Santa Fe, New Mexico - New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan on Monday signed into law a bill to establish a Turquoise Alert System for missing and murdered Indigenous people.

New Mexico became the fourth state – after California, Washington, and Colorado – to authorize the creation of such an alert system when Lujan signed Senate Bill 41.

The legislation was introduced in response to the long-standing crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people, particularly women and girls, which is widely recognized as a legacy of US and Canadian colonialism and genocide.

The National Institute of Justice found in a 2016 study that 84.3% of American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced violence in their lifetime, including 56.1% who have experienced sexual violence.

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After surveying 71 cities across the US in 2017, the Urban Indian Health Institute issued a report in which they found that there had been at least 506 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women, including 78 in New Mexico. Those numbers were likely an undercount, it said.

Under New Mexico's new Turquoise Alert System, which will function similarly to Amber or Silver alerts, cellphones will receive a notice in cases of imminent danger to an Indigenous person.

"Today, we celebrate a victory for Native communities across New Mexico and beyond. The signing of SB41 is not just a policy achievement, it’s a victory for every Native mother, daughter, sister, and aunt who has ever been impacted by the violence that continues to ravage our communities," Tiffany Jiron, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women (CSVANW), said in a press release.

"This bill reflects our deep commitment to ensuring that no Indigenous person is left behind when they go missing," Jiron continued. "For far too long, Native women and girls have been overlooked, their cases ignored or delayed."

"The Turquoise Alert System is an essential step toward rectifying that injustice and ensuring that our people receive the protection they deserve."