Montana billboards demand justice for MMIP cases

The billboard went up after HeavyRunner’s daughter, Mika Westwolf, was killed in a hit and run in March. Following the first billboard, another billboard was put up in Lake County, where Westwolf’s case went to court.

“I wanted them to drive by and see my face,” said HeavyRunner, a citizen of the Blackfeet Nation who has Diné affiliation. She said the billboards put pressure on county officials, who charged Sunny White in relation to Westwolf’s death. White pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide while under the influence of methamphetamine and fentanyl and is expected to serve ten years in prison, according to reporting by NBC Montana.

But the billboards are also part of a much larger project.

In 2018, Jermain Charlo, a mom from the Flathead Indian Reservation in Missoula, Montana, went missing. When no answers arose after five years, Jen Murphy, a local self-taught Native photographer wanted to use her artistic skill to make an impact.

She began photographing Native citizens who were affected by MMIP. Murphy uses the red handprint — a symbol of the MMIP crisis — and powerful phrases to catch the attention of drivers in Montana. After her first photoshoot, the simple Google search “how to get a billboard in Montana” led her to Lamar, a national advertising agency. The company believed in her mission and offered to give Murphy billboard space for free as long as she paid for the ads. Murphy began putting up billboards for Westwolf and other missing and murdered Indigenous people.

“This issue is really real for our people, and it has been since the beginning of time,” Murphy said, “and educating is the first step in awareness.”

Murphy, who is a citizen of the Chippewa Cree Tribe, said she works with families who invite her to share their stories. For her, the messages she spreads are about resilience and empowerment, messages that also resonate with Lamar.

“Lamar believes in the golden rule to treat others how you want to be treated and to leave communities better than you found them,” Allie Carley, Lamar’s general manager for Montana, said. “I’m a parent, so if my kids were missing, I would hope their faces would be blasted across every news banner on the internet and all over billboards.”

Carley said Lamar donates billboard spaces across Montana for Murphy’s cause. Billboard openings rotate as bids are made. She said Lamar also ran an MMIP campaign during May to help spread awareness all across the country.

Murphy’s goal is to expand her billboard project, which is now a nonprofit, across the United States. She said most Native people know of MMIP in their communities, but many non-Natives remain unaware. Murphy is traveling to Oregon in December to create MMIP billboards there.

“It’s sad but good to see other families that I know from my hometown that are now on a billboard looking for justice for their family member,” HeavyRunner said. “This movement is encouraging families to not sit back, that their voice matters.”

After the loss of her daughter, HeavyRunner started speaking at powwows, organizing community walks and setting up booths where she shares what happened to her daughter and asks families not to give up the fight for justice. She started a website and the Facebook group “Mika Matters” and began advocating for MMIP.

“The work I’m doing now, it couldn’t end with my daughter,” HeavyRunner said. “I wouldn’t let it.”

Murphy’s work also stretches beyond her initial project. She produced a short film “Not Afraid” and a children’s book “More Like Her.” The film, which was released on May 5, the national day of awareness for MMIP, follows a woman grieving the loss of a loved one to the MMIP crisis. While she believes film to be a powerful tool in storytelling, she also believes in the power of words.

Her book is designed for children as young as kindergarten. With nine pages and only a few words on each page, the book teaches the significance of the red handprint and how to keep each other safe.

“Our youth go missing at alarming rates and I thought, ‘How can we have this conversation younger?’” Murphy said.

In addition to bringing her billboard project to a new state, Murphy is working on a feature film about MMIP that highlights the resiliency of Native people. She said the film is likely to come out in 2026.

Murphy said profits made from her project are donated to the Snowbird Fund, a nonprofit in Montana that provides funding to families with missing and murdered loved ones to help cover the cost of searches and funerals.

Both HeavyRunner and Carley said the shared mission has led to a strong friendship with Murphy, who they are proud to have known.