Emily Pike’s Death Reverberates Throughout Indian Country

PHOENIX – From sorrow and a devastation to indignation, the tragic death of Emily Pike arouses heavy emotions and highlights a crisis that has long tormented the Amerindian communities, where a disproportionate number of people has been killed or disappeared.

In the case of the teenager of San Carlos Apache, she disappeared from her group house in a suburb of Phoenix at the end of January.

The authorities posted her photo on social networks, saying that she was missing and that she may have fled. It was almost a month later that the Sheriff deputies in a neighboring county said they had discovered and identifying the Pike remains more than 80 miles (129 kilometers) from the place where it was seen for the last time.

Since then, the news of her brutal death has repercussions through the Indian country and beyond. A crowd met Thursday at an intersection in Mesa, near his group group, to honor Pike’s life and to put pressure for changes that could help brake violence.

Dozens of people of all ages from various tribal countries have seen the program of the day before on a large inflatable projector. Dressed in red, they kissed and protected from the candle flames during the bitter night and held posters that read “more stolen sisters” and “Justice for Emily Pike”.

A more trio

Four of the cousins ​​of Pike, very close to the age of her, told a girl whom they knew like a funny, kind and happy person who loved animals, K-Pop and Roblox. Jadyn Palmer, 15, said that she and Tyraya Steele, another 15 -year -old cousin, grew up with pike on the reservation of Apache de San Carlos. The three were a trio and were still next to the other and laughing, said Palmer.

She said Pike called her from time to time and that the last time they talked about it was only weeks before disappearing. In their last conversation, Pike shared that she was going to return to the reservation in a month. Palmer and Steele became enthusiastic about the purchases they wanted to plan.

“We will no longer have a trio,” Palmer told the Associated Press, his voice choking with Steele by his side.

Tony Dunkin and his 12 -year -old daughter played a jingle dance which, according to him, has a healing origin. Dunkin’s father spoke to Apache before the dance and sang a lullaby.

Mary Kim Titla, member of the Apache tribe of San Carlos, wore pink – Pike’s favorite color – at the vigil and said that the teenager had dreamed of becoming a veterinarian.

“These tears paid are part of a healing process,” said Titla.

Titla has three parents who have disappeared and who were killed. She said the community met to honor Pike and demand justice. This shared solidarity comes from the desire to cure historical and generational trauma, she said.

“It affects so many people,” said Titla, “and I think the reason is that we all know someone.”

The defenders say that the crisis of colonization and forced elimination, which marginalized the indigenous peoples by erasing their culture and their identity. Limited funding, sub-employed police services and a jurisdictional checkerboard that prevents the authorities from working together has only been doing the problem.

“Everyone’s daughter”

The case of Pike drew attention to social networks. Some have shared photos of themselves, their mouths covered with a red footprint which has become emblematic of the movement to end violence. Messages included hashtags #nomorestolensists, #sayhername and #justiceFormily.

In Wisconsin, the organizers provided their own candlelit vigil. Colorado swings encouraged people to wear red, and Daisy Bluestar, a tribal member from the south of the UTE in Colorado, the working group on Aboriginal parents in Colorado, published a video on Pike.

The girl’s basketball team at the Lycée de Miami in Arizona wore jerseys with “MMIW” and a red imprint on the back.

“We all cry this terrible loss of a precious young girl. Emily has really become the daughter, the granddaughter and the niece of each, ”said Titla.

What happened to Emily?

Pike remains were found northeast of Globe, Arizona, said the Gila county sheriff office.

Like many others, his case involves several agencies. Gila County works with Mesa police, the Indian Affairs Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Mesa police are generally not noted on Runaway reports, but the agency scored Pike as disappeared on its Facebook page two days after the Group Foyer reported that she was gone.

The Ministry of Security of Arizona children requires notification of the missing status of a child during the day after receipt of information. However, this requirement does not extend to tribal social services, according to Anika Robinson, president of the ASA Now non -profit family plaid group. Pike was in the custody of the social services of San Carlos Apache Tribe, who could not be joined to comment, when she went to the group home in Mesa.

Mesa police reported Pike as disappearing in the National Crime Information Center on the evening of January 27. Police said it would have been at the group’s home to contact their case manager who then contacted the family or the Pike tribe.

Pike’s mother Steff Dosela said in interviews that she had heard of her daughter’s disappearance before a week later.

Robinson asked why it took so long.

“Imagine what had probably already happened this week,” she said.

Tackle the crisis

The governor of Arizona, Katie Hobbs, in 2023, created a working group to identify policies to combat high rates of disappearances and murders among the Amerindian population. A final report is due in 2026.

Washington, New Mexico, Michigan, Wisconsin and Wyoming have created similar working groups.

President Donald Trump, during his first mandate, created the country’s first working group to start examining the problem, on the publication of Operation Lady Liberty. The Biden administration followed with a special unit of the Indian Affairs Bureau, the offices of American lawyers in key areas began to examine more closely the unresolved cases, and senior officials organized listening sessions across the country. Last month, the federal government launched an initiative to help resolve cases of missing and unidentified persons.