So why is this a thing?

[OneGuy67]

So why can't they use the Ashanti Alert for indigenous persons instead of a whole new category based solely on race?

We do not have the Ashanti Alert here in Colorado. We have the AMBER Alert since 2002, Missing Senior Citizen Alert since 2006, Missing Persons with Developmental Disabilities Alert since 2007, Blue Alert since 2011, Medina Alert since 2014, Endangered Missing/Media Alert since forever (the first and the catch all) and now the Missing Indigenous Person Alert since last week.