After the release of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ final report on Monday, Indigenous leaders in the Okanagan are calling for change and asking the public to educate themselves on the report’s findings and First Nations history.
The inquiry concluded that the deaths and disappearances of thousands of Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse people are part of a Canadian genocide and made over 200 recommendations, including specific recommendations addressed to the general public.
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“There needs to be an open mindedness to listen to the issues at hand and to challenge your own belief systems about what you have been taught and what you have learned and what you are teaching your children,” said Patricia Wilson, the executive directer of the North Okanagan Friendship Center Society.
Okanagan Indigenous leaders are now hoping the inquiry’s recommendations will be taken up locally.
“It is not about taking action in Victoria or Ottawa. It is about taking action right across the country in small towns and educating each other,” said Splatsin chief Wayne Christian.
The report notes institutions’ insistence on maintaining the status quo is part of the problem — and tasks all Canadians with holding governments accountable to act on the report.
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Still, Wilson called the completion of the report hopeful and suggested Canadians take time to read the document and consider what individual changes they can make.
Calls for change
In particular, Wilson would like to see a focus on education.
The inquiry calls for schools to teach the public about “the issues and root causes of violence” experienced by Indigenous people.
“I realize that our current population might not have that ability to create new awareness from long-entrenched teachings, but our hope is that the future generations will,” Wilson said.
“In order for us to address the systemic issue, I think it needs to take a systemic step through public education and awareness right at the very base levels of Canadian society.”
Meanwhile, Christian would like to see outstanding missing persons cases solved.
The report recommends a national task force be set up to review all unsolved cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people.
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“Around here there are five women who went missing,” Christian said. “They are not all Indigenous, but still, those families need to have a closure somehow.”
Reactions to genocide
Christian called the report’s conclusion that the treatment of Indigenous women and girls was a genocide a “powerful message,” while North Okanagan activist Jody Leon applauded report’s authors for using the term.
“I applaud them for being that brave,” Leon said.
“It takes bravery to come out and tell the truth and tell people and name them to say it is an act of genocide. All of it brings to light the reality Indigenous people are facing.
Christian said that some of the reaction to the report’s use of the word had been racist.
“I think the message is from all the murdered and missing women, their voices are coming through in that way.”
Wilson, meanwhile, acknowledged that it can be a shocking word for people to hear.
“We don’t like to believe that we are a part of a system that has been very destructive and very hurtful to one race of people,” Wilson said.
“That word is a difficult word to say and it is a difficult word to create the awareness around…but as an Indigenous person we surely have felt the effects of persistent and determined mistreatment of our race of people.”
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