Subcommittee Hearing: Unmasking the Hidden Crisis of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW): Exploring Solutions to End the Cycle of Violence

On Thursday, March 14, 2019, at 9:00 A.M. in room 1324 Longworth House Office Building, the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States will hold an oversight hearing on “Unmasking the Hidden Crisis of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW): Exploring Solutions to End the Cycle of Violence.”

Witness List 

Majority Witnesses 

Sarah Deer, Muscogee (Creek) Nation (testimony)

International & Interdisciplinary Studies - Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies, School of Public Affairs & Administration

Professor, University of Kansas

Sarah Deer is a citizen of the Muscogee Creek Nation. She is an author, lawyer, and professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality studies and Public Affairs and Administration at the University of Kansas. She advocates for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence in Native American communities. She has been credited for her "instrumental role" in the 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, as well as for testimony which is credited with the 2010 passage of the Tribal Law and Order Act. Deer coauthored, with Bonnie Claremont, Amnesty International's 2007 report Maze of Injustice, documenting sexual assault against Native American women. Deer is a MacArthur Fellow and an inductee in the National Women’s Hall of Fame. 

Ruth Buffalo Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation (testimony)

Representative, North Dakota House of Representatives

Ruth Buffalo, Mia Eh’Desh or Woman Appears, is a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, and is originally from Mandaree, North Dakota, located on the Fort Berthold reservation. Representative Buffalo is the first Native American Democratic women elected to the North Dakota Legislature, where she is a member of the ND House of Representatives, serving the 27th district. Rep. Buffalo holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice (Si Tanka University), a Master’s degree in public health from North Dakota State University (NDSU), and Master’s degrees in management and in Business Administration from University of Mary. In her capacity as a North Dakota Representative, she introduced two bills requiring law enforcement training and data collection related to missing and murdered Indigenous women. 

Mary Kathryn Nagle, Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma (testimony)

Legal Counsel, National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC)

Mary Kathryn Nagle is a member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. She is partner at Pipestem Law, P.C. where she specializes in federal Indian law and appellate litigation. Nagle co-authored and filed an amicus brief in Dollar General v. Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians on behalf of the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center (NIWRC) and more than one hundred organizations working to end domestic violence and sexual assault. As counsel to the NIWRC, Nagle has drafted and filed numerous briefs in the United States Supreme Court articulating the connection between preserving tribal sovereignty and ensuring safety for Native women and children. Nagle also has extensive experience with numerous laws that protect the rights of American Indians, including the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and the Indian Child Welfare Act. Nagle works out of Pipestem Law’s Washington, D.C. office. 

Tami Jerue, Anvik Tribe (testimony)

Alaska Native Women’s Resource Center

Tami Jerue is a DEG‘XIT’AG Athabascan mother of 4 children and 5 grandchildren. She is the Executive Director of the Alaska Native Women's Resource Center and has a bachelor’s degree in Social Work and master's work in Community Psychology. Her work has been focused in Indian Child Protection, Domestic Violence/Sexual Assault (DV/SA), Counseling/Advocacy, Mental Health Counseling, Addictions and many other areas. A majority of her work impacted and taken place in the remote village Anvik for the past 24 years.