Guest Opinion. The objectification of Native people as relics of the past and as “Invisible Americans” helps explain why reporting on missing Native persons is less reliable and why there is an expected undercount due to data collection requirements. I have long advocated for better data collection regarding Murdered and Missing Indigenous Persons (MMIP) and wish to highlight key information in preparation for the Office of Violence Against Women (OVW) Tribal Consultation, rescheduled for Jan. 21–23, 2026, on the Shakopee reservation in Prior Lake, Minnesota. This article is intended to serve as a primer for preparing oral and written Tribal testimony.

Opinion. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is often reduced to a single quote, his one dream and safely fixed in history. But King was not a ceremonial figure. He was a disruptor. He challenged systems of power, condemned police violence, and warned that a nation could not survive while sacrificing human dignity for “law and order.”

The Native American Rights Fund is condemning what it calls unlawful actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, saying Native Americans and others are being racially profiled, unlawfully detained and subjected to excessive force.

United Indian Nations of Oklahoma is advising tribal citizens across the state to remain vigilant and to carry tribal identification, along with any state- or federally issued identification they may have, amid expanded immigration enforcement actions by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement following recent White House directives.