Inside the meltdown and the desperate bid to turn things around, the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women is crumbling amid defections, bureaucratic chaos and personal conflict. Between 1980 and 2012 there have been almost 1,200 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The staggering number of Indigenous women brutalized and lost to violence is a national tragedy, leaving shattered families filled with grief, suicides and despair.
The City of Edmonton has re-opened 190 unsolved homicides and 91 missing person cases, dating back to 1938, to determine which ones involved Indigenous females. Other cities are doing the same. And, although they have their hands full, a proper inquiry would explore both missing and/or murdered men and women.
Every missing person’s file represents a mother, grandmother, daughter, sister, aunt or friend. We cannot lose sight of the human aspect of these incidents .There is widespread anger and sadness in First Nations communities. There are families whose loved ones are missing—babies growing up without mothers, mothers without daughters, and grandmothers without granddaughters. For Native Americans, this adds one more layer of trauma upon existing wounds that cannot heal. Communities are pleading for justice.
Aboriginal women represent only 4.3% of the total female population, 16%t of all female homicide victims over more than three decades were aboriginal.
A red hand over the mouth has become the symbol of a growing movement, the MMIW movement. The name stands for the missing sisters whose voices are not heard. The silence of the media and law enforcement in the midst of this crisis. And oppression and subjugation of Native women who are now rising up to say #NoMoreStolenSisters.
Too many tears, too much sorrow.
IT IS TIME – Canada wide to:
- Find the truth
- Honour the truth
- Give life to the truth as a path to healing
At last, the Government of Canada launched a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
#AsheneeComeHome
Deeply hidden within the thick boreal forest was the home of Ashenee, a young Cree woman born to Shepen and Pamoon. Ashenee’s people lived by the old traditions, protected by isolation. They were unaware of the hundreds of aboriginal women reported as missing from across Canada. In many circumstances their disappearances seemed suspicious and their families wondered where the women were. They pleaded with the authorities to find their daughters, sisters and mothers, yet the families’ cries went unheard. They waited and worried, ‘Where are they? Will they ever come home?’ As a young woman Ashenee followed the traditions of her people and made a long walking journey to her mother’s village. If Ashenee had known of the missing women it might have been seen as a warning.
Novel available here: ‘Ashenee Come Home
“Linda has published fifteen books. She blogs about the publishing world, posts useful tips on the challenges a writer faces, including marketing and promoting your work, how to build your online platform, how to get reviews and how to self-publish.”