Deb Haaland was one of the many women to make history this past Tuesday at the polls.
The Democrat defeated Republican Janice Arnold-Jones in New Mexico, making her one of two of the first Native-American women to be elected to Congress.
The former chair of the Democratic Party of New Mexico is joining over 100 women elected for positions in the House of Representatives this year.
In an interview with Democracy Now, Haaland shared her priorities when she takes office.
“Yes. Well, I ran on—as you mentioned in the introduction, I did run on fighting climate change, moving toward 100 percent renewable energy, making sure everyone has healthcare, funding our public schools properly. But, I mean, there are so many issues out there," she said. "One that has not gotten enough attention over the years is missing and murdered indigenous women. And so, I mean, those are—you know, that is an epidemic."
“That’s something that we need to work on. I’ll go to Congress to make sure that we are paying attention to the issues that folks care about," Haaland continued. "And, I mean, missing and murdered indigenous women, yes, we care about that in Indian country, but women care about that issue all over the country. So, those are the kinds of things I’d like to bring to the forefront of our conversation, so that we can solve those issues."
Earlier this summer, NPR reported that over 300 women had been killed in the U.S and Canada under unknown circumstances.
The news outlet interviewed Annita Lucchesi, a doctoral student at the University of Lethbridge in Canada, who compiled a database of missing indigenous women. She found over 2,000 cases in her research but noted there is a lot of missing data and lack of accountability.
"And really, it's not just data," she stated. “That's someone's relative that's collecting dust somewhere, and no one is being held accountable to remember or honor the violence that was perpetrated against her.”
The Independent reports that 2,758 indigenous women were reported missing so far this year.
We stand with Haaland!
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