#BreakThings: Imperfect, but Meaningful

07.12.21

Bristly.

That’s how I’m feeling today.

This morning, a friend sent me a true crime podcast episode about a young Northern Cheyenne (Tsitsistas)/Crow (Apsaalooke) woman who was murdered in Big Horn County, Montana. And at the end of the 48-minute podcast (including three paid ad breaks), the host spent several minutes criticizing the efforts of Montana’s state government for not doing more to prevent these tragedies.

I threw a tea cup.

Three years ago, I became deeply involved in the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People when I took a job, for which I was massively overqualified, so I could work on legislation that created a task force to start removing jurisdictional boundaries, a database for tracking of MMIP cases, and a first-of-its-kind alert-system for reporting missing people in real time.

Getting that done was hard. Everyone involved — both Democratic and Republican, elected and staff — burned bridges, called in favors, and fought hard to see passage. And that was just the beginning of the hard work, because now Montana’s Tribes, law enforcement, government entities, and community leaders have to use those tools to start fixing one of the most intractable problems our state faces. Their efforts are quite literally essential to the survival and safety of thousands of Montanans.

So to hear a podcast host who earns her money peddling the tragedies of others by summarizing the work of real journalists deride the work that my state is doing, while simultaneously arguing that signing a Change.org petition can make a real difference in the missing woman’s case, makes my blood boil.

Montana, like every other state that has Reservations within its borders, has failed more often than we have succeeded when it comes to caring for our Indigenous people. But we are actively trying to do better, expending political, financial and human capital to put an end to these tragedies. Our efforts are imperfect, but they are sincere and we strive to make them meaningful and successful.

Rant over.

One Food Thing // How meaningful are expiration dates on groceries? It turns out, not very. Vox discusses how little science actually goes into determining when food ‘goes bad,’ and how state regulations are creating a massive food waste problem.

One Wombat Thing // No, that is not a typo. We need to talk about wombats. Or more accurately, we need to read this comic from The Oatmeal about wombats, because they are incredible creatures who need our help.

One Skincare Thing // Have dark circles under your eyes? Puffiness? Hey, me too!

These eye gels from 111Skin are my emergency solution to under-eye darkness when I need a quick remedy. They visibly minimize the dark circles. Knock out the puffiness. And give you that ‘just had a good night’s sleep’ look we could all use more of.

One Travel Thing // Planning summer travel and concerned about COVID-19? Conde-Nast Traveler has a piece that helps you decide where to travel and what precautions to take to have a safe and relaxing vacation. This is the most comprehensive and helpful guide that I’ve read so far.

One Last Thing // For several years, my partner worked for an Italian company and very July his co-workers would just disappear for weeks at a time. He was barely allowed to take two days off in a row. Welcome to America.

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