Tribes Awarded $20 Million to Investigate Missing and Murdered Indigenous People

The Pechanga Band in Southern California plans to use its $1 million to hire an investigator and two others to respond to runaways and trafficking victims.

Tribal members and supporters march in Sacramento on Feb. 7, 2023, the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Day of Action. Yurok Tribe

California has awarded nearly $20 million in grants to 18 Native American tribes to help them investigate murdered and missing indigenous people, the governor announced July 11.

The awards were part of a second round of state funding given to federally recognized tribes in the state to address what California Gov. Gavin Newsom called a crisis.