Tag Archives: Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

First Nations child advocate says child welfare system ‘eats up’ Indigenous kids

Cora Morgan, First Nations Family Advocate at The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) in Winnipeg, Monday, February 22, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods

WINNIPEG — A Manitoba First Nations children’s advocate says the child welfare system “eats up” Indigenous children and is designed to keep their families at a disadvantage.

Cora Morgan, with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, told the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women that the system is set up to apprehend children, not to support families.

“Any challenges that our families are faced with, it’s used against them instead of them being offered support. It victimizes our families,” she said Monday.

“A lot of these things are just perpetual. You can find five or six generations of a family where their children have been taken.”

The inquiry is holding hearings in Winnipeg this week and is expected to focus on child welfare.

Morgan said violence against Indigenous women and girls can be linked to child welfare because it not only removes them from their families, but also takes away their identity and self-worth.

“The system just eats up our children to the point where they lose value for life,” she said.

Manitoba has the highest per-capita rate of children in care and almost 90 per cent are Indigenous. The province said last week that the number of kids in government care dropped for the first time in 15 years to 10,328.

Morgan told the inquiry about a mother who had four children, all of whom were seized at birth primarily because of poverty.

Too much money is being spent on taking kids away from their families and not enough is invested in finding ways to keep them together, Morgan said.

“You keep hearing our government say apprehension is the last resort but it’s the first resort,” she said. “It’s always the first resort.”

Inquiry commissioners said they have heard about the effects of child welfare at every hearing. Qajaq Robinson said many people testified they were survivors of the system and that is “indicative of a huge problem.”

“Whether it’s children, who as a result of their mothers being murdered, ended up in care or women who, as a result of their children being apprehended, lost financial support or lost housing and then ended up in precarious situations having to resort to survival sex work,” she said, adding people are being failed in numerous ways.

“Every jurisdiction we have been to, I have heard it personally from witnesses,” Robinson said.

Morgan gave the inquiry a list of recommendations including supporting First Nations-led initiatives to bring children home and to stop penalizing victims of domestic violence by taking their children away.

The Canadian Press

Source: CTVNews.ca

Dozens gather along Highway 16 as teen’s remains brought home

People gather along Highway 16, also known as the Highway of Tears, for the return of 18-year-old Jessica Patrick’s remains. (Andrew Kurjata/CBC)

Family says remains discovered over the weekend are those of Jessica Patrick, 18

Family and friends of an 18-year-old whose body was found near Smithers, B.C., gathered along Highway 16 as the teen’s body is brought home from Prince George.

Jessica Patrick’s remains were discovered over the weekend, nearly two weeks after she was reported missing.

Investigators haven’t confirmed the remains are Patrick’s — but family say they are certain.​

The call to gather along Highway 16 as Patrick’s body is driven home went out on Facebook Wednesday night. Many comments suggested people arrive dressed in red in honour of missing and murdered Indigenous women.

Patrick, who also used the last name Balczer, was a young mother and a member of the Lake Babine First Nation.​

Jacquie Bowes, Patrick’s cousin, said those coming together along the road — also known as the Highway of Tears — are showing their support for the teen’s family.

“This is the most beautiful gesture from all over — that’s supporting the family right now,” Bowes said.

Jessica Patrick, 18, went missing at the end of August. She leaves behind a one-year-old daughter. (Facebook)

Patrick was last seen on Aug. 31 and reported missing on Sept. 3. No further information on her death has been released.

SOURCE: CBC News

Mural for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Vandalized With Racial Slurs

Isha Jules in Enderby, BC, at the mural painted to raise awareness of murdered and missing women. Photo: Warrior Publications

Mural for missing and murdered women in Enderby vandalized; RCMP investigating

A mural honouring missing and murdered indigenous women in a North Okanagan community was defaced with racial slurs.

According to infotel.ca, the mural, painted last year by artist Isha Jules at the skate park in Enderby B.C., was a statement that missing women would not be forgotten. It boldly stated “No more stolen sisters.”

Sometime on May 9, it was vandalized and painted over with the words “No more drunk stolen squaw sisters.”

The vandal added the words ‘drunk’ and ‘squaw’ to the ‘No more stolen sisters’ mural. Image Credit: River Johnson

It’s not the first time the mural has been targeted. A few days earlier, someone painted a black widow spider on it.

The mural was for all murdered and missing women but concern has been raised around the country about indigenous women in particular. Four women are currently missing from the area, and a fifth woman was found dead at a rural farm about 30 minutes out of Enderby.

Police are aware of the vandalism and an investigation is ongoing.

City of Enderby Mayor Greg McCune says he met with the RCMP and is hopeful they will find the person responsible.

As of Thursday morning, the vulgar remarks are already painted over, plans are underway to repaint the mural, and a rally is being organized for Saturday to denounce the hateful act.

Anyone wishing to attend the rally is asked to meet at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 12, at the skate park on Old Vernon Road.

[SOURCE]

Missing, Murdered Indigenous Women Inquiry Will Seek Extension, Admits To ‘Poor Communication’

Marion Buller, left, Chief Commissioner of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, along with her colleague, commissioner Michele Audette, in February 2017.

  • Staff – National Post | May 19, 2017

The chief commissioner of the national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls has admitted to a “poor communication strategy” in the wake of intense criticism about the inquiry’s progress.

The commission is also planning to ask for an extension, now that only one hearing is scheduled to take place before the fall.

During a Friday afternoon press conference, Marion Buller said the commissioners are taking steps to improve communication.

The inquiry has hired a new communications officer, Bernee Bolton. Former communications director Michael Hutchinson was let go earlier this year, after only a few months.

“We take full responsibility for our poor communication strategy,” Buller said. “We fully acknowledge that and take responsibility for it.”

Buller was responding to an open letter published earlier this week, signed by more than 50 family members, indigenous leaders and advocates, claiming the inquiry is “in serious trouble.”

“We are deeply concerned with the continued lack of communication that is causing anxiety, frustration, confusion, and disappointment in this long-awaited process,” it read.

Related

The letter raised concerns that the inquiry lacks leadership and is re-traumatizing family members of missing and murdered indigenous women.

But Buller said communication is the major issue, not leadership or staffing issues.

Some families have recently told news outlets they’re losing faith in the inquiry. But Buller said she’s been receiving calls from others who say “those people don’t speak for us.”

“I can tell you there’s still a lot of hope out there,” she told reporters.

The commission was supposed to complete its final report by November 2018.

But in a response to the open letter published Friday, Buller acknowledged that the inquiry’s original timelines “are no longer achievable.”

She wouldn’t say how long of an extension the commissioners might request.

At this point, there is only one hearing firmly scheduled, in Whitehorse at the end of the month. A team from the inquiry was in the territory this week to prepare for the week-long hearing that will begin May 29.

“The Whitehorse hearing is going ahead as planned,” Buller said Friday. “We owe that to the community.”

In the Yukon, it seems, many still have faith in the process, despite its flaws.

“I think it’s important,” said Bryan Jack, whose sister, Barbara, went missing as a teenager in Whitehorse in the 1970s. “It brings breathing room to a community that’s having a hard time.”

We are deeply concerned with the continued lack of communication that is causing anxiety, frustration, confusion, and disappointment

In many ways, the territory has been laying the groundwork for this moment for months.

After the first national roundtable on missing and murdered indigenous women was held in Ottawa in February 2015, the Yukon government and local indigenous groups decided to host their own events in Whitehorse. They organized a gathering for family members in December 2015, and a regional roundtable in February 2016 — months before the national inquiry was officially launched.

Jack was among those who shared their stories at the roundtable.

Afterward, he said, the local RCMP detachment followed up with him to see if he wanted to discuss his sister’s case any further.

“I really had a lot of respect for (the process),” he said.

Doris Anderson, president of the Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council, said that regional roundtable “let the families know that they are being heard.”

Demonstrators hold pictures of missing aboriginal women at a rally on Parliament Hill .

The women’s council and several other indigenous groups have been instrumental in advocating for families and making sure they feel comfortable coming forward, even months after the roundtable.

Anderson is among those who signed the open letter criticizing the commission this week. But she’s still optimistic about the inquiry’s future.

“We were the first to begin with, so of course there’s going to be some stumbling blocks,” she said. “I think they’re working really hard to ensure that the process gets a lot smoother.”

The Yukon government declined a request for comment from the National Post. But Jeanie Dendys, minister responsible for the Women’s Directorate, wrote a letter to Buller in March inviting the commission to come to the Yukon.

“I also want to take this opportunity to request relevant, timely and transparent communication for our people,” she wrote.

For his part, Jack still isn’t sure he’ll make it to the hearing, as it’s nearly summer and he’s busy. But he said he’ll go if he can.

“Nowadays, it’s like the fire’s lit beneath the people with the authority,” he said. “And we’ve just got to get on with it.”

[SOURCE]

Families Unsure Whether To Take Part In Missing Indigenous Women Inquiry

Missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. (CBC)

Manitoba coalition for MMIW families hosted meeting to talk over inquiry in Winnipeg on Saturday

  • Staff | The Canadian Press Posted: May 14, 2017

Some families of missing and murdered Indigenous women remain uncertain if they should take part in a national inquiry aimed at examining the violence in their communities, according to a group representing them.

Representatives of the Manitoba Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Coalition said a meeting Saturday to talk over the responses from inquiry staff to major questions have failed to produce clear answers.

The group has raised concerns about the inquiry process and how traumatized families and survivors will be treated.

Coalition co-chair Hilda Anderson-Pyrz said these people need to be confident that it will be worthwhile for them to get involved.

“They need to give reassurance their voices will be heard in a good way and a meaningful way,” Anderson-Pyrz said following the four-hour-long, closed-door meeting in Winnipeg’s North End.

A major worry among the families is that the inquiry, announced by the federal government in December 2015, will be conducted within a framework that doesn’t account for Indigenous ways and traditions, said Sandra DeLaronde, also a coalition co-chair.

“If we let the inquiry go on its own, it will completely be in a legal tradition,” said DeLaronde. “It’s the only chance we’re going to get, and if it’s not done right, we’ve lost the opportunity.”

‘We’re still in the dark’

More than 30 people attended the meeting, according to attendee Sue Caribou, who has seen several of her relatives murdered and others go missing.

“We’re still in the dark,” Caribou said.

The coalition sent 43 questions to inquiry officials after an earlier meeting with the inquiry’s commissioners in Winnipeg.

That meeting came a few weeks after the inquiry postponed a series of regional advisory meetings supposed to help determine what issues should be covered when formal hearings get underway.

A copy of the questions and responses was supplied to The Canadian Press by people who attended Saturday’s meeting.

One question was whether the inquiry’s five commissioners and staff will receive “trauma informed” training. No one from the inquiry’s “health team” at the May 4 meeting assisted a family member who broke down and left, the coalition said in the document.

The coalition also asked how the inquiry will reach families and survivors in Canada’s isolated or northern communities and those who don’t use social media.

Inquiry officials responded that commissioners, directors and most of the staff will be trained in June 2017. They responded the inquiry is still working on an outreach strategy which may include “posters, podcasts on local radio stations.”

The inquiry is to complete its work and wrap up by December 2018, and the document says it is planning to do its work within the existing timeframe and budget.

Sheila North Wilson, grand chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO), said the inquiry might need longer than its current timeline to do the job in a meaningful way. (CBC)

Sheila North Wilson, the grand chief of an organization advocating for northern Manitoba First Nations, said it may not be enough time to get the job done in a meaningful way.

“The biggest need, immediately, that I see is we need to provide better resources and opportunities for our women and girls and families because ultimately that’s what leads to what happens,” she said.

“Women become vulnerable, people that take advantage of vulnerability have their way and then become victims of this issue.”

[SOURCE]