Where Are You? A guest post by Ginger Reno

WHAT IF when you wake up tomorrow, you find a loved one has gone missing? What would you do? First, you’d try all the basic stuff that comes to mind – phone, text, friends. Pray. But that gets you nowhere. 

WHAT IF when you call the police, for some jurisdictional reasons you don’t understand, they can’t help you? They refer you to another agency, but you don’t want another agency. You want EVERY agency to help you find them.

WHAT IF you turn to the media – the quicker more eyes are looking for them the better, right? You watch THE FIRST 48. You know. You’ve seen what can be done when the media is on board – The search parties, the tiplines, the rewards.

BUT WHAT IF they aren’t interested?

WHAT IF your loved one doesn’t fit their idea of a headline?

And then it hits you. That sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach that you are on your own.

WHERE ARE THEY?

This is the cry of the friends and families of thousands of Native missing. And the question the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Movements are shouting from the rooftops to find answers. 

It may go by different names: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG); Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW); Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two Spirit (MMIWG2S); Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP), but they all share a common purpose: To advocate for the end of violence against Native peoples. To bring awareness that our missing are not getting the attention they deserve. To cry out for help in finding and bringing them home. 

Using a red handprint as a symbol of solidarity meant to stand for all the missing Native voices that cannot be heard, these grassroots efforts are dedicated to bringing some shocking statistics into the light – especially given that Native people only make up two percent of the US overall population. For instance:

In 2016, there were an astounding 5,712 reports of missing Native women and girls, however the U.S. Dept of Justice’s missing person database logged only 116 of them.

For females living on reservations, the murder rate is 10 times higher than the national average with murder being the third leading cause of death.

And violence against Natives doesn’t discriminate. 82 percent of Indigenous men are victims of violence in their lifetime and indigenous children are much more likely to experience trauma and abuse than non-natives.

But what can be done? What do you tackle first? How do you get the media to consider a young indigenous girl that’s gone missing as newsworthy? How do you get law enforcement to search for her with the same dedicated resources afforded others? To investigate and hold those responsible accountable—regardless of jurisdiction? 

Honestly, I don’t know. I’m definitely no expert on the subject.  All I do know is, not only as a Cherokee woman, but as a human being, it makes my heart hurt. 

But there ARE positive steps that have been taken: Ida’s Law – approved in Oklahoma in 2021 – calls for better tracking of missing cases and the creation of a liaison to work with family members of victims. The Not Invisible Act – created to improve cooperation between investigative agencies was signed into federal law in 2020. And the Missing and Murdered Unit within the Bureau of Indian Affairs was formed in 2021. The common thread: The importance of working together to find a solution. 

Progress, yes. But we also need to keep shining the spotlight. That’s where TV shows like Alaska Daily, and movies like Fancy Dance, and hopefully, even a middle grade novel, can help. So . . .  like every writer does, I asked myself that basic question that starts every story, “WHAT IF . . .”

WHAT IF I was a twelve-year-old girl and my mother has been missing. For five years, three months, and twelve days? 

But FIND HER isn’t just about Wren’s, search for her missing mother. It’s also about her search for herself. It’s about finding a much-needed friend and working together to solve a new mystery. It’s about learning how helping others – both the two- and four-legged kind – really can make you feel better. It’s about love of family. It’s about Wren, finding a way to have a life – in spite of – until she can FIND HER.

I hope you will enjoy her journey.

Meet the author

Ginger Reno has always been a writer—it just took a while for her to figure that out. An enrolled citizen of the Cherokee Nation, her desire to learn about Cherokee history and culture naturally spilled over into her writing. FIND HER, her debut, is part of that journey. Ginger lives in northeast Oklahoma, within the Cherokee Nation, and spends a lot of lakefront porch time with her two favorite people—her husband and their German shepherd.

Visit Ginger online at: www.gingerreno.com

About Find Her

Five years, three months, and twelve days.
That’s how long Wren’s mother has been missing.

In dreams, Wren can see her again: her eyes, her hair, her smile. She can even hear her laugh. Her mother, one of hundreds of Native Americans considered missing or murdered in Oklahoma. Sometimes it seems like Wren and her grandmother are the only people still looking. Even more frustrating, Wren’s overprotective father won’t talk about it.

Wren refuses to give up, though. And an opportunity to find lost pets seems like a real way to hone her detective skills. But everything changes when one of the missing pets is found badly hurt. Soon, there are others.

With help from an unlikely friend, Wren vows to unmask whoever is behind the animal abuse. If she can do this, maybe she can do the same for her mother’s case. She’ll just have to keep it secret from her father who will certainly put an end to all her sleuthing if he finds out.

Find Her explores the crisis of missing Indigenous women from the perspective of a sensitive young Cherokee girl who yearns to find her mother, while also navigating a chilling town mystery, a new friendship, and a family in need of healing.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

ISBN-13: 9780823454808
Publisher: Holiday House
Publication date: 10/15/2024
Age Range: 10 – 12 Years

Filed under: Guest Post