On this edition of Your Call, we’re speaking with Cree journalist Connie Walker about her new podcast, Stolen: The Search for Jermain, which investigates the disappearance of Jermain Charlo, a 23-year-old Indigenous mother from the Flathead Reservation who went missing in Missoula, Montana on June 16, 2018.
More than 5,500 Indigenous women and girls are currently reported missing or murdered in the FBI's National Crime Information Center database, but advocates say that number is likely much higher. Native women are the victims of murder at more than ten times the national average, according to the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women.
Earlier this month, Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native cabinet secretary in US history, announced the creation of a new unit to investigate MMIWG. What will it take to end this epidemic?
Guest:
Connie Walker, award-winning Cree journalist, host of the new Gimlet Media podcast, Stolen: The Search for Jermain, and former host of CBC News Network's Missing & Murdered podcast
Web Resources:
Gimlet Media: Stolen: The Search for Jermain
Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women
Vogue, Christian Allaire: How Journalist Connie Walker Is Seeking Justice for Indigenous Women
Missoulian, Ashley Nerbovig: New podcast covers Jermain Charlo's disappearance story
NPR: Interior Department's New Unit To Investigate Missing And Murdered Native Americans
The New York Times, Jack Healy: Rural Montana Had Already Lost Too Many Native Women. Then Selena Disappeared.