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The Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes have finalized their plan to improve coordination and agency response when Indigenous people go missing in the Flathead area. The plan is part of a national Department of Justice pilot project and will be used as a model for other tribes wishing to make their own community-specific plans.
CSKT has been developing their Tribal Community Response Plan since December 2020. The plan focuses on identifying and updating policies of law enforcement, victim services, media communication and a log of community resources to streamline what happens when someone goes missing.
Ellie Bundy, a CSKT council member and the presiding officer of the Montana Missing Indigenous Persons Task Force, announced the plan’s completion in a task force meeting Wednesday. She says one major accomplishment is the plan brings all ten law enforcement agencies working with CSKT into alignment.