Do You Stop and Look? Honoring National Missing Children’s Day with Our Native Youth in Mind

We’ve all seen them—those haunting posters near the bathrooms at Walmart.
Faces of missing children. Names. Dates. Some smiling. Some solemn.
Ever wonder where they are? If their parents are okay? If they’re dead?

Do you imagine being their parent—wondering where your child is, if they’re scared, hungry, still alive?

May 25th is National Missing Children’s Day, a moment that should shake us all. But for those of us working in tribal communities, this day carries a particular weight. Our Native children are disappearing—often overlooked, often underreported, and too often never coming home.

Native Communities Know This Crisis Too Well

When I worked in Pawnee, Oklahoma, I witnessed this firsthand. I partnered with the FBI to take down a human trafficking ring operating out of Tulsa—a network that had specifically targeted the tribal youth in our community.

They didn’t just snatch kids off the street.
They groomed them.

They met them at basketball courts, parties, or wherever young people naturally gathered. They used local recruiters—often addicts promised a fix in exchange for their help. They invested months building trust with the kids before luring them away.

And then they transported them to Tulsa, where they were sold—to attorneys, doctors, professionals—anyone with the money to pay for a child.

This is happening, not in far-off countries.
Here. In our communities. To our children.

Why Don’t More People Care?

If it were your child, you’d hope someone did something.
You’d hope someone cared.
So I ask: What will we do?

The Numbers Speak—But Not Loud Enough

Thousands of children go missing every year in the U.S.—but when it comes to Native youth, the data is dangerously incomplete. Many cases aren’t recorded properly. Jurisdictional barriers stall investigations. Families face silence where there should be support.

But we can change that.

What You Can Do

🟣 Start by looking. Really look at those posters. Visit MissingKids.org and search by state or tribal affiliation.
🟣 Get trained. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) offers free training and resources for families, service providers, and professionals.
🟣 Talk to your kids. Equip them to recognize grooming tactics. Safe adults. Dangerous situations.
🟣 Partner with your local law enforcement and tribal programs. Cross-agency communication can save lives.
🟣 Support youth-focused nonprofits and tribal initiatives working on prevention, mentorship, and cultural identity—because when kids are rooted, they’re safer.
🟣 Fund culturally grounded prevention and recovery programs. If you're a government contractor, funder, or agency partner, know this: tribes need resources and autonomy to protect their children.

Our Kids Are Not For Sale

I write this not as a consultant, but as a mother. As a former youth worker. As someone who has cried over these stories and fought behind the scenes to stop them.

I want people to care because our Native children matter.
Their stories matter.
Their lives matter.

So next time you pass by one of those missing children’s posters—
Stop. Look. Pray. Act.
Because if it was your child, you’d want the world to stop too.

If your organization is looking to strengthen youth protection programs, enhance tribal collaboration, or identify resources to respond to trafficking and exploitation, I would be honored to help. At Coppertop Consulting, we walk alongside tribes, nonprofits, and government agencies to build sustainable, trauma-informed, and culturally rooted solutions.