The Tragedy and Hope for Indigenous People

Written by: Brianne Litt, Devina Lookman, Kate McDonald, Lauren Preiditsch, Indra Sarju

In photo (Left to right): Kate McDonald, Brianne Litt, Indra Sarju, Devina Lookman. Not pictured: Lauren Preiditsch

There are approximately 370 million Indigenous people in the world belonging to 5,000 different groups, in 90 countries worldwide. Indigenous people are present in every region with approximately 1,400,685 Indigenous people living in Canada (Government of Canada, 2011).

Since European settlement Indigenous people in Canada have been a target for exploitation, violence and overall neglect.

A primary issue facing Canada today is the devastating number of missing Indigenous women, and the lack of priority given to find them. The documentary Finding Dawn puts a human face to this national tragedy, and explores the lives and experiences of some of the estimated 500 missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada over the past 30 years.

As International Development students, it is important to consider past, present and future circumstances of issues such as this. The past involves the history of Indigenous abuse in residential schools which helps to understand the present attitudes surrounding the lack of response by police towards cases involving Indigenous people, and ultimately helps form appropriate solutions and policies that are being proposed by Prime Minister Trudeau.

Regarding the past, negative attitudes formed around indigenous people began with residential schools where they were seen as weak and vulnerable, and often mistreated. The situations and experiences shown in Finding Dawn show that these attitudes still exist today and have escalated to violence against Indigenous women. This violence is exemplified in the fact that female homicide is disproportionately high for Indigenous women, with Indigenous women only making up only 3% of the population yet accounting for 10% of all female homicide in Canada (Native Women's Association of Canada, n.d.).

The personal stories presented in the documentary reveal that police are often slow to react to cases of missing Indigenous women, waiting months until they are considered to be a criminal investigation. The documentary explains the cause of this to be the lack of priority given to Indigenous cases. Rooted from Canada’s long history of the mistreatment of Indigenous people, this neglect has only escalated with the number of missing Indigenous women increasing. Just recently in this past October, instances of violence have emerged such as those of police assault taking place in Quebec. It is clear that there are still a great amount of strides that must be taken to ensure equitable treatment of Indigenous women in Canada.

Not to underplay the severity and reality of violence against Indigenous women, but we cannot help but wonder about cases of missing and murdered Indigenous men. Domestic abuse often focuses on women as the victims, which overlooks the abuse in which men receive. It would be valuable to learn more about this issue from both sides of the party.

In a modern context, there has been a clear transformation of pre-existing portrayals of Indigenous women and men. Due to the recent development between the Canadian government and the Indigenous people living in Canada, there has been remobilization of the term ‘Indigenous’ as social movements as well as a legal category. Prime Minister Trudeau has opened a public forum for discussion and plans to implement a 5-point plan to improve the relationship with Indigenous people including an examination of legislation and a significant investment in First Nations education.

Overall, this brings to light the question of how we should go about a change in societal views when the effects of social environments and institutions already have such a large impact on Indigenous people, their culture, and relation to the government. We believe that it is important to consider history, the current situation and if the evolvement of society is achievable in the future. There is much emphasis on the notion that true healing must involve everyone in the community as seen in Finding Dawn. There are lessons to be learned from the events of the past in order for Indigenous people to be able to reclaim their tradition and culture.

Please feel free to contact us:

Brianne Litt, Devina Lookman, Kate McDonald, Lauren Preiditsch, Indra Sarju

For More Information:

Finding Dawn documentary

In the News

Aboriginal women accuse police of sexual violence

Meet Justin Trudeau

Informative Websites

Residential School Background

Residential Schools: Impact on Aboriginal Students' Academic and Cognitive Development (PDF)

Definition of Indigeneity

Official Definitions of Indigeneity

Citations/References:

Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. (2015, October 23). Eight Quebec police officers

suspended in wake of alleged sexual assaults on Aboriginal women - APTN National News. Retrieved February 22, 2016, from: http://aptn.ca/news/2015/10/23/eight-quebec-police-officers-suspended-in-wake-of-alleged-sexual-assaults-on-aboriginal-women/

Government of Canada. (2011, February 2). Canadians in Context - Aboriginal Population.

Retrieved February 22, 2016, from: http://well-being.esdc.gc.ca/misme-iowb/.3ndic.1t.4r@-eng.jsp?iid=36

Native Women's Association of Canada. (n.d.). Fact Sheet Missing and Murdered Aboriginal

Women and Girls. Retrieved February 22, 2016, from: http://www.nwac.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Fact_Sheet_Missing_and_Murdered_Aboriginal_Women_and_Girls.pdf

Welsh, C., Eriksen, S.-E., National Film Board of Canada., & Women Make Movies (Firm).

(2006). Finding Dawn. New York, NY: Women Make Movies.

Photo Credits:

Bizzy, Chris. (2010, February 14). 19th annual Women's Memorial March. Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Womens_memorial_march.jpg.

Paterson, R.A. (2012, December 21). Idle No More (Victoria). Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Idlenomore_victoria.jpg.

The McGraw-Hill Companies. (2004). Map of Indigenous People of the World [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from https://www.westga.edu/~gvanvale/map_of_indigenous_people.htm.