SAULT STE. MARIE — Tribal and local law enforcement, victims’ services teams and community members are invited to attend a day of missing or murdered indigenous persons training and collaboration beginning at 9 a.m. Monday Sept. 29, at the Kewadin Casino Convention Center in Sault Ste. Marie.

There is no cost to attend, and lunch will be provided. The event is hosted by the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe MMIP Advisory Workgroup.

“Since developing our MMIP Tribal Community Response Plan, the tribe has improved its response to missing persons and built an MMIP database,” tribal Chairman Austin Lowes said in a prepared statement. “We continue to work with our victims services, law enforcement and communications departments to reach out to our tribal community on MMIP issues, including the safety of our men, women and children.”

In 2021-22, the Sault Tribe, in partnership with the Bay Mills Indian Community, worked with the U.S. Department of Justice, Department of the Interior, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Executive Branch Lady Justice Initiative, to implement a MMIP Tribal Community Response Plan planning project. The Sault Tribe is were one of six pilot projects across the country to bring together tribal law enforcement and tribal MMIP teams to articulate an MMIP TCRP protocol. This culminated in a one-day event to share the results with speakers, including the governor and attorney general of Michigan, as well as Michigan’s two U.S. Senators and the U.S. Attorney’s Office from the Western District of Michigan.

Sault Tribe Chief of Police Robert Marchant said, “We put months of work into our MMIP TCRP protocol and it is one of the most comprehensive in Indian country. Sharing it with our sister tribes and surrounding community is one of our top priorities.”

In addition to walking participants through how the tribe accomplished its protocol, the workgroup plans to share copies of the tribe’s MMIP TCRP protocol with participants and facilitate a workshop to coordinate efforts among our neighboring tribes and the surrounding law enforcement communities.

Representatives from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children are expected to attend. The former Sault Tribe chairperson and current tribal board member and MMIP advocate, Dr. Aaron Payment, is undertaking a one-year tribal fellowship with the NCMEC. He will share valuable free NCMEC resources focused on prevention, rescue, recovery, case management, incident data and information about Team Hope for long-term missing survivors.

Bud Sargent can be reached at 906-228-2500, extension 544. His email address is bsargent@miningjournal.net.