Indian Country's Silent Epidemic: Is Operation Not Forgotten Enough?

The numbers hit like a gut punch: over 4,300 open FBI investigations into violent crimes on tribal lands as of this year, with more than 900 tied to deaths and 1,000 linked to child abuse. For too long, Indian Country has borne the weight of an epidemic of violence, a relentless storm of murder, assault, and disappearances that tears at the fabric of Native communities. The Justice Department’s announcement on April 2, 2025, of Operation Not Forgotten, a massive surge of 60 FBI personnel to 10 field offices nationwide, isn’t just a policy shift; it’s a lifeline to people who’ve been screaming into the void for justice.

This isn’t abstract. Native American women face murder rates ten times the national average, a statistic that should haunt every policymaker in Washington. Homicide ranks among the top causes of death for these women, and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons crisis leaves an estimated 4,200 cases unsolved, a number advocates insist is lowballed due to shoddy reporting. Operation Not Forgotten, with its six-month blitz of resources, promises to confront this head-on, partnering FBI agents with tribal law enforcement and the Bureau of Indian Affairs to hunt down perpetrators and bring closure to families.

For those unfamiliar with the stakes, this is about real people: mothers vanishing from reservations, children stolen from their homes, and communities left to grieve without answers. The surge of federal boots on the ground signals a rare acknowledgment that the status quo—decades of neglect and half-measures—has failed. It’s a move that demands applause, but also scrutiny, because promises alone won’t heal the wounds.

Operation Not Forgotten isn’t starting from scratch. It builds on efforts kicked off during President Trump’s first term with Executive Order 13898, which birthed a task force to tackle this crisis. Since 2023, the operation’s earlier phases have supported over 500 cases, recovered 10 child victims, and notched 52 arrests. That’s not a statistic to shrug off; it’s proof that targeted action works. Now, with 60 agents rotating through 90-day stints across cities like Minneapolis, Phoenix, and Seattle, the FBI is doubling down, wielding cutting-edge forensic tools like genetic genealogy to crack cold cases that have languished for years.

Contrast this with the inertia that’s plagued Indian Country for generations. The Major Crimes Act of 1885 shoved federal jurisdiction onto reservations, yet enforcement has been a mess ever since, tangled in a web of underfunding and jurisdictional chaos. Public Law 280 in 1953 made it worse, handing some states a slice of the pie without the resources to back it up. The result? A patchwork system where predators slip through cracks while Native families wait for justice that rarely comes. Operation Not Forgotten cuts through that mess with a clear message: accountability matters.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs Missing and Murdered Unit, paired with U.S. Attorneys’ Offices ready to prosecute, adds muscle to this effort. In Minnesota, Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick framed it as a commitment to tribal needs, a sentiment echoed by FBI Minneapolis chief Alvin Winston Sr., who vowed to prioritize community protection. This isn’t just about catching bad guys; it’s about restoring trust in a system that’s broken it too many times.

Some skeptics, often from corners that fetishize small government, might grumble about federal overreach or cost. Let them try staring down a mother whose daughter’s killer walks free because no one bothered to investigate. The data backs this up: FBI stats from 2021-2023 logged nearly 35,000 violent crimes against Native women, most at home, with guns and fists as the tools of terror. Doing nothing isn’t noble; it’s complicity.

The Tribal Law and Order Act and Savanna’s Act already laid groundwork for this, boosting tribal authority and data collection. Operation Not Forgotten takes it further, fusing federal firepower with local knowledge. In Montana, where Native Americans are 27% of missing persons despite being just 6.7% of the population, this could mean the difference between a case solved and a family left in limbo.

This crisis didn’t spring up overnight. Colonization carved deep scars into Indigenous communities, stripping land, culture, and safety through policies of forced assimilation and systemic erasure. The violence today—domestic abuse, sexual assault, homicide—is the bitter fruit of that history, fed by poverty, trauma, and a justice system that’s often looked the other way. The Violence Against Women Act tried to patch some holes, but enforcement gaps persist, leaving Native women especially vulnerable.

Operation Not Forgotten isn’t a cure-all, but it’s a reckoning with that legacy. By flooding tribal lands with agents and forensic experts, it challenges the old excuse that these cases are too hard or too remote to solve. The MMIP Regional Outreach Program, with its attorneys and coordinators embedded in U.S. Attorneys’ Offices, amplifies this push, ensuring cases don’t just pile up as statistics but get the attention they deserve.

Those who’d rather clutch pearls over federal spending than fund this effort miss the point. Justice isn’t a luxury good; it’s a right. The BIA’s Office of Justice Services has long struggled with staffing shortages and budget woes, hobbling its ability to protect tribal lands. This surge flips that script, proving that when the will exists, the way follows. It’s a model that could—and ought to—expand beyond six months.

Operation Not Forgotten is a thunderclap of hope, a signal that the federal government can prioritize Indian Country without waffling. It’s delivering results—arrests, recoveries, indictments—that prove the machinery of justice can grind forward when it’s given fuel. But six months isn’t enough. The 4,300 open cases won’t vanish by October, and the families behind them won’t stop needing answers.

This has to be the start, not the peak. Lawmakers and advocates for tribal sovereignty need to seize this momentum, pushing for permanent resources, better training, and a justice system that doesn’t treat Native lives as afterthoughts. Operation Not Forgotten shows what’s possible when intent meets action; now, it’s time to make that the norm, not the exception. Anything less is a betrayal of the people it aims to serve.