MISSOULA — For anyone looking to make a difference every time you drive, new Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) awareness license plates are now available in Montana.
The MMIP Advisory Council (MMIPAC) works to decrease the number of missing Indigenous people in Montana through improving inter-agency communication and lowering jurisdictional barriers.
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"The advisory council is made up of representatives from all of our federally-recognized tribes or reservations. It's also made up of folks from Indian Health Services and Office of Public Instruction, and we do have representatives from DOJ," MMIPAC Member and Department of Justice Amber Alert Coordinator Brian Frost said.
License plates have the red hand print symbol and say "help find the missing", bringing awareness to Montana's drivers.
"We have 156 active missing person cases across Montana of any race, but out of that 156, 26% of them are Indigenous persons. That's a huge telling number already when you're looking at between 6 and 7% of the population here in Montana, regardless of reservation or outside of reservations, is Indigenous. We need to see these numbers come down," Frost said.
Plates are $35 plus fees at your local county treasurer's office.
Proceeds from the plates will directly support programs that help find missing Indigenous people.
