A slow-moving mass of over 100 hundred began their 1.5 mile through Nome with the chant, “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!”. Elders, adults, and students that left school just moments before filled the northbound lane of Bering Street as a line of cars trailed behind. Some held handmade signs and donned red handprints across their faces, a symbol synonymous with the Missing and Murdered Indigenous People movement that represents the feeling of being silenced.
After rounding a street corner on the north side of Nome, the blur of red hoodies and t-shirts made its way past the Nome Police Department building. Event organizer Deilah Johnson said the route for Monday’s march was intentional.
“We've been wanting to invite and be more of an ally and try to partner in understanding that this is an issue for everybody, and that we want to try to build a better relationship and maybe build some trust by getting together,” Johnson said.
This was Johnson’s seventh year organizing the walk – her first in 2019 drew just over 10 people. With support from her tribe, Village of Solomon, the event has grown into one that draws over 100 annually.
The walk ended at the Nome Recreation Center, where a large open space dominated the center of a basketball court. The void was surrounded by tables, each adorned with photos and names of missing people as their family and friends sat behind them. Johnson said this year’s layout was the product of months of planning.
“I want the families to be a highlight and an extension of the stage,” Johnson said. “The most important thing for me is for you to acknowledge the families that are showing up.”
After a brief welcome from Johnson, retired Alaska State Trooper Lonny Piscoya took to the stage. In 2022 Piscoya returned to the Department of Public Safety to lead its MMIP Initiative, where he investigates active and cold missing person cases.
“We sat in my living room two years ago and we talked about this program, and we didn't know exactly how we were going to do this, but we just decided that we're going to let it evolve,” Piscoya said.
Piscoya said the department’s Commissioner, James Cockrell, had been supportive of his efforts and had been given time and funding to travel the state to investigate cases.
“These murders are quite intensive. They're a lot of work, but that's all I do, I just work on these cases,” Piscoya said. “I re-interview everybody that needs to be re-interviewed, I submit evidence, I do all the things that I think should be done, that hasn't been done.”
On stage, Cockrell said a grant from the US Attorney’s Office and state legislation had made it possible to expand its team and pour more resources into solving MMIP cases.
“We have actually, as a department, completely come 180 degrees how we treat missing, murdered Indigenous people in the state,” Cockrell said. “We're committed to it, we will continue to be committed to it as long as I'm the commissioner of the Alaska Department of Public Safety.”
Cockrell then opened up for a quick Q&A, prompting a member of the audience to press him over the disappearance of Florence Okpealuk, who went missing in 2020. She demanded a protocol be created for missing indigenous people. Both Cockrell and Piscoya deferred to the Nome Police Department, which is overseeing the investigation into Okpealuk’s disappearance.
After the Q&A, Johnson handed a mic to each table so each victim’s family could speak. Okpealuk’s mother, Marie Lawlor, said it took her a while to process the void left by her daughter’s disappearance.
“I really do miss her a lot. She used to call me every day, or call me to go for a ride, or ‘let's go picking, let's go picnic down the beach, or walk the beach’. From this day, I’m still expecting her to come home,” Lawlor said.
Doania Harrison’s brother, Ben Milton, was murdered in 2020. As Milton’s son sat by her side, she admitted that she had held onto anger stemming from his unresolved death.
“I finally learned to try to let some of that go. And I'm here today because all of you, seeing what you're going through and the hurt,” Harrison said. “I still have a lot of questions. I still got some anger, but my heart goes out to all of you.
Village of Solomon’s President, Kirsten Timbers, rounded out the testimonials. Her aunt, Ruth Tootkaylok, was found dead in 1992. Anchorage Police Department declared her death a suicide, under circumstances Timbers believed would be impossible. She believes APD failed to properly investigate the cause of her death.
Timbers then shared with the room that her brother was murdered in Mexico in 2017. As she held back tears, she called on the community to turn the pain of MMIP cases into action.
“I think being able to come together and see strength and resilience in each other and moving past the hurt as a call for action and finding out how we can move forward, and it has to be with law enforcement, because that's the only option,” Timbers said.
After a recorded message from Senator Lisa Murkowski, Bureau of Indian Affairs Regional Director, Jolene John, spoke.
“I think we all know how disproportionately represented our people are in these unfortunate cases,” she said.
John said her department was in the process of hiring a special agent committed to Alaska MMIP cases. She was followed on stage by US Attorney Michael Heyman who, like the other speakers, called for collaboration between local and federal levels.
“I do this job because I want to see that justice is served as well,” Heyman said. “And the best way that we can see that justice is served is to work together.”
The event finished with a potluck and drumming and dancing by local groups.
