OKLAHOMA CITY — On a day meant to honor and bring awareness to missing and murdered Indigenous people, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt vetoed a bill that would have expanded Ida’s Law.
The legislation was named after 29-year-old Ida Beard, a Cheyenne and Arapaho woman who disappeared in 2015. It would have mandated the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) to create the Office of Liaison for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons with federal dollars.
The move came not with compassion or consultation, but with a cold declaration that race-based offices violate the Constitution.
“Justice must be blind to race,” Stitt said in his veto message. “Creating a separate office that prioritizes cases based on race undermines the principle of equal protection under the law.”
For Indigenous families still searching for their loved ones, the veto isn’t about race, it’s about being denied resources to bring relatives home. Notably, while being Native is a racial term, membership to an Indigenous tribe is not a racial classification. It’s a political classification because tribal nations are sovereign, political entities.
Ida’s Law, Missing and Murdered and HB 1137
Ida Beard disappeared in 2015. Her family never got answers. Like hundreds of other Indigenous people across Oklahoma, her case stalled in a jurisdictional limbo between tribal, state and federal authorities.
Ida’s Law was signed into Oklahoma law in 2021. The law made Oklahoma one of the first states to commit to formal infrastructure for MMIP cases. HB 1137 would have directed OSBI to assign a dedicated liaison to work with tribal governments and families, gather data and coordinate investigations.
For Carmen Harvie, president of Oklahoma’s State Chapter of the MMIP Movement, the governor’s decision wasn’t just political. It was personal.
“This law brings resources to the families,” Harvie said in a statement to The Black Wall Street Times. “I am very disappointed that the leadership in our state does not understand the importance of this law for all Native Americans in Oklahoma,” Harvie said.
According to a report from the 2023 Not Invisible Act Commission, MMIP legislation, when backed by state action, improves investigations and outcomes for families and their missing relatives.
“I would advise that the Governor of Oklahoma read the Not Invisible Act Commission report to see the importance of the findings and recommendations for all Native Americans,” Harvie said.
A pattern of erasure
Tribal leaders and activists have repeatedly accused Stitt of erasing Native voices from the policy table. Since the 2020 McGirt v. Oklahoma ruling, which reaffirmed tribal sovereignty in criminal matters, Stitt has fought tribal jurisdiction on nearly every front; from compact negotiations to tax authority and now public safety.
“This is a shameful veto,” said Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr in a public statement. “Native women and girls are being stolen, abused and killed at rates that would never be tolerated in white communities,” he said.
Tribal leaders across Oklahoma share in Chief Hoskin’s disappointment. Leaders like Kiowa Chairman Lawrence Spottedbird take Stitt’s action personally. He has a family member on the registry of missing people.
Yet Stitt argued that any policy aimed specifically at Indigenous victims violates the Constitution, despite overwhelming bipartisan support for the bill and the precedent of programs based on race or gender, like the Oklahoma Commission on the Status of Women.
Why Ida’s Law matters for MMIP
What sets Indigenous MMIP cases apart is not the race of the victim—it’s the repeated failure of existing systems to respond.
Ida’s Law was created because the Cold Case Unit and Missing Persons Clearinghouse—cited in the governor’s veto—have not worked for Native families.
According to a report from the Urban Indian Health Institute, Oklahoma remains one of the top ten states for MMIP cases. Some areas of the U.S. see Indigenous women murdered at more than 10 times the national rate.
“We just had the National Day of Awareness in Washington, D.C.,” Harvie said. “And we will keep showing up. Because these families need answers. They deserve justice.”
What’s next: override or indifference to MMIP
There is growing momentum to override the veto at the state legislature, but it’s unclear whether Republican leaders will challenge the governor’s position. Meanwhile, families and advocates are demanding direct investment in community-based responses and federally backed partnerships.
“Oklahoma had the opportunity to lead the nation in justice for Native people,” Chief Hoskin said. “Instead, it chose indifference.”
Comments are closed.