Stolen.
Last Tuesday I was woken up by my mom in the early hours of the morning. I was exhausted and tried to ignore her since it was still dark outside. When I decided to get up and listen, she was frantically explaining that our family car wasn't in the driveway when she left for work. We went to check our security camera’s footage and there was absolutely nothing that explained our missing car. So when my mom left for work, my dad and I called the police and filed a report stating that our car had been stolen in the middle of the night. We still don't have any conclusions as to what has happened. Our story doesn't have an ending yet, we will either end up finding the car or buying a new one and moving on. No matter how important or insignificant, you have probably gotten something wrongfully taken away from you - stolen. Whether that be jewelry, a piece of clothing, or a cellphone, you no longer have it. But what happens when the thing being stolen becomes something much more valuable, say somebody’s life? What happens when one missing person becomes 10, then 100, then over 5000. Of those 5000 missing, how many were reported? What if they never get any conclusions either.
Life.
Indigenous peoples are no strangers to having things taken from them. According to Aeon “between 1776 and the present, the United States seized some 1.5 billion acres from North America’s native peoples” (The Invasion of America - Claudio Saunt.) We live on stolen land. Indigenous and Native culture is something widely appropriated in fashion. At this point, nobody bats an eye when they see traditional headdresses, necklaces, and clothing at fashion shows. Indigenous peoples have been biting their tongues and keeping quiet while we have stolen what is unique to them. But now something else is being stolen at a much more frequent and alarming rate. Life. Staying quiet was no longer an option. This human rights crisis has been an issue for a long while now but has only been discussed recently. Several groups had been reaching out to legislation concerning the disproportionate amount of Indigenous women that have gone missing and murdered in Canada, only to be ignored. The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls of Canada (MMIWG) wasn’t widely noticed until 2015. What they had been avoiding for so long was suddenly an imperative issue of their minds. Sexual abuse. A small but powerful survey conducted by the Urban Indian Health Institute shows that out of 184 indigenous women questioned, 94% had been raped or coerced into sex at least once. Keeping in mind that most of the women or children had most likely been abused, there was supposed to be a lot of support for the indigenous families while this was going on. This included ceremonies, mental health counseling, spiritual support, and community counseling. But according to FLARE, “On May 16, The Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) produced a report card on the Inquiry, giving it a failing grade in nearly every area, and citing specific concerns about schedules, funding, lack of open communication between families and the public, and failing to proceed in a manner that is ‘trauma-informed” (MMIWG Inquiry: What Five Indigenous Activists Want You to Know About the MMIWG Inquiry.) So now the hope that they had for answers about their missing sisters had become hurt. Their experiences had been relieved, old wounds rehashed, and left untreated. Some even called for the inquiry to be restarted while it was being made. Looking past the harsh negative effects the inquiry had, it did bring to light some shocking statistics, to say the very least. It acknowledged that the colonization of native lands has had a role in the disappearances and murders of indigenous women. It also concluded that although indigenous people only make up about 4.3% of the Canadian population, 16% of all homicide victims are indigenous women. The inquiry also calls for 231 critical changes.
Fear.
What are you scared of? It could be the dark, roller coasters, or anything in between. We have all had to deal with our fair share of fear in our lives. But the fear that indigenous women and girls have to face isn’t the same as ours. Theirs is life-threatening. Indigenous women should not have to worry about being murdered or being abducted, but the fear of these threats is something that often looms in the back of their minds. As well as fearing for their lives, they know that most of their abusers will not be charged or face any consequences for their actions. You can get involved by searching for MMIWG organizations in your area and volunteering for them or starting your own. You could also try to raise awareness in any way possible whether that be striking up a conversation and informing someone, completing a survey, or just sharing a post on your Instagram story. You have the ability to create change and raise awareness. As quoted in the inquiry, ‘this is genocide” and it needs to stop.
Sources:
“Addressing the Epidemic of Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.” Cultural Survival, 6 Mar. 2020, www.culturalsurvival.org/news/addressing-epidemic-missing-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls.
Alicia Elliott, Chatelaine June 2. “Canada Asked For a Report On MMIWG. Now It's Ignoring It.” FLARE, 5 June 2020, www.flare.com/news/mmiwg-2020/.
Alicia Elliott, Chatelaine June 2. “Canada Asked For a Report On MMIWG. Now It's Ignoring It.” FLARE, 5 June 2020, www.flare.com/news/mmiwg-2020/.
“Ending Violence Against Native Women.” Ending Violence Against Native Women | Indian Law Resource Center, indianlaw.org/issue/ending-violence-against-native-women.
Flannery Dean May 29, 2017. “MMIWG Inquiry: What Five Indigenous Activists Want You to Know.” FLARE, 5 June 2019, www.flare.com/news/mmiwg-inquiry/.
“Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada.” The Canadian Encyclopedia, www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-and-girls-in-canada.
“Racial Discrimination and Denial of Equality Under the Law.” Racial Discrimination and Denial of Equality Under the Law | Indian Law Resource Center, indianlaw.org/safewomen/racial-discrimination-and-denial-equality-under-law.
Saunt, Claudio. “How Were 1.5 Billion Acres of Land so Rapidly Stolen? – Claudio Saunt: Aeon Essays.” Aeon, Aeon, 14 Aug. 2020, aeon.co/essays/how-were-1-5-billion-acres-of-land-so-rapidly-stolen.
For more ways to help out our indigenous brothers and sisters, please visit the link below.
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