Democrats are moving quickly to update the Violence Against Women Act with added protections for women in tribal communities.

“Those arrests aren’t surprising but it’s very sad when what you’ve been warning about for years actually comes to light,” said Sheila Lamb of the Minnesota Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s Task Force.

A controversial hemp operation on the Navajo Nation has spawned a federal investigation into reports of marijuana production, interstate drug trafficking and violations of labor and child labor laws.

Countless hours of tribal official and grassroots advocacy for missing and murdered Indigenous women and their families paid off when Congress gave final approval to Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act.