OBJECTIVE
To inform the Minister of the key findings pulled from the 2019 final report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.
SUMMARY
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls has deduced that violence against this group amounts to race-based genocide. This finding is communicated through a framework of four interconnected issues that cause and maintain this institutional failure. According to the report, these key issues are:
- Historical, multigenerational and intergenerational trauma.
- Social and economic marginalization.
- Maintaining the status quo and institutional lack of will.
- Ignoring the agency and expertise of Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people.
The report demonstrates that this violence is rooted in the colonial institutions put in place hundreds of years ago that operate in the same fashion today.
BACKGROUND
The report highlights that the number of MMIWG2S+ individuals in Canada is currently unknown. This is linked to the underreporting, discrimination, and distrust of public institutions within many Indigenous communities. The numbers we do have highlight that the Indigenous population experiences violence and murder at much higher rates than the non-Indigenous Canadian population.
Why is the National Inquiry Calling This Issue a Genocide?
Early in the report, the Inquiry expands the definition of the word “genocide” to include the systemic attack on a culture. Genocide is not just the physical act of murder, but the accepted ways in which colonial policies vilify Indigenous culture, language, and ways of knowledge. Tearing apart the fabric of indigenous culture and passing down that trauma to the next generation leads to the normalization of violence.
The Inquiry argues that Canada’s laws and policies, like the Indian Act and residential schools, have created the perfect vehicle for violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA to sustain itself. This violence and apathy are connected to the four key issues mentioned above.
KEY FINDINGS
The Inquiry took time to interview survivors and family members to get a deeper understanding of the four main issues linked to genocidal violence. They also concluded that if a person was experiencing a combination of these issues, the likelihood of exposure to violence increases.
Issue 1: Historical, Multigenerational and Intergenerational Trauma – Indigenous families have been historically traumatized by residential schools, forced child separations, and violence. This pain is then transferred to the next generation. This phenomenon is extremely prominent, with most respondents reporting living with trauma from violence that happened to their parents or grandparents.
Issue 2: Marginalization – Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA face high rates of poverty, homelessness, hunger, and lack of education. These conditions force individuals into desperate situations, and a lack of familial or community-based support limits their options.
Issue 3: Institutional Lack of Will – Governments often hide behind unnecessarily complex systems, which delay vital changes. Year after year, recommendations from Metis, Inuit and First Nation advocates are deferred, and institutions do not make themselves aware of unique issues within the Indigenous community. Many witnesses report feeling personally blamed or singled out for the violence they’ve experienced.
Issue 4: Ignoring the Agency of Indigenous Knowledge – Indigenous women and 2SLGBTQQIA individuals have robust ideas on how to solve these problems, but often find themselves at odds with governments and groups who fail to give them the resources to enact change. Respondents to the Inquiry point out that in order for change to be realized, governments must work in congruence with Indigenous women in the community.
The combined presence of these four issues leads to the violations of four important rights: the right to culture, safety, health and justice. When these rights are violated, it disrupts Indigenous women’s overall right to self-determination.
How Colonialism Created these Issues
The report argues that over the course of Canadian history, colonization had a unique impact on Indigenous women in comparison to Indigenous men.
During the period of early European contact, Indigenous women were displaced from positions of leadership due to strict gender roles. Their longstanding societal importance was largely dismissed by both settlers and missionaries alike, who operated under a different structure of gender norms.
After Confederation, Indigenous women were further targeted through stringent policies, like the conditions of the Indian Act that tied their status to their husbands’. The Inquiry acknowledges that the paternalistic hand of Canada’s colonial government has controlled, crippled and excluded Indigenous women.
Bottom Line: Colonial mindsets and biases are still built into Canadian institutions and make it impossible for Indigenous women to “get over” injustices that continue today.
DEPARTMENT’S PRIORITY
The Inquiry has clearly highlighted our office’s responsibility to address these issues. They state that the “restoration of the rights of Inuit, Métis, and First Nations women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people is a pressing priority” and lists two ways in which our office can take action. The report calls upon government agencies to look into the reopening of the Aboriginal Healing Foundation. It also requests that a national police taskforce be created to lead investigations into missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA.
CONCLUSION
In their final report, the National Inquiry states that violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA individuals is, in fact, genocide. This recycled violence feeds off the failures of the past and manifests itself through the current inaction of the government.
The crisis presents itself in four ways: trauma, marginalization, institutional inaction, and silenced Indigenous voices. These issues damage the culture, health, safety, and justice of Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA across the country.
CITATIONS
National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. (2019). Reclaiming Power and Place: Executive Summary of the Final Report (pages 1–19). Retrieved from https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Executive_Summary.pdf
