Rita Papakee’s family last saw her more than seven years ago.
At about 1 p.m. on Jan. 16, 2015, Papakee, 41, left work at the Meskwaki Bingo Casino and Hotel in Tama County, Iowa. She was reported missing by her family on Feb. 18, 2015, to the Meskwaki Nation Police Department after she did not pick up her last paycheck.
“Everybody is still wondering: Where is she, where is she?” Iris Roberts, Papakee’s mother, said.
The key findings of five months of interviews with tribal leaders, loved ones of missing relatives, and Iowa officials show:
- Because many Indigenous women are murdered off tribal land, who has authority to investigate cases can get murky.
- There is a lack of data on cases, such as not knowing the tribe a person belongs to.
- The effort to keep looking often rests with family, friends or tribal members. Some of these missing person reports become cold cases, and Iowa lacks a dedicated cold case unit.
“I think a lot of people outside of the community aren’t even aware of what MMIW is,” said Nicole Lepley, director of RISE. “Just knowing what it is, looking it up and becoming more aware of the rate of violence against Indigenous peoples (is important).”
Just one disappearance can affect a community, especially one as close-knit as the 1,450-member Meskwaki Nation.
“It’s unsettling, and it seems like since that happened and we haven’t been able to find a fellow tribal member, it’s kind of like a dark cloud looming,” said tribal member and Meskwaki Police Department Commissioner Mark Bear.
Within the 8,100-acre Meskwaki Settlement, 4.5 miles west of Tama and Toledo, it’s difficult to go anywhere without seeing a missing person’s flyer asking to bring Papakee home. Flyers hang on the Tribal Center and in the police department.
Papakee is one of the first instances of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) experienced by the Meskwaki Nation, also known as the Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in Iowa, said Mylene Wanatee, Meskwaki Family Services director.
Papakee was a mother not only to her own children but to nieces and nephews. She loved baking and holidays and would plan activities for the children on Halloween and Easter, said
Papakee knew how to make people laugh, especially her mother, with whom she was close.
“Oh, my stomach would hurt. I’d say, ‘Quit now, Rita!’ and she would keep going, and we’d laugh some more,” Roberts said.
Roberts’ only wish is for her daughter to come home. “I know it’s a wide area. Where do you look? And just trying to figure out where she might be, it’s just really kind of hard because of the way that the settlement is,” Roberts said. “What I would like is for her to be found so we could have closure.”
More at link:
A missing tribal member can be like a "dark cloud looming" over small Native communities, a tribal police commissioner said.
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