Blackfeet citizen Diana Burd has seen firsthand the delays that come with searching for a missing person on the reservation. Whether it’s search dogs, divers or a police-led search party, it often takes days or weeks for help to reach Montana’s eight rural reservations. Now, after certifying the first Native-led equine search team in the country, Burd is hoping to fill in those gaps.

“We don't have to wait for somebody to come to save us,” Burd said. “We're capable of saving ourselves.”

Burd’s journey with search and rescue began when 3-year-old Arden Pepion went missing from a rural area of the Blackfeet Reservation in 2021 and Burd volunteered to assist the family with search parties.

“It feels like I know Arden,” Burd said. “I never met her, but I know her personality because I spent

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