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Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women: A Canadian Epidemic


Missing and murdered Indigenous women - This is an epidemic, classified as a national crisis in Canada, still swept under the rug by majority of politicians despite statistics supporting the ongoing problem. There are also a large count of instances where the death of these women have been deemed unsuspicious by police despite evidence contradicting this provided by coroners and/or family members.

****Indigenous women include women of First Nations, Metis and/or Inuit descent, the first people of Canada.*****

Back in 2014, the RCMP released their first ever report acknowledging there is a problem with murdered and missing Indigenous women in Canada. The report claims “1,017 women and girls identified as Indigenous were murdered between 1980 and 2012—a homicide rate roughly 4.5 times higher than that of all other women in Canada” and also acknowledges “as of November 2013, at least 105 Indigenous women and girls remained missing under suspicious circumstances or for undetermined reasons” (Amnesty, 2014).

This report was updated in 2015, however it still leaves out some key elements including how Indigenous families and communities are affected by the epidemic and ways in which the crisis can be addressed. The report also failed to include unexplained/suspicious deaths as well as circumstances where the case was not properly investigated and ruled as accidental, which is common when it comes to cases dealing with Native women and children. After the 2015 update, only cases within the RCMP’s jurisdiction are included.

According to Statistics Canada, “between 1997 and 2000, the homicide rate for Indigenous women was nearly seven times higher than the rate for non-Indigenous women.” (The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2018) Further studies by Statistics Canada and the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC), indicate “Indigenous women 15 years and older are 3.5 more likely to experience violence than non-Indigenous women”(The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2018). The violence inflicted upon Indigenous women is usually much more frequent and severe as well.

In the case of Alisha Germaine (1994) , a 15 year old native girl, she simply set out for home from the Native Friendship Centre in Prince George, BC on Christmas eve, but never made it home. Her body was found slain near an elementary school and the case of her death was added to Project E-PANA however nothing ever came of the case. Cheryl Duck, a 15 year old Winnipeg Native, was found face down in the cold on December 5th 1987. Coroner’s evidence indicated she was sexually assaulted and faced blunt force trauma before being left for dead. Days after the discovery of her body, police claimed they had a lead suspect. Nothing ever came of this though as her case was quietly swept under the rug. Angel Carlick, a 19 year old Yukon native, mysteriously went missing shortly after her graduation in May of 2007. Her remains were discovered 6 months later by a hiker at Pilot Mountain in Whitehorse, despite the RCMP supposedly searching for the missing woman. All of the above cases remains unresolved to this day.

It was not until September 2016, that the Canadian Government finally filed a National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. The inquiry is not being overseen by the federal/ provincial/ municipal/ Indigenous governments, but instead by 4 commissioners across Canada. The inquiry is set out to expose the impacts and truths of “colonization, racism and sexism” (National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, 2018) - aspects of Canadian society that many refuse to accept. The inquiry has 5 teams to assist Indigenous women and families in the following areas: (1) Community outreach and support services (2) Research (3) Legal (4) Communications and (5) Operations.

The inquiry commissioners are due to release their final interim report by April 2019 and wind down operations by June 2019.

When did this epidemic begin?

Since the ‘white man’ intruded upon North America, Indigenous women were sexualized due to their dangerous cultural attitudes and stereotypes. Such colonial attitudes can be attributed for many of today’s laws surrounding Indigenous people as well as the 'Sixties Scoop', which has found it’s resurgence in modern times being called 'The Millennium Scoop'.

A Look At More Cases :

Beatrice Adam, a 36 year old Dene Native, had been found dead in the shallows of the North Saskatchewan River with numerous cuts, bruises and broken bones on October 12 2014. A day after she and her boyfriend, Timothy Charlette, had been reported missing. Adam was last seen on a nearby bridge with Charlette and a friend. The coroner deemed Adam’s death a drowning and claim Charlette must’ve drowned as well, despite no body being recovered.

Brittany Bearspaw, 16, was found dead on the trans-canada highway near Morley, AB on New Year’s Day in 2006 with multiple blunt force injuries to the face, according to the coroner. The RCMP told her parents it was possibly suicide, which contradicted their public statement saying Bearpaw’s death was the result of a hit and run. The RCMP managed to misplace extremely valuable evidence in the case of Brittany Bearspaw, including her cell phone after her father had requested to have it returned a year later. Coincidentally, they also forgot to metion misplacing evidence on her file.

Helen B. Osborne, a 19 year old Cree native from Manitoba, was abducted and brutually murdered November 13 1971. During the inital investigation, the RCMP only interviewed other Aboriginal people who may have been known to Osborne and came up with no leads. The case was almost left a cold until a woman wrote an anonymous letter to the RCMP implicating the involvement of 3 local men from The Pas, one of whom had told the writer about the murder. Following up on the tip lead to Osborne’s captors and murderers, 4 white males, being publically identified by the RCMP for their involvement in the case. However, only one of the men involved were eventually charged and that was not until 16 years later.

In the fall of 2015, eight officers from the Sûreté du Québec were suspended as a result of 14 allegations of abuse of power, sexual assault and other forms of assault against Indigenous women.

Resources:

https://www.amnesty.ca/blog/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls-understanding-the-numbers

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/

https://www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/brittany-bearspaw?profileID=cheryl-johnson

https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1448633299414/1534526479029

http://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/

https://www.canada.ca/en/indigenous-northern-affairs/news/2018/06/statement-from-minister-bennett-on-the-national-inquiry-into-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls-request-for-an-extension-and-interim-r.html

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls-in-canada

http://www.ajic.mb.ca/volumell/chapter1.html

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