Hundreds of names called at Billings MMIP vigil

A vigil in Billings Friday served as space to grieve and advocate as dozens of people called attention to the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.

A long stretch at Friday’s rally on the Yellowstone County Courthouse lawn, held by the organization Warrior Women for Justice, was spent calling names. Henny Scott , Jessie Johnson , Selena Not Afraid and Cole Stump were four of 174 the organization counted as either murdered or whose deaths were unaccounted for.

Despite roughly a decade in federal, state and local efforts to curb instances of missing and murdered Indigenous people nationwide, there remains a dearth in reliable accounting of those cases. And the process of launching homicide or missing persons cases still has to pass through a potential labyrinth in terms