“As more and more Indigenous women become missing or are murdered, the first Native American Secretary of the Interior has created a new unit to pursue justice.
Sec. Deb Haaland announced the formation of the Missing and Murdered Unit within the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services “to provide leadership and direction for cross-departmental and interagency work” on these cases, a Thursday press release said.
Tamra Borchardt-Slayton, the chairperson of the Paiute Tribe of Utah and member of the Utah Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Task Force, celebrated the unit formation.
“I think it’s historical for us because for a long time we’ve been an oppressed voice,” Borchardt-Slayton said. “It’s an epidemic still taking place … it’s an amazing thing, especially if they’re able to do what their goals are to do.” “
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