Missing from Fire Trail Road
Written and Directed by Sabrina Van Tassel
Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes
Available On Demand November 1

by Heidi Krull, Staff Writer

For centuries, the United States government has pushed indigenous communities farther and farther out of the diaspora. Now, after years of inhumane boarding schools and abuse, hundreds of indigenous women are missing or have been murdered, and the case of Mary-Ellen Johnson Davis is no different. Directed by Sabrina Van Tassel (The State of Texas vs. Melissa), Missing from Fire Trail Road dives deep into the disappearance of Mary-Ellen, and shines an important spotlight on the violence women in indigenous communities face.

The primary indigenous community featured here is the Tulalip tribe, located in Washington state. The documentary opens with Mary-Ellen’s family talking about her disappearance and the struggles they have had trying to bring attention to her situation. She allegedly went missing on December 9, 2020, off of Fire Trail Road while heading to meet someone at a church, and has not been seen since. Mary-Ellen’s family has tried numerous times to get the proper authorities involved, but as reservation police do not have jurisdiction for murders or disappearances, they must rely on the FBI, who has shown little interest in her case (as well as countless others). Van Tassel not only gives us a close and personal account of Mary-Ellen’s case, but also explores the ever present pattern of indigenous communities being ignored, brutalized, and killed.

As I watched Missing From Fire Trail Road, I found myself appalled at the lack of resources or help Mary-Ellen’s family has received, but also amazed at how her community, among many others, banded together to find out what really happened to her. The women in the Tulalip tribe show an immense amount of courage, so much so that I was both tremendously moved, but also heartbroken for them. Mary-Ellen had a particularly difficult life, as her family members describe, and struggled with addiction in the latter part of her years. Because of that fact, the FBI pushed her case to the side, making her family do much of the grunt work for the investigation. This film shows very bluntly, though, that Mary-Ellen’s case did not happen in a vacuum. Due to their isolation and lack of police presence, many tribes’ women face the same dangers.

While Mary-Ellen’s case is the main focus of the documentary, Van Tassel also turns to the indigenous community in Yakima, Washington who have had disappearances of their own. The inclusion of multiple tribes really hones in the terrible pattern of violence this country has allowed to occur, and begs the question of why. The indigenous women from both communities bravely recount the horrible things they have endured, such as being taken by Child Protective Services (CPS), being assaulted, and having to cope with their trauma without professional help. Mary-Ellen and her sister were both taken by CPS as kids, which resulted in them being neglected and sexually abused by their foster family. Additionally, once they received a settlement from the state, Mary-Ellen’s husband took the money and fled Washington. This all sparked a series of events that led to Mary-Ellen suffering with addiction. What hit home for me at this point in the film was that, although Mary-Ellen was the one missing, it truly could have been any of these women facing that fate.

One thing Missing From Fire Trail Road did incredibly well was including an interview with an FBI agent who was supposedly working on Mary-Ellen’s case. He says what any FBI agent would say about an unsolved disappearance: that he can’t disclose all the details, but they are actively working on finding her with what they have. While this is an understandable response, I was disappointed when he denied that indigenous women statistically have a higher chance of being kidnapped or murdered than any other ethnicity in this country. In fact, at the end of the film, they show that three out of five indigenous women will be sexually assaulted, and four out of five will experience violence in their lifetimes. The FBI does not keep up with these statistics, which pushes indigenous voices further down. Even though there is just one agent present in the film, his casual denial of these facts is representative of how the United States has been dealing with crimes against indigenous women: they haven’t.

Towards the end of the film, Van Tassel included stories from the survivors of indigenous boarding schools, and how the things that happened there led to a trail of generational trauma that has yet to be undone. The film tied together Mary-Ellen’s case with these stories extremely well, and shows the ugly underbelly about the disgusting treatment of indigenous people everywhere. However, while these schools tried to crush the Native American spirit, they failed miraculously. Mary-Ellen’s family’s spirits have not been crushed, either.

Missing From Fire Trail Road recounts a tragic story, but shows the bravery and guts indigenous women must have to survive this world. I was nearly brought to tears many times during my watch, and am very impressed with the work Van Tassel has done to highlight this injustice. The mistreatment of these communities and the systemic erasure and killing of indigenous women has been occurring for far too long, and I hope that this documentary opens some shut eyes.