Thousands of murdered and missing indigenous women have fallen victim to a decades-long 'Canadian genocide' with women facing violence through 'state actions rooted in colonialism', $92million inquiry finds
- National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls report
- Said violence caused by 'state actions and inaction rooted in colonial ideologies'
- Families have asked why up to 4,000 indigenous women murdered in 30 years
Thousands of murdered and missing indigenous women have fallen victim to a decades-long Canadian genocide, a major report has said.
Indigenous women faced a high level of violence through 'state actions and inactions rooted in colonialism and colonial ideologies', the National Inquiry into Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls found.
The $92million report, titled Reclaiming Power And Place, was created over two and a half years and looked into the causes of violence towards indigenous women and girls.
The review came about after pressure over the murder of schoolgirl Tina Fontaine (pictured on a canvas with her uncle and aunt Joe and Thelma Favel) in 2014
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wipes his eyes during the closing ceremony of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Gatineau, Quebec. Indigenous women faced a high level of violence in Canada, with the report branding it the 'Canadian genocide'
Trudeau (pictured with wife Sophie, right, today at the closing ceremony) has made it a government priority to reconcile with Canada's 1.6million indigenous peoples
Prime Minister Trudeau greets people at the ceremony today at the Canadian Museum of History. The inquiry was scheduled to submit its final report in November 2018, but the government granted commissioners a six-month extension instead of the requested two years
How murdered schoolgirl Tina Fontaine was repeatedly failed:
Tina Fontaine, who was an indigenous schoolgirl, was failed by the system created to help her, according to a Canadian children's advocate.
Her death in 2014 brought calls for an inquiry into the spiraling numbers of indigenous women and girls being killed or going missing in Canada.
The teenager's body was found in Winnipeg's Red River in August, 2014, after a week-long manhunt for her.
The 15-year-old was left dead in a blanket that had been weighed down by rocks.
In March, it was revealed in a report that she was not able to get help from services she was entitled to and clearly needed.
Manitoba child and youth advocate Daphne Penrose released a review into Tina's life and concluded: 'At times, particularly in the final months of her life, some of these services were unavailable, not easily accessible, or ill-coordinated, which did not provide the supports and interventions she desperately needed.'
Tina Fontaine was killed in 2014
It was officially released today at a closing ceremony at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec, which saw Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wipe away a tear.
The inquiry, which was beset by delays and staff resignations, opened painful wounds as it heard testimony from 468 family members of missing or murdered women.
The 1,200-page report read: 'The truths shared in these National Inquiry hearings tell the story - or, more accurately, thousands of stories - of acts of genocide against First Nations, Inuit and Métis women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people.'
Victims' families have been questioning why up to 4,000 indigenous women were murdered or have gone missing over the past 30 years.
Prime Minister Trudeau has made it a government priority to reconcile with Canada's 1.6million indigenous peoples and opened the inquiry in 2016.
Yet the report still contains 231 recommendations, according to CBC, and only came about after years of lobbying by native leaders, activists and victims' families.
Its website says: 'For far too long, Indigenous women and girls have been publicly devalued or ignored.
'People's general perceptions have been shaped by harmful colonial stereotypes.
'People forget that every Indigenous woman or girl - no matter how she died or what she had been through - had an inherent strength and sacred worth.'
The $92million report, titled Reclaiming Power And Place, was done over two and a half years and looked into the causes of violence towards indigenous women and girls. Pictured: Canadian First Nations occupy the Old City Hall in protest to diverse social issues they are facing. A large banner referring to Tina Fontaine murder 'on stolen land'
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Victims' families (pictured during the third annual Women's March in Vancouver in january) have been questioning why up to 4,000 indigenous women were murdered or have gone missing over the past 30 years
The shocking death of Tashina General and her unborn child:
Tashina General was murdered in 2008
Tashina General was killed by her boyfriend in January 2008 as he had a 'fit of rage'.
The 21-year-old, who was four month pregnant with his child, was strangled to death outside the man's home near Brantford, Ontario.
He dumped her body behind a barn on his land and put a sleeping bag over her.
He later panicked and buried her in a shallow grave in a leafy area off Chiefswood Road, near Indian Line.
General's family, including her activist cousin Beverley Jacobs, said her death had been a turning point in her work.
Bernie Williams, member of the grandmother council caring for Commissioner Michèle Audette, said in the report: 'If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. This is every Canadian's responsibility not to turn a blind eye.'
And Robyn Bourgeois, a campaigner on the issue, added to the BBC: 'It took 40 years to get to this present moment and only because indigenous women have been on the ground making noise about this.'
The leaked recommendations from the report call for the police system to be restructured to reduce racism, an immediate end to birth alerts and to abolish male/female gender reports with non-binary made an option.
Native women represent four per cent of Canada's population but accounted for up to 16-24 per cent of homicide victims during the period, according to the report.
Official estimates say almost 1,200 women and girls went missing or were killed between 1980 and 2012.
But inquiry commissioners have said the figure is probably too low.
The four commissioners held 24 hearings across Canada over the past two and a half years and heard from more than 2,000 witnesses, including family members of missing or murdered women, survivors of violence, experts and officials.
They admitted it was hard to agree on a definition of genocide, with the report stating it is 'the sum of the social practices, assumptions and actions detailed within this report.
'The national inquiry's findings support characterising these acts, including violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people, as genocide.'
Leaked recommendations from the report released officially today call for the police system to be restructured to reduce racism, an immediate end to birth alerts and to abolish male/female gender reports with non-binary made an option. Pictured: Jenny Blackbird, from Kehewin Cree Nationm Alberta, but living now in Toronto, holds a cup of sacred water during speeches in Nathan Philips Square in a rally for murdered schoolgirl Tina Fontaine
They added that there will be a 'supplementary report on the Canadian genocide of Indigenous peoples according to the legal definition of genocide'.
The commissioners said they knew the report had been leaked to the media but would not comment further.
They said in a joint statement: 'Out of respect for all those invested in the process, and most particularly the family members and survivors of violence who courageously shared their Truths over two years of public hearings and statement gatherings, the National Inquiry will proceed as planned to present its Final Report on Monday, June 3 at a solemn national ceremony to honour the missing and murdered.'
'We will not discuss specific findings or recommendations in advance of their official publication, and continue to encourage all Canadians to read the Final Report following its formal presentation to governments.'
