heard about it or even thought about it. One of the things that I saw in the news that related to this topic was the arrest of Jeffery Epstein. I understood that Epstein was a convicted sex offender back in 2008, and had owned a ranch here in New Mexico. (I believe the name was Zorro Ranch.) What really got me thinking was since Epstein was a convicted sex offender and there are thousands of unsolved cases of Indigenous women gone missing, there could be a connection. A connection that Epstein and his partner, Ghislaine Maxwell, might have taken Native women from their homelands and brought them to this ranch. I understand that Ghislaine was found guilty of sex trafficking along side Epstein.

Another thing that also really got me thinking that there could have possibly been Native women taken to this ranch was where it was located at. The surrounding Pueblos in the area are Jemez, Kewa, Santa Ana and San Felipe. Although this could only be considered a “conspiracy,” I do believe that having a man with a background as Epstein around Native American lands and women has played a part in the rise of Mmissing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

Although this is considered a nationwide “epidemic” according to Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez, I’d like to refer to another source that was published by USNews entitled “Incomplete Data Complicates the Search for Missing Native American Women.'' Towards the end of this article there is a diagram created by NamUs that shows the West of the entire country has the greatest number of missing Indigenous women and girls. I’d like to specifically focus on the state of New Mexico. It is shaded in the darkest color of red indicating that the amount of missing Indigenous women and girls is extremely high with a number of twenty-two cases according to NamUs. (NamUs is a database that stands for “National Missing and Unidentified Persons System”)

Another alarming piece of information that I found that really prompted me to address this situation was, “New Mexico had some of the highest numbers of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and that Albuquerque and Gallup were among top 10 cities nationwide.” This report was compiled by State Indian Affairs Secretary Lynn Trujillo when New Mexico established a unit to specialize in Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Being that Gallup, New Mexico is the closest city to the Zuni Pueblo; Zuni women, children and men are at higher risk of being another statistic. I am sure that many people in the Zuni community have no idea about this piece of information. It is important for the Zuni community to know how high risk they are because the majority of the people here work in Gallup and do most of their shopping in the city of Gallup.

Another related story that I would like to talk about that I mentioned in the beginning is the case of Gabby Petito. Gabby Petito was reported missing from the state of Wyoming. Which is where she and her boyfriend Brian Laundrie were visiting Grand Teton National Park. An article that was published by Kelsey Viamis on Insider stated “hundred of cases of Indigenous people reported missing in the exact same state over the past decade have not been met with the same furor.” Wind River is an Indian reservation located in the state of Wyoming and is actually the only reservation there. “The report found Indigenous people have been reported missing in twenty-two out of the state’s twenty-three counties, making it a state-wide problem.” This information makes it clear that the media is only prioritizing missing, non-Native people. If the same energy and resources that came together for the case of Gabby Petito were put forth for the thousands of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Womens cases, I can’t imagine how many people they would find.

I would really like to elaborate more on how media coverage is the biggest issue here. It is something that the Native population needs in order to solve these cases. Another article that I would like to refer to was published by Hallie Golden on “The Guardian” entitled “Families of missing and murdered Native Women ask: ‘Where’s the attention for ours?’” Two cases that were mentioned in this article were of Jocelyn Watt and her younger sister Jade Wagon. Jocelyn was found shot to death in her home in Wyoming. Jade was discovered in a field and it was said that she died from hypothermia and drugs. These two cases took place in the year of 2019 and have yet to be solved. One thing I would like you to keep in mind is that both of these cases also occurred on the Wind River Reservation. And it took nine days for authorities to find the remains of Gabby Petito.

Although I do understand that non-Native lives also matter, throughout history, Native American communities have had everything taken away from them down to their language, religion, land and their people. The fight to be safe is an everyday struggle for Native Americans, especially women in today’s society. Yet, today we still struggle to have our voices heard. Seeing the murder case of a non-Native woman be solved in a matter of weeks and having thousands of unsolved cases of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women for years is what many don’t agree with.

With the number of cases still increasing and the quietness from the media still remains, I believe that it is time to break this silence. Native communities can no longer live in silence while their own people continue to be taken away from them.