Story by Ben Townsend and KNOM News Intern Kailey Hensley
The Village of Solomon, based in Nome, has formed a new program dedicated to supporting families of missing or murdered Indigenous people. The Taskforce for Justice Committee seeks to improve local law enforcement policies and help victims' families navigate the judicial process.
Village of Solomon’s Deilah Johnson has helped organize Nome’s Missing and Murdered Indigenous People’s Day each year since 2019. The event draws over a hundred people and features speeches from families of MMIP victims and law enforcement officials.
Johnson said cases of missing or murdered Indigenous people are disproportionately underreported and unsolved. And for the victims' families, it’s often hard to know who to turn to – or who to trust.
“Families began coming up to me and asking me if I could help them navigate ways to find resolution with a member of their family that had either been murdered or have gone missing,” she said.
Johnson said she enlisted the help of her coworker at the tribe, Ashley Payenna, to support her initial efforts.
“We were able to get the DA to reopen a case that was already closed, we brought that to the council, and the council said, ‘you two are not taking this on alone, you need to develop a committee’,” Johnson recalled.
With her tribe’s blessing, Johnson laid the foundation for what would become the Taskforce for Justice Committee. Last fall, she opened up applications for candidates to serve on the committee.
The application process took several months. Johnson said she waited until they had the right mix of experience in multiple fields. The tribe’s President, Kirsten Timbers joined as chair, Payenna as secretary, and Megan Mackeirnan joined as a Medical Expert and Researcher, while Isabel Maccay joined as Law Expert.
Johnson said the team brings both passion and expertise.
“When we sit down and talk, it's so easy to flow, coming from all the different perspectives and how we consult with one another and develop ways that we think is going to be best serving anyone that comes to us,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the team is focusing on building relationships with entities like the Nome Police Department. She said cases like Florence Okpealuk’s, who went missing near Nome in 2020, created deep divisions between the Nome community and local law enforcement. But, she said that shouldn’t get in the way of helping the police force improve its policies.
“I know we have to work together in some fashion, and if that takes education on my part to them, that's what I'm going to do,” Johnson said. “And then also holding them accountable to some of the past traumas and hard feelings that have just lingered between law enforcement agencies and entities.”
The committee is running into challenges earning funding from the Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime. The goal is to eventually scale the committee’s model beyond Nome, but Johnson said the department is withholding funding until “language” localizing the committee’s focus is updated.
The funds would, in part, be used to compensate its members for their time.
“We have to spend hours, at times, discussing a case, because it takes a lot of thought. And the approach is so strategic,” Johnson said. “There's a lot of commitment that goes into it, so I'm a little bit sad that I'm now having to fight for it to stay alive.”
Still, Johnson said she’s determined to take what the committee learns and share it with the entire state.
“The whole state actually needs it, and everything I do needs to be replicable for other communities to take, and I'm happy to share anything that we develop or work on,” she said.
Johnson said she hopes to convene Nome’s four tribes for a workshop this fall, but that depends on the committee receiving funding from the DOJ.
