The first-ever Native American member of the U.S. government is currently visiting Canada to discuss the best ways to help Indigenous communities and Métis and Inuit peoples across North America.

Deb Haaland, the Secretary of the Interior in President Joe Biden's administration, has made the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls a top priority for her department.

While in Ottawa, Haaland, who is a member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe in New Mexico, will participate in a tri-national working group formed in 2016 to address this issue, which is a crisis in the three North American countries.

Haaland is also expected to meet with several Canadian officials and dignitaries in Canada’s federal capital, as well as her country’s ambassador there, David Cohen.

Since taking her cabinet position, the tragic legacy of residential schools for Indigenous peoples has been a central focus for Haaland.

A report released last year included documented and undocumented graves at 53 different sites and estimated that at least 500 students died in 19 out of the 408 government-funded schools.

Since then, Haaland has established a committee comprising law enforcement experts, government officials, Indigenous tribal leaders, and survivors to oversee U.S. laws designed to combat violence against Indigenous peoples.

“This work requires each of us to confront the trauma we faced, to relive unimaginable pain, and to envision a future where our loved ones are safe and our communities have turned the page,” the U.S. Secretary said earlier this year.