On Wednesday, a roundtable discussion at Chukchansi Gold Resort and Casino brought the community together to discuss Assembly Bill 1314, or the Feather Alert Bill.
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The bill means a notification similar to an Amber Alert is sent out when a native person goes missing.
It was signed into law in October by Governor Gavin Newsom.
First Native American California Assembly member and co-author of the bill, James Ramos, is watching his work pay off.
"It's really heart warming because we spoke earlier about being a voice of our ancestors, our ancestors that never had this opportunity to even talk about an alert system that would bring them home," says James.
The new alert system is a game changer for local law enforcement.
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"When persons go missing, time is of the essence, every minute that goes by it makes it exponentially harder for us to locate that person, so having these tools we can get that information out to the public and tell them what we are looking for it helps us generate those leads to get that person back just as soon as we can," explains Madera County Sheriff Tyson Progue.
Janet K. Bill is the Chairperson for the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians.
She calls the new tool a historic resource, "I definitely have had family members and loved ones who have been murdered or are still missing. So it really is a testament not only to all the tribal leaders who are advocating for this but also just giving thanks to my council members."
Tribal members express their gratitude about the bill being signed but now it's time to implement it and that's exactly what these discussions are about.
For more details the Feather Bill, click here.