DENVER — A battle of wills over how to investigate missing and murdered indigenous people ended Tuesday with advocates and the governor agreeing on an office dedicated to the crisis.
Standing in the Capitol lobby, with blood-red handprints covering their mouths — a symbol in support of the thousands of the missing and murdered indigenous people — advocates Donna Chrisjohn and Raven Payment declared a win while acknowledging the work left to do.
“This a huge win for our community and doing what’s right,” Payment, who is Ojibwe and Mohawk, said. “At the end of the day, this isn’t about myself, this isn’t about Donna, this isn’t about our sponsors. This is about our communities and our relatives that have been enduring this violence that, frankly, no one asked for. So to have this big starting place, to have an office in our government to start doing this work in a good way, is a victory.”
