Searching for Savanna: The Murder of One Native American Woman and the Violence Against the Many

The shocking murder of Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind puts a face to the plight of hundreds of Indigenous women in Gable’s (Blood Brother: The Gene That Rocked My Family) most recent work, masterfully narrated by Cassandra Campbell. A member of the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe of Fargo, ND, LaFontaine-Greywind was eight months pregnant when she went upstairs to help her neighbor with a sewing project. She never returned home. Campbell fully communicates the worry and desperation of LaFontaine-Greywind’s parents and family when they reached out to the police and reported their daughter missing. She brings out their frustration at the cursory investigation that resulted and channels their heartbreak when her body was found in the Red River, tied up in a garbage bag. Campbell compassionately delivers disturbing statistics, presenting Gable’s devastating research that exposes an epidemic of sexual and physical violence directed toward Indigenous women and girls. Gable, a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma, emphasizes that no legislation has been passed to protect these vulnerable people, despite several efforts by legislators to do so.