Lake County designates May 2025 as Month of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People; board authorizes courthouse flag

The Lake County Board of Supervisors adopted a proclamation designating May 2025 as Lake County Month of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People and authorized county public services to hang a commemorative flag at the courthouse for the month, the board chair said.

The proclamation cites federal data and recent statutes aimed at improving responses to missing and murdered Indigenous people and invokes local history and the county’s tribal nations to explain the county’s action.

Chair EJ Crandall read the proclamation on the boardroom dais and signed it on behalf of the board. The proclamation cites National Crime Information Center and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention statistics about rates of violence and missing-persons reports affecting American Indian and Alaska Native communities, references the federal Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act, and notes historical events including the Temescal and Bloody Island massacres. It also lists seven federally recognized tribes that the proclamation says are located in the county.

Katie Ray, an enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes and victim services and programs manager for the Scotts Valley Band of Pomo, spoke after the proclamation was read. She said the designation is a time to "honor and bring visibility to the missing and murdered indigenous people" and added, "We will not be silent. We will not forget, and we will continue to seek justice, truth, and healing for our missing and murdered indigenous relatives." Darnell Aparicio, who identified himself as Pomo from Manchester Point Arena, read a list of names of missing or murdered relatives and observers; he told the board, "All those names matter."

Board members then considered the second part of the item, authorizing county public services to hang the flag at the courthouse for the month of May 2025. A board member moved approval of placing the flag as described in the staff memo and another board member seconded. The motion passed by voice vote, recorded as 5-0-0.

Vice Chair Rasmussen said she appreciated the proclamation and flag and urged the board to pursue follow-up steps beyond symbolic recognition, suggesting the county invite the sheriff to brief the board on local investigative practices and to explore further actions and partnerships with tribal leaders and advocates.

The board chair said the signed proclamation and flags for each tribe present would be distributed, and the flag will be displayed on the courthouse for May 2025 as authorized.

Votes at a glance: proclamation adopted by the board (adoption language included in the read proclamation); authorization to post the flag at the courthouse for May 2025 — motion approved, voice vote recorded 5-0-0.