We search for the missing.
When they can’t cry out for justice, it’s our duty to do it for them.
Sahnish Scouts was founded in 2013 by Lissa Yellow Bird, along with family and friends, to respond to the disappearances of people in the Bakken oilfields in North Dakota. Since then, more than a hundred families have sought our support in cases where their loved ones are unaccounted for. We offer a safe space, free of shame and blame, for relatives of the missing to share information. We not only publicize missing persons, we search for them. We assist law enforcement or fill in where they are absent. We believe that everyone deserves to be looked for.
How You Can Help
Follow our Facebook page to keep up-to-date on missing persons cases and spread the word.
Join us on a search. We are a volunteer organization that offers our services free of charge, and we need all the on-the-ground help we can get. Contact Lissa below for more information.
Start a sister organization. Sahnish Scouts has inspired local groups in other Indigenous communities across the country. We are glad to provide guidance and training.
We don’t yet have 501c3 status (we’d love help with that, too!) but in the meantime, if you’re interested in contributing gas money or helping fund some of our bigger projects, we’d be very grateful.
Wishlist
In June, Lissa will bring home two new family members to aid in Sahnish Scouts searches. Red and Blue have been trained by law enforcement to follow commands in Arikara, Lissa’s Native language. In the short term, Lissa hopes to acquire a cargo van for herself and the dogs to live in when they are called out to search. Eventually, she dreams of developing a center near her home of White Shield, North Dakota where women in recovery from violence and addiction can stay while they assist her in training dogs to search for missing people. If you are interested in sponsoring this vision or contributing in any other way, please be in touch.
Thank you for caring about our missing.
Contact
Email
sahnishscouts@gmail.com
Phone
(701) 893-6841
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/ScoutsND/
Cover photo by Kristina Barker.