Seneca Poulton

124 Brumley Neighborhood Apt 11

Stillwater, OK 74074

Honorable M. John Kane IV

2100 N Lincoln Blvd Suite 1
Oklahoma City, OK 73105

September 28, 2023

Chief Justice,
I hope this letter finds you well. I am writing you about the Native American female population.
I, an Osage Indian female, am concerned about the Indigenous Women and Children cases that
are active in Oklahoma. So many violent crimes are committed against these Native Americans.
I’m asking you the Chief Justice to help protect us from these violent offenders and provide a
safer community for the indigenous.
Oklahoma ranks third in American Indian and Alaska Native population in the country.
Unfortunately, we as a state have failed to provide a safe state for Native Women and or Native
Alaskans. As of June 30, there were 82 missing indigenous people in Oklahoma. Also 373
indigenous children have been reported missing between 2012 and 2021. These statistics come
from the Tulsa World “We Keep Dying” article. These active cases are not just paper files but
Oklahomans like you and me.
The statistics provided by the Bureau of Indian Affairs are shocking; Eighty-Four percent of
Native women have been subjected to violence and Fifty-Six percent have exposed to sexual
violence. In recent years, efforts have been made by organizations that are developed to help
women in domestic violence situations: however, these issues will continue when violent
reoffenders are allowed back into the community. Sexual violence case numbers are on the rise
sadly; Native American women had the second highest homicide rate in 2020 according to the
BIA “people’s crisis” article. These numbers represent the women in your community as well as
mine.
I’m writing for the individuals that did not get the chance to tell their story or the people who
wrongly lost their life. I sympathize for the Native Women and Children in Oklahoma affected
by violence. These are your neighborhood kids you see playing outside or the women you pass
by at the grocery store. These crimes are occurring on and off the reservations. The Guardian
released an article titled “I gotta stay strong”. This article gives some insight on how life really is
for natives, Pauline HighWolf shares some of her tragic experiences with MMIW. One story in-
particular story is about how a family member passed in a hotel room mysteriously, but proper
investigation had not been conducted. The family never received the closure needed to
cope with such a hard loss. Occurrences like HighWolf discloses are happening all over our state
as well.

I believe if the state of Oklahoma worked closer with individual tribes, then statistics mentioned
earlier could be lowered. It will take cooperation and unity from the two entities to work
alongside but the payoff is well worth it. Olivia Gray, the former Osage Nation family violence
prevention program director, has spoken out about how the organizations need to work together.
Tulsa World published an article of Gray voicing her concerns it is titled “Tulsa panelists call out
law enforcement on inaction regarding missing and murdered Indigenous people”. If the state
and tribal agencies worked together, there would be fewer grey areas when prosecuting
criminals. The NBC news outlet has a publication that sums up what is happening to these
criminals once they are caught by law enforcement. It is titled “Native American women face an
epidemic of violence “A legal loophole prevents prosecutions.” These are Native women being
harmed by nonnatives while on reservation land. I’m asking you to step in and be the Justice for
the Indigenous women and children.

Thank you for your time and consideration. Please contact me if you wish to discuss this more. I
know you are extremely busy, so I would like to thank you one more time. I look forward to
changes being made on how Indigenous crimes are handled in our state.

Sincerely,

Seneca Poulton
 Annotated Bibliography

Brewer, Graham. “Native American Women Face an Epidemic of Violence. A Legal Loophole
Prevents Prosecutions.” NBCNews.Com, NBCUniversal News Group,
www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/native-american-women-face-epidemic-violence-legal-
loophole-prevents-prosecutions-n1272670. Accessed 7 Oct. 2023.

This article explains what is happening to criminals after they have committed a crime on Indian
land. The text shines a light on the lack of communication between law agencies. I know
that the author wants to bring attention to this issue. The source is recent but could be
considered biased by others. I am choosing to use this as a reliable source.

Golden, Hallie. “‘I Gotta Stay Strong’: The Native American Families with a Legacy of Violent
Deaths.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 25 Feb. 2020,
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/25/native-americans-families-missing-murdered-
indigenous.

The author of this article interviews a woman that has sadly lost many loved ones due to this
ongoing violence. These stories are detailed and accurate to what HighWolf has lived
through. I know that the author has put emotion and empathy into writing this article. The
work is recent in years and not biased. I consider it a reliable source.

Justice, Center. “Missing and Murdered Indigenous People Crisis.” Missing and Murdered
Indigenous People Crisis | Indian Affairs, www.bia.gov/service/mmu/missing-and-
murdered-indigenous-people-crisis. Accessed 7 Oct. 2023.

The Burau of Investigation released statistics involving native women and other minority races.
Studies were done to find the percentages of these women that had been exposed to
violence and graphic crimes. The Justice Center wrote this piece, so I know that they are
wanting to educate us Americans about what is happening around us. The source is recent
and non-biased. I know that this is a reliable source to use.

Krehbiel-Burton, Lenzy. “Tulsa Panelists Call out Law Enforcement on Inaction Regarding
Missing, Murdered Indigenous People.” Tulsa World, 12 Apr. 2023,
tulsaworld.com/news/local/indigenous/tulsa-panelists-call-out-law-enforcement-on-
inaction-regarding-missing-murdered-indigenous-people/article_4395ce96-d54d-11ed-
b622-f35a33a681ca.html.

I wanted to use this article because it is about the Olivia Gray and how she is advocating for
missing and murdered women. She recently confronted Tulsa Panelist about how native
 crimes are not being handled properly. I know that Gray is not only pushing for the Osage
tribe to have better resources but the state as well. This source is recent but could be
considered controversial. I choose to use it as a reliable source.

Leonard, Karoline. “‘We Keep Dying’: Indigenous Oklahomans Fight State’s Missing, Murdered
Crisis.” Tulsa World, 21 Aug. 2023, tulsaworld.com/news/local/indigenous/indigenous-
oklahomans-fight-missing-murdered-crisis/article_a0738e96-309c-11ee-8358-
579b0b27eaea.html.

This article talks about how this is a problem that was created long ago and still has not been
solved. Genocide towards native women is what the issue is. I know that the author wants
to raise awareness so we can do better as a state. This source is nonbiased and recent. I
choose to use this as a reliable source.