Dr. Grace Bulltail Appointed to Not Invisible Act Commission

She also has personal experience with the loss of a loved one under suspicious circumstances, another example of the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) crisis. Her 18-year-old niece Kaysera Stops Pretty Places went missing in August 2019 and was later found dead in Hardin, Mont., a town bordering the Crow reservation. The incident has not been investigated as a homicide by Big Horn County law enforcement, and Dr. Bulltail and her family have had to do their own investigation.“There has been no intention on the part of local law authorities to investigate my niece’s disappearance and death as foul play, although it was under suspicious circumstances,” explains Dr. Bulltail. “This is a county with the highest MMIWG cases per capita of any county in the nation.”

The commission will identify, report, and respond to instances of missing and murdered Indigenous people and human trafficking, develop legislative and administrative changes necessary to combat the crisis, and increase information sharing with tribal governments on the issue.

The commission has the authority to hold hearings, gather testimony, and receive additional evidence and feedback from its members to develop recommendations to the Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland.

Dr. Bulltail is a member of the Crow Tribe and a descendant of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Tribes of Fort Berthold, N.D. She is a professional engineer and sees a definite link between tribal land resource activities and the exploitation of and crimes against Indigenous women and girls. “Environmental justice extends beyond natural resources on tribal lands to Indigenous human rights,” says Dr. Bulltail. “It means the commission can help ensure there is greater control of our resources, land, and tribal members’ well-being, especially those who are most vulnerable.”

For more information about efforts to protect Indigenous peoples, visit: change.org. To sign the petition calling for a thorough investigation into the circumstances resulting in the death of Dr. Bulltail’s niece, visit https://www.change.org/p/justice-for-kaysera-stops-pretty-places/.