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Colorado’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous bill awaits Governor’s signature, advocates concerned

KRDO

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., (KRDO) -- According to the Haseya advocacy group, there are 54 Missing and Murdered Indigenous people in Colorado right now.

A Colorado bill that aims to bring justice to missing and murdered indigenous people is now on Governor Jared Polis' desk awaiting his signature. 

Indigenous community members deem this bill as a small win, but they say their journey to justice is far from over.

"We stand with our sisters, no more silent sisters, no more stolen sisters," said a group of activists at a rally for Missing and Murdered Indigenous relatives.

For the Haseya advocacy group and community, the legislature approving this bill means there is hope it can become law.

It would be an opportunity to have an office dedicated to investigating missing indigenous people.

"We're not looking at this as a loss; I would say it is a win but it is not necessarily a victory," said Monycka Snowbird, director of the Haseya Advocacy group. 

The original draft requested access to crucial case data.

"The original draft of the bill created a separate missing and murdered indigenous office that would have access to a lot of the state's data, would have information sharing, would develop training for law enforcement offices and increase collaborative responses across the state," Snowbird said. 

Governor Polis present a new amendment to the bill. It fails to address access to that data for missing and murdered indigenous cases.

"What Polis did blindsided us with the day that it was introduced with that amendment was taking away access to a lot of that data and taking away a lot of the responsibilities of the [Missing and Murdered Indigenous] office and putting it under [the Department of Public Safety]," said Snowbird.

Activists are now focusing on drafting a new bill they plan to present at the next legislative session.

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