Native Sun Media Foundation

South Dakota MMIP Community Experience Survey

Native Sun Media Foundation is gathering community experiences and perspectives concerning Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) in South Dakota. The purpose of this survey is to help identify patterns in reporting, searching, communication, jurisdiction, accountability, media coverage, and possible solutions.

Please read before continuing.

Participation is voluntary. You may skip any question.
Do not enter confidential case information, protected addresses, search locations, passwords, Social Security numbers, or other sensitive identifying information.
This survey is not an emergency-reporting system and is not a substitute for reporting a missing person or crime to the appropriate authorities.
If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.
Survey responses may be summarized or reported in aggregate by Native Sun Media Foundation / Native Sun News Today.
This is a voluntary community survey. Results should not be described as a scientifically representative sample of all Native people, all MMIP families, or all South Dakota residents.

Community Survey

Questions marked * are required. All others may be skipped.

1. Connection to the MMIP issue

1. What South Dakota community, county, reservation, or area are you responding from?

2. What is your connection to the MMIP issue? *

Check all that apply.

3. Have you personally been involved in a situation involving a missing or murdered Indigenous person?

Yes No Prefer not to say

4. Tribal affiliation or community connection, if you want to share it:

2. Reporting a missing person

5. Based on your experience or knowledge, how difficult is it for Native families in South Dakota to report a person missing?

Very difficult Somewhat difficult Neither easy nor difficult Somewhat easy Very easy Not sure

6. Have you experienced or witnessed a delay, refusal, or discouragement when someone tried to report an Indigenous person missing?

Yes, personally Yes, through someone I know No Not sure Prefer not to say

7. What reasons have you heard or experienced for a delayed response?

Check all that apply.

Told to wait before filing a report Jurisdiction confusion Person was an adult and assumed to have left voluntarily Person was treated as a runaway Substance use was assumed or emphasized Agency did not treat the situation as urgent Paperwork or database delays No delay experienced Other

8. How would you rate the initial response from the first agency contacted?

3. Search and response

9. When a case was reported, how quickly did an active search or investigation appear to begin?

Immediately or within hours Within one day Within two to three days More than three days No clear search or investigation began Not sure / no direct experience

10. Who participated in the search or response?

Check all that apply.

11. Were family or community search efforts supported by the responsible agencies?

Strongly supported Somewhat supported Neither supported nor discouraged Somewhat discouraged Strongly discouraged Not sure / no direct experience

12. What were the biggest obstacles to an effective search or investigation?

4. Communication with families

13. Was the family given a specific agency contact person?

Yes No Not sure No direct experience

14. How often did the family receive meaningful updates?

15. Did agencies clearly explain what would happen next and which agency was responsible?

Yes, clearly Partly No Not sure / no direct experience

16. Overall, how respectfully did officials communicate with the family?

Very respectfully Mostly respectfully Mixed Mostly disrespectfully Very disrespectfully Not sure / no direct experience

5. Jurisdiction and agency coordination

17. Have jurisdiction questions created confusion or delay in an MMIP case you know about?

Yes No Not sure No direct experience

18. Which agencies or systems have you encountered in relation to MMIP?

Check all that apply.

19. Did transfers between agencies or uncertainty about responsibility appear to slow the response?

20. Which system problems are most serious?

Check up to five that you believe matter most.

6. Trust and accountability

21. How much confidence do you have that MMIP cases involving Native people in South Dakota are handled with equal urgency and seriousness?

22. Which accountability measures would make the biggest difference?

Check all that apply.

Public standards for response timelines A clearly identified lead agency for each case A designated family liaison Regular case-status reporting Independent review of serious delays or failures Better public data on missing-person cases and outcomes Stronger tribal participation in decisions Community or family oversight mechanisms Other

23. In your words, what should accountability look like when an MMIP response fails a family?

7. Media coverage

24. Do you believe South Dakota media provide enough sustained coverage of MMIP cases involving Native people?

Yes Sometimes No Not sure

25. What problems have you seen in media coverage of MMIP?

Check all that apply.

Too little coverage Coverage ends too quickly Family voices are missing or minimized Stereotyping or stigmatizing language Unverified information or rumors Too much focus on the missing or murdered person's behavior Too little reporting on agency response and accountability No major problems noticed Other

26. What should responsible MMIP journalism do differently or better?

8. Solutions

27. Which changes should receive the highest priority?

Check all that apply.

28. Who should have the strongest voice in shaping MMIP response policy?

Check all that apply.

Families directly affected by MMIP Tribal governments MMIP advocates / community investigators Tribal law enforcement Federal agencies State and local agencies Victim-service providers Other

29. If you could change one thing about South Dakota's response to MMIP, what would it be?

9. Your experience and perspective

30. Is there anything else you want Native Sun Media Foundation to understand about MMIP, family experience, agency response, search efforts, jurisdiction, or accountability?

Please do not include confidential case information or details that could compromise an active investigation or a person's safety.

Optional: Speak with a reporter

This section is separate from the survey above. Complete it only if you want Native Sun Media Foundation / Native Sun News Today to contact you about a possible interview or follow-up conversation.

Leaving this section blank helps keep your survey response separate from identifying contact information.

Name

Preferred contact method

Phone

What would you like to speak with us about?

I give Native Sun Media Foundation permission to contact me using the information above.