Nomeites demand justice for missing and murdered relatives

Community members took to the streets during the May 5 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Day march from City Hall to the Rec Center in Nome. Photo by Anna Lionas

By Laura Robertson

On Monday afternoon, Bering Street was filled with red clothing, handprints and signs. Some carried enlarged photos of missing loved ones, while others marched with signs and tee shirts, commemorating the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People’s Day.
In unison, they chanted: What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!

May 5 is recognized across the U.S. and Canada as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Deilah Johnson, of the Native Village of Solomon, has been organizing annual events recognizing the MMIP crisis since 2019.
Johnson said that the event has steadily grown year after year since it restarted after COVID.
Each year, Johnson invites people from law enforcement and state agencies. She said no one is out of reach—she’s invited the White House before.
This year, Jim Cockrell, the Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety came to Nome. She said it’s essential that Nomeites are united and that the guests “understand that this is a large-scale community concern.”

“I am fairly confident every person in this building and in this town…I don’t think there’s a single one of us that hasn’t felt the impact of the loss or pain of a sister, a brother, a daughter, a son, a friend, a mother, or a father,” said Isabel MacCay, the Law Expert for the Village of Solomon Task Force for Justice Committee.

The events began at 1 p.m. with sign making at the Rec Center. At 3 p.m., the march took off from City Hall, parading along Bering Street before tracing Greg Kruschek Avenue back to the Rec Center.

While last year’s events centered around a locally made film raising awareness of MMIP, this year brought together the families of Nome’s missing and murdered. A semi-circle of tables extended the stage which had been set up in the Rec Center, and each table recognized someone who was killed or is missing: Roger Hannon, Joey Martin, Archie Henry Jr., Florence Okpealuk, Jason Nowpakohok, Sam Gutowski, Ben Milton, Raleigh Iyapana, and Ruth Tootkaylok. At each table, there were photos of that person, and family members represented many of the lost by sitting at their tables.

After the march, members of the Alaska Department of Public Safety spoke. Tribal Liaison Darlene Dye introduced Lonny Piscoya. Piscoya was raised in Nome and is a retired state trooper. Today, he’s one of four investigators for the Departments MMIP program.

Last year, the state legislature passed a bill which changed MMIP law enforcement policy in several ways: it created a nine-member commission which reviews unsolved MMIP cases and directed DPS to employ at least two MMIP investigators, although there have been four for several years.
Most MMIP cases are cold cases, and Cockrell said that “it’s really easy to get sucked off to another investigation.” To combat that, these four investigators focus entirely on MMIP cases.  

DPS Commissioner Jim Cockrell attended the MMIP events in Nome on May 5. Photo by Laura Robertson

“Currently, we have six, what I call active investigations in four regions,” said Cockrell. “Whole focus is on those six cases.” He said that if they get more information on other cases, they will pursue them, but some of them “look really cold.”

Lonny Piscoya spoke at the Nome MMIP gathering. Photo by Laura Robertson

Piscoya said that he had been “living out of a suitcase” for the past two years and had submitted upwards of 40 pieces of evidence and DNA samples for his cases. He looked around the room and said he had read many of those cases.
“We’ve had a couple of successes,” Piscoya said. “We were able to find a couple of cases and put the loved ones to rest where they belong.”

Cockrell also highlighted an increase in Village Public Safety Officers, from 38 three years ago to 92 today. He also added that there is no 24-hour wait to report someone missing—it can be done immediately.
“When you know somebody’s missing, call immediately. That way we can mobilize everything,” said Piscoya.

Billi Jean Miller challenged the commissioner on whether there was a set “MMIP protocol.” She mentioned the case of Florence Okpealuk, who went missing in 2020. While Miller and others immediately started searching, days passed before there was a full official search and rescue effort made for her. Miller asked if there was protocol for how to immediately initiate that search should someone go missing.
 “Especially with the port expansion,” said Miller, “there’s going to be so many people coming into town. I think we really need to keep our people safe.” She asked the Nome Police Department and the Troopers to create an MMIP protocol to immediately respond to missing and murdered people. “Last year I demanded that there be an MMIP protocol. I demand that again.”

Blaire Okpealuk asked where Florence’s case file was, saying that nobody seemed to have it, and multiple organizations had told her another one had it. The question was not publicly answered.

The troopers also addressed the human remains which were found in the Nome Courthouse over 20 years ago. Piscoya said there are 70 unidentified human remains cases in the state, and all of them will be sent out to a laboratory for DNA testing. He said that there were search and rescues in the 1960s which the skulls could have been connected to, but they didn’t know yet. He also said that DNA cases are difficult, and it was possible that they wouldn’t be able to find a connection, or that the DNA would have degraded over time.

In a video message, Senator Lisa Murkowski spoke briefly of Florence Okpealuk, calling her a “beloved daughter, sister, and friend.”
She thanked the Village of Solomon and its Taskforce for Justice Committee.

“Your work at the local level is so important because it helps ensure that the stories of these women and girls are not forgotten, that families do not carry their burden alone, and that the solutions we seek at the federal level are grounded in lived experiences,” said Murkowski.
Murkowski spoke of her own work at the federal level to combat the MMIP crisis, including passing acts, which helped strengthen communication between federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement, and securing funding for the Bureau of Indian Affairs to work on cold cases. She said that she was proud of the bills, but “we know laws alone are not enough.” She said she was committed to “stand with you, not just in words, but in actions.”
After the marching and speaking, there was a potluck, and the Nome-St. Lawrence Island Dancers performed.