WASHINGTON — In her third week on the job as head of the Dept. of the Interior, Secretary Deb Haaland announced on Thursday the creation of a new unit to investigate and solve cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

The new unit, Missing & Murdered Unit (MMU), was created within the Bureau of Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services (BIA-OJS). The MMU will help put the full weight of the federal government into investigating these cases and marshal law enforcement resources across federal agencies and throughout Indian Country.

“Violence against Indigenous peoples is a crisis that has been underfunded for decades. Far too often, murders and missing persons cases in Indian Country go unsolved and unaddressed, leaving families and communities devastated,” said Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in a statement. “The new MMU unit will provide the resources and leadership to prioritize these cases and coordinate resources to hold people accountable, keep our communities safe, and provide closure for families.”

Haaland, a tribal citizen of the Laguna Pueblo, is the first Native American to lead a cabinet agency.