Legislation that establishes a public notification to help law enforcement and tribes locate missing Indigenous people has been signed into law.

On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assemblymember James C. Ramos’s bill, AB 1314, and it was chaptered into state statute by the Secretary of State’s Office.

Ramos said he was gratified that Newsom signed the bill to help stop the violence afflicting California’s Native American communities.

“The Legislature and administration are listening to those in the trenches fighting these crimes. These violent acts affect not only victims, but also families — and in too many instances, the lives of children who are left without a parent. We have much more work to do, but this is one step that can help now,” he said.

The “Feather Alert” bill is meant to address the growing number of cases involving missing Indigenous people and, in particular, to stop the increase in Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, or MMIW.

It creates a state endangered missing advisory, or EMA, system when Native Americans are at risk.

Ramos said it’s similar to other notification systems currently operated by the California Highway Patrol.

“The rates of murdered and missing people in Native American communities is a shameful tragedy and does not receive the scrutiny and attention it deserves,” Ramos said ahead of the Assembly’s Aug. 30 vote.

Ramos has noted that California has both the greatest number of Native Americans and also is among the states with the highest rates of reported cases of missing and murdered Indigenous people.

On May 4, the Select Committee on Native American Affairs held a hearing in which tribal leaders urged legislators to take action to address abductions and other violence against California’s Indigenous people. Native Americans are the victims of a disproportionate number of such crimes.

A key recommendation from tribal leaders who gave testimony at the hearing was the creation of an alert or advisory system to the public to seek help in finding missing Indigenous people.

In response, Ramos, who chairs the committee and is the only California Native American ever elected to the state Legislature, took action, amending an existing bill to create the Feather Alert system.

Ramos and a host of co-sponsors announced the bill's introduction in late June.

Support came from the Yurok tribe, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, the Tachi Santa Rosa Rancheria, San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians, California State Sheriff’s Association, California Tribal Families Coalition, Los Coyotes Band of Cahuilla Cupeno Indians, Torres Martinez Band of Desert Cahuilla Indians and Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, California Consortium for Urban Indian Health and California Tribal Business Alliance.

Calling MMIW a “silent epidemic,” the sponsors pointed to a report by the Sovereign Bodies Institute, which indicated that only 9% of murders of Indigenous women in California have ever been solved.

It’s estimated that there are more than 5,700 MMIW cases, but only 116 of the women in the cases were placed on the United States Department of Justice missing persons list.

AB 1314 quickly moved through the Legislature, gaining unanimous votes in committees.

On Aug. 25 and 30, the Senate and Assembly, respectively, gave it unanimous approval and it was sent to the governor’s desk.

It was enrolled and presented to Gov. Newsom at 4 p.m. Sept. 7. The governor signed it 16 days later.

Newsom said the new emergency alert system “will provide us with additional critical tools needed to address the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People. I thank all the legislators and tribal partners whose leadership and advocacy help light the path forward in our work to build a better, stronger and more just state together.”

“We supported the Feather Alert bill because it will help reduce the disproportionate rate of MMIP cases in California,” said Yurok Tribe Chairman Joe James. “The next generation of indigenous Californians should not have to live in a world where they have to worry about family members going missing or worse. With the emergency notification in place, we will take action to address the remaining root causes of this complex crisis.”

California is among the first states in the nation to implement such an alert system for missing Indigenous people.

Washington state was first, with its bill approved in April and the system going into effect on July 1.

In June, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill to create an alert system along with an office of liaison for missing and murdered Indigenous people.

In California, the Feather Alert joins these other special notifications overseen by the CHP:

• The AMBER Alert, which stands for America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response is used when children age 17 or younger have been abducted. It has been in use since 2002.

• The Blue Alert, approved in 2011, notifies the public when a suspect in the assault or killing of a police officer remains at large and the search is active.

• The Silver Alert, used when elderly, developmentally or cognitively-impaired persons are missing and is determined to be at-risk. Adopted as the top priority of the California Senior Legislature in October 2011, it was enacted through SB 1047, legislation introduced by state Sen. Elaine Alquist (D-Santa Clara) and Sen. Lou Correa (D-Santa Ana). The bill was approved in 2012 and went into effect in 2013.

• The general endangered missing advisory is used when an individual is missing under unexplained or suspicious, and is believed to be in danger due to issues with age, physical and mental health issues, weather, being with a potentially dangerous person or other circumstances.

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