Indigenous women are six times more likely to be murdered. Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Getty Images
Canada has a long history of oppressing its Indigenous peoples. During the colonial era, they were mistreated, excluded, had their land stolen, and were separated from their families. But this past isn’t over; it still shapes the present. In particular, it affects women: more likely to experience violence and murder, indigenous women are the victims of what a government inquiry in 2016 called a “genocide”.
According to the report, at least 1,200 women and girls had been murdered or had just vanished in Canada since 1980 — and the real figure is estimated to be closer to 4,000. Little, though, has been done about it. Three years later, Justin Trudeau finally vowed to act. “We will fail you no longer,” he said to the families of those who have been disappearing at a rate of about 130 a year for the past three decades. And then he continued to fail.
Born in British Columbia, Cherry Smiley grew up among the Nlaka’pamux (Thompson) and Diné (Navajo) nations. A grassroots feminist, she is determined to give a voice to these patronised, victimised women. “There’s this expectation,” she says, “that when you’re talking about murdered and disappeared Indigenous women, you are supposed to cry and turn up with your eagle feather and show these visible signs of pain and trauma. That’s what the government wants to see. And if that is not how you are expressing yourself it’s very easy to ignore you.”
In February, Smiley published Not Sacred, Not Squaws: Indigenous Feminism Redefined, in which she lays bare the roles of culture and tradition in the oppression of Indigenous women and sets out her vision of a feminist future. Throughout the book, she charts what she describes as the “colonisation” of women’s bodies through systems of prostitution. She questions old dogmas – such as that Indigenous men are never abusive to Indigenous women.
The title is deliberately provocative, taking aim at both non-Indigenous people who have internalised racist terminology and stereotypes about Indigenous women, and at those traditional Indigenous men and women who claim “their” women are “sacred”. The idea of “Squaw-ness” — that these women are hyper-sexual, deviant, and dirty — was historically imposed on them. It has resulted, she says, in the normalisation and justification of male violence. Today, the struggle for a reckoning is hard and few are brought to justice.
In 2002, Robert Pickton, a farmer from outside Vancouver, was finally arrested. He had fed a number of his victims — all prostituted, many Indigenous — to his pigs. Police had ignored calls from Indigenous activists and family members to investigate for many years, marking files on the victims with NHI (no human involved). Since he was arrested, the police have claimed the investigations of missing and murdered women is a “strategic priority”. But a reckoning isn’t coming. It took five years for Pickton to be convicted, and women are still being picked up from roadsides and raped, killed, dumped in rivers and landfill, or burned.
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SubscribeThe middle class left cares nothing for working class women of any ilk. The excuses are different but its always the same abandonment.
However the particular idea that there was a pre-colonial noble savage equal opportunities culture is more ridiculous than most.
I don’t think that was really the point. When times are harsh then whatever needs doing is done by whoever is available. During WWII women undertook traditionally male working roles as the men were busy fighting a war. Only in peace times does it all become a ridiculous game.
Any group of people do not typically care about some random person with the same genitals.
What people typically do care about is other people who look and speak similar, have similarly culture, stay next to them. Just obvious, and understandable.
That’s why, contrary to self congratulatory stories about suffragettes, upper class women had it easy. In British, for instance, the men in power gave them the vote on a plate in 1918 in exchange for being a nuisance during WW1, while working class women had to wait another decade, working class men had to die like flies in the trenches to get it, and Indian colonials got Jalianwala Bagh and Rowlatt act as reward for 70,000 dead in WW1.
Because, upper class British men emphatised with women around them.
The problem isn’t that upper class feminist women don’t care about working class women. The problem is they are too selfish, self centered and pampered to care about anyone but themselves.
Note how this study, or feminists in general, don’t give a damn about men, who invariably are bigger victims of violence.
Because upper class women don’t care about men in their own nation, ethnicities, class, whether it’s suicide rates, lower education outcomes for boys etc.
If they don’t care about men who have slogged away for many generations to defend and provide for them, who stay next to them.
Why would they care two hoots for some random bunch of women distant from their homes, a different culture? The sisterhood?
I think you are right in many ways, but there is the also the need to be a progressive and nice person
So there needs to be performative caring. The ‘caring’ left allowed themselves to drop working class men because of their ‘sexism’ and ‘racism’. They still need to show concern for working class women though obviously not doing anything about it
I think you are right in many ways, but there is the also the need to be a progressive and nice person
So there needs to be performative caring. The ‘caring’ left allowed themselves to drop working class men because of their ‘sexism’ and ‘racism’. They still need to show concern for working class women though obviously not doing anything about it
I don’t think that was really the point. When times are harsh then whatever needs doing is done by whoever is available. During WWII women undertook traditionally male working roles as the men were busy fighting a war. Only in peace times does it all become a ridiculous game.
Any group of people do not typically care about some random person with the same genitals.
What people typically do care about is other people who look and speak similar, have similarly culture, stay next to them. Just obvious, and understandable.
That’s why, contrary to self congratulatory stories about suffragettes, upper class women had it easy. In British, for instance, the men in power gave them the vote on a plate in 1918 in exchange for being a nuisance during WW1, while working class women had to wait another decade, working class men had to die like flies in the trenches to get it, and Indian colonials got Jalianwala Bagh and Rowlatt act as reward for 70,000 dead in WW1.
Because, upper class British men emphatised with women around them.
The problem isn’t that upper class feminist women don’t care about working class women. The problem is they are too selfish, self centered and pampered to care about anyone but themselves.
Note how this study, or feminists in general, don’t give a damn about men, who invariably are bigger victims of violence.
Because upper class women don’t care about men in their own nation, ethnicities, class, whether it’s suicide rates, lower education outcomes for boys etc.
If they don’t care about men who have slogged away for many generations to defend and provide for them, who stay next to them.
Why would they care two hoots for some random bunch of women distant from their homes, a different culture? The sisterhood?
The middle class left cares nothing for working class women of any ilk. The excuses are different but its always the same abandonment.
However the particular idea that there was a pre-colonial noble savage equal opportunities culture is more ridiculous than most.
I spend a lot of time near some of the reserves in Canada and its just mind boggling what a mess we’ve made. The theory was apparently that indigenous people would carry on with their ‘traditional ways’ on large tracts of land that were reserved only for them. You can visit them and see for yourself – there’s nothing much left of the traditional ways. They are little pockets of poverty – no industry, few businesses, run down houses, drug and alcohol abuse all around – the only economic activity being where the federal government is spending money (vast amounts) on infrastructure. And then a few spectacular houses where the band leaders live. One reserve had no clean water so the government spent millions installing a water treatment plant and a massive pipeline infrastructure. But the houses were so far apart many of the massive pipes had runs of several miles to feed only a few houses. Because the water sat in the pipes, the pipes corroded from the inside and the water quickly became unsafe again. Only a few years later they have to rebuild it. The financial transfers to the bands is so large, many of the band leaders pay themselves multi-million dollar paycheques. The graft and corruption are legendary. And the big fat lie continues that somehow the ‘traditional ways’ are being pursued. It’s a miserable existence and its the primary reason so many of the women end up addicted, abused and even in prostitution. The solution is simple but no one will hear of it: integrate the aboriginal population into the rest of society. Get them off these horrific reserves and into a place where they can be a part of a functioning society. Stop lying about what’s really happening.
How do you explain the fact that indiginous people were doing Ok until European migrants arrived?
doing OK in what sense? They certainly had a short life expectancy and a subsistance lifestyle. They lived and died on their own land and yes in their own way. but let’s not romantize native noth american life. If you think it was great, try living in a hut through the canadian winter with temperatures regularly minus 20C. Maybe not so OK afterall.
doing OK in what sense? They certainly had a short life expectancy and a subsistance lifestyle. They lived and died on their own land and yes in their own way. but let’s not romantize native noth american life. If you think it was great, try living in a hut through the canadian winter with temperatures regularly minus 20C. Maybe not so OK afterall.
How do you explain the fact that indiginous people were doing Ok until European migrants arrived?
I spend a lot of time near some of the reserves in Canada and its just mind boggling what a mess we’ve made. The theory was apparently that indigenous people would carry on with their ‘traditional ways’ on large tracts of land that were reserved only for them. You can visit them and see for yourself – there’s nothing much left of the traditional ways. They are little pockets of poverty – no industry, few businesses, run down houses, drug and alcohol abuse all around – the only economic activity being where the federal government is spending money (vast amounts) on infrastructure. And then a few spectacular houses where the band leaders live. One reserve had no clean water so the government spent millions installing a water treatment plant and a massive pipeline infrastructure. But the houses were so far apart many of the massive pipes had runs of several miles to feed only a few houses. Because the water sat in the pipes, the pipes corroded from the inside and the water quickly became unsafe again. Only a few years later they have to rebuild it. The financial transfers to the bands is so large, many of the band leaders pay themselves multi-million dollar paycheques. The graft and corruption are legendary. And the big fat lie continues that somehow the ‘traditional ways’ are being pursued. It’s a miserable existence and its the primary reason so many of the women end up addicted, abused and even in prostitution. The solution is simple but no one will hear of it: integrate the aboriginal population into the rest of society. Get them off these horrific reserves and into a place where they can be a part of a functioning society. Stop lying about what’s really happening.
Just how credulous do you have to be to believe this? It was “different, was it? How so?
One way it could have been different is because it wasn’t based on race. And the occasional necessity of gender role fluidity would have been channeled by practical requirements, not political ideology.
I’ll tell my wife that next time I beat her. Might make her feel better.
I’ll tell my wife that next time I beat her. Might make her feel better.
The author of the quote seems to be implying life was no longer harsh with the advent of colonialism.
Yes, it’s a bit unclear what exactly that means.
Yes, it’s a bit unclear what exactly that means.
It’s an odd claim. Some societies where life is hash have extremely rigid gender roles.
I have no doubt that things did change with European contact, there were all kinds of changes as you’d expect when two cultures meet. But that explanation just doesn’t hold water.
One way it could have been different is because it wasn’t based on race. And the occasional necessity of gender role fluidity would have been channeled by practical requirements, not political ideology.
The author of the quote seems to be implying life was no longer harsh with the advent of colonialism.
It’s an odd claim. Some societies where life is hash have extremely rigid gender roles.
I have no doubt that things did change with European contact, there were all kinds of changes as you’d expect when two cultures meet. But that explanation just doesn’t hold water.
Just how credulous do you have to be to believe this? It was “different, was it? How so?
I would be interested to know how much of this bullying abuse (‘Terf’, ‘Swerf’ etc) comes from men and how much from women. It might be an interesting piece of (career-ending) research for a young graduate who wanted to escape from the madhouse.
A lot of it comes from men-who-claim-to-be-women, women-who-claim-to-be-men and their useful; idiots.
Malcolm’s suggestion for research would be great because it seems – is this true? – almost all trans activists are heterosexual, biological men
Just the opposite. The majority of trans activists are biological females.
Also, the majority of trans individuals are “female to male,” over 80 percent in fact.
Men presenting as women are less than 20 percent of the trans community.
Inconvenient facts that don’t suit the narrative.
What narrative?
That we are genociding trannies (“Pi*sed Off Trannies” is their description so it must be okay to say it) by not crying and emoting about their stunning bravery. Or something.
Exactly it’s gone off topic.
That we are genociding trannies (“Pi*sed Off Trannies” is their description so it must be okay to say it) by not crying and emoting about their stunning bravery. Or something.
Exactly it’s gone off topic.
I don’t think that’s true.
What narrative?
I don’t think that’s true.
There are an awful lot of women, some of them shouting loudest, for trans rights.
Just the opposite. The majority of trans activists are biological females.
Also, the majority of trans individuals are “female to male,” over 80 percent in fact.
Men presenting as women are less than 20 percent of the trans community.
Inconvenient facts that don’t suit the narrative.
There are an awful lot of women, some of them shouting loudest, for trans rights.
Malcolm’s suggestion for research would be great because it seems – is this true? – almost all trans activists are heterosexual, biological men
A lot of it comes from men-who-claim-to-be-women, women-who-claim-to-be-men and their useful; idiots.
I would be interested to know how much of this bullying abuse (‘Terf’, ‘Swerf’ etc) comes from men and how much from women. It might be an interesting piece of (career-ending) research for a young graduate who wanted to escape from the madhouse.
As I posted very recently, Canada is two faced, and the last thing any hypocrite wants is for their actual, contradictory behaviour to be exposed. Justin Trudeau was a drama teacher. He is playing the role of prime minister as if he were acting in a play he is writing. He loves to play dressing up and confuses words and actions. It’s all about appearances, nothing about reality. Like Jacinda Ahern, he believes all he has to do is make proclamations and he will create a heaven upon earth without any idea how the policies are to be implemented. They both behave/behaved tyrannically and weirdly the general population just seem to accept it, though the New Zealanders did oust Ahern.
As I posted very recently, Canada is two faced, and the last thing any hypocrite wants is for their actual, contradictory behaviour to be exposed. Justin Trudeau was a drama teacher. He is playing the role of prime minister as if he were acting in a play he is writing. He loves to play dressing up and confuses words and actions. It’s all about appearances, nothing about reality. Like Jacinda Ahern, he believes all he has to do is make proclamations and he will create a heaven upon earth without any idea how the policies are to be implemented. They both behave/behaved tyrannically and weirdly the general population just seem to accept it, though the New Zealanders did oust Ahern.
In the US, the level of domestic violence and rape amongst native American communities is very high. To be raped at some point in your life is the norm for women. And yet all the murders of indigenous women are assumed to have been committed by other races.
Just like the women most likely to be subject to domestic violence, rape and murder in the US, are from the black community.
And also the most patriarchal, as the majority of black US men see their women as toys to be used and discarded, with no intent go support them or their kids in any way.
Try getting our superiors to criticise or shame them.
That’s a load of rubbish.
That’s a load of rubbish.
Just like the women most likely to be subject to domestic violence, rape and murder in the US, are from the black community.
And also the most patriarchal, as the majority of black US men see their women as toys to be used and discarded, with no intent go support them or their kids in any way.
Try getting our superiors to criticise or shame them.
In the US, the level of domestic violence and rape amongst native American communities is very high. To be raped at some point in your life is the norm for women. And yet all the murders of indigenous women are assumed to have been committed by other races.
We in Canada need to hear more from women like Cherry Smiley. So much corruption is contaminating the real story and a few actors are getting away with constructing a narrative that benefits a select few.
We in Canada need to hear more from women like Cherry Smiley. So much corruption is contaminating the real story and a few actors are getting away with constructing a narrative that benefits a select few.
Every tom, d**k and harry is a genocide victim these days it seems.
Yes! The melodramatic REgressives have cheapened words/concepts like “Nazi”, “genocide”, “dictator”, etc. to the point where they have lost both meaning and impact.
It’s a lazy, boring, and tiresome rhetorical device that is not adding to the debate. How ~1200 random (not political or organized) murders of indigenous women across Canada could, in any sane world, represent a “genocide” is beggars belief. Sadly, Canada has lost its mind in its insatiable lust to flagellate itself over its very own colonialist crisis — even if it has to invent thousands of non-existent indigenous graves across the nation.
O tempora; o mores…
They weren’t all murdered. The Commission studied murdered and missing women. Some of those missing just left and were reported missing. And the report called it cultural genocide, their own semantic invention, not genocide as such.
Between your average misogynistic, murderous male and the Catholic church’s horrendous abuses in Canada, it’ surprising there are any indiginous people left at all.
They weren’t all murdered. The Commission studied murdered and missing women. Some of those missing just left and were reported missing. And the report called it cultural genocide, their own semantic invention, not genocide as such.
Between your average misogynistic, murderous male and the Catholic church’s horrendous abuses in Canada, it’ surprising there are any indiginous people left at all.
Yes! The melodramatic REgressives have cheapened words/concepts like “Nazi”, “genocide”, “dictator”, etc. to the point where they have lost both meaning and impact.
It’s a lazy, boring, and tiresome rhetorical device that is not adding to the debate. How ~1200 random (not political or organized) murders of indigenous women across Canada could, in any sane world, represent a “genocide” is beggars belief. Sadly, Canada has lost its mind in its insatiable lust to flagellate itself over its very own colonialist crisis — even if it has to invent thousands of non-existent indigenous graves across the nation.
O tempora; o mores…
Every tom, d**k and harry is a genocide victim these days it seems.
“Canada has a long history of oppressing its Indigenous peoples”
Every country, area, tribe, village and city has a long history of oppressing, neglecting, exploiting and abusing vulnerable people – within and without their community.
So does that make it better or worse?
So does that make it better or worse?
“Canada has a long history of oppressing its Indigenous peoples”
Every country, area, tribe, village and city has a long history of oppressing, neglecting, exploiting and abusing vulnerable people – within and without their community.
A lot of the more starry eyed projects by white progressives hurt First Nations people – particularly women. One example is the lax sentencing of offenders in these communities. So female rape victims have to deal with the fact that their rapists get very light sentences because of criminal Justice reforms requiring special treatment of indigenous offenders. I once asked an indigenous person why so many indigenous women voluntarily move to Vancouver’s wretched and violent Downtown Eastside neighborhood. He said that as bad as it is it is better than being routinely raped and abused by your uncles and other community members. In BC recently the NDP government – unbelievably – decided to axe a gas development deal approved by an elected band council and instead killed the deal at request of hereditary tribal chiefs . This obviously robbed the community of its democratic rights – and jobs and tax revenue. In addition women from the community pointed out that these men were in fact not tribal chiefs because, among other things, that was a matrilineal status. Basically to quote one woman they were just ‘men in costumes.’
All things considered it’s dangerous being a female anywhere.
All things considered it’s dangerous being a female anywhere.
A lot of the more starry eyed projects by white progressives hurt First Nations people – particularly women. One example is the lax sentencing of offenders in these communities. So female rape victims have to deal with the fact that their rapists get very light sentences because of criminal Justice reforms requiring special treatment of indigenous offenders. I once asked an indigenous person why so many indigenous women voluntarily move to Vancouver’s wretched and violent Downtown Eastside neighborhood. He said that as bad as it is it is better than being routinely raped and abused by your uncles and other community members. In BC recently the NDP government – unbelievably – decided to axe a gas development deal approved by an elected band council and instead killed the deal at request of hereditary tribal chiefs . This obviously robbed the community of its democratic rights – and jobs and tax revenue. In addition women from the community pointed out that these men were in fact not tribal chiefs because, among other things, that was a matrilineal status. Basically to quote one woman they were just ‘men in costumes.’
It would be interesting to know what proportion of academics in the university or universities that Smiley describes as a ‘manstitution’ are actually women. Over 50% in the relevant departments?
It would be interesting to know what proportion of academics in the university or universities that Smiley describes as a ‘manstitution’ are actually women. Over 50% in the relevant departments?
Holy cow. “2SLGBTQQIA+”…?
Really?
Anyone else think that looks like an activation code for a Microsoft software application?
Gonna need a bigger flag.
I know. Once your acronym is an unpronounceable mutation with 11-characters, you’ve reached full self-parody.
I know. Once your acronym is an unpronounceable mutation with 11-characters, you’ve reached full self-parody.
Holy cow. “2SLGBTQQIA+”…?
Really?
Anyone else think that looks like an activation code for a Microsoft software application?
Gonna need a bigger flag.
This is considered the right kind of indigenous research at Concordia
’How can Indigenous concerns and Indigenous knowledges take a centre place in the science of light? Concordia researchers are exploring this question together with students and Indigenous community members in the project Decolonizing Light.
Join us for a virtual symposium on the Decolonizing Light project: tracing and countering colonialism in contemporary physics.
The Decolonizing Light project explores ways and approaches to decolonize science, such as revitalizing and restoring Indigenous knowledges, and capacity building. The project aims to develop a culture of critical reflection of science and its relation to colonialism. The project is funded by the New Frontiers in Research Grant (NFRF).
Learn about two initiatives from this fascinating project:
Indigenous Astronomy
Students will present work based on an Indigenous astronomy learning experience. Students from a First Peoples Studies course at Concordia University got the opportunity to learn from Indigenous astronomer Wilfred Buck about Indigenous astronomy. In the webinar they will present their work. (Presenters: Louellyn White with students; Commentator: Hilding Neilson.
That’s so mad!
Indeed! We are witnessing the history of science in reverse.
Indeed! We are witnessing the history of science in reverse.
Indigenous knowledge undoubtedly has contributions to be made to the store of knowledge, but it is not scientific knowledge. Scientific knowledge is based on the scientific method, and it is universally followed by all cultures and countries. It is independent of the identity of the researcher, so that a Chinese researcher using the methodology will turn up the same results as an African or as a European.
Science has proved itself over and over again, most recently with the development of the CoVid vaccine. It is mind-boggling—and frightening—that this needs to be stated.
That’s so mad!
Indigenous knowledge undoubtedly has contributions to be made to the store of knowledge, but it is not scientific knowledge. Scientific knowledge is based on the scientific method, and it is universally followed by all cultures and countries. It is independent of the identity of the researcher, so that a Chinese researcher using the methodology will turn up the same results as an African or as a European.
Science has proved itself over and over again, most recently with the development of the CoVid vaccine. It is mind-boggling—and frightening—that this needs to be stated.
This is considered the right kind of indigenous research at Concordia
’How can Indigenous concerns and Indigenous knowledges take a centre place in the science of light? Concordia researchers are exploring this question together with students and Indigenous community members in the project Decolonizing Light.
Join us for a virtual symposium on the Decolonizing Light project: tracing and countering colonialism in contemporary physics.
The Decolonizing Light project explores ways and approaches to decolonize science, such as revitalizing and restoring Indigenous knowledges, and capacity building. The project aims to develop a culture of critical reflection of science and its relation to colonialism. The project is funded by the New Frontiers in Research Grant (NFRF).
Learn about two initiatives from this fascinating project:
Indigenous Astronomy
Students will present work based on an Indigenous astronomy learning experience. Students from a First Peoples Studies course at Concordia University got the opportunity to learn from Indigenous astronomer Wilfred Buck about Indigenous astronomy. In the webinar they will present their work. (Presenters: Louellyn White with students; Commentator: Hilding Neilson.
This article is a strange mixture of questionable victim narrative and the serious issue of violence against women. As the indigenous issue isn’t a usual topic in the UK it may help to know that the same lucrative victim industry thriving in the American Black community is active in Canada as well. “Historical injustice and White oppression have left us forlorn and hopeless” is a standard opening line for activists which is quickly followed up by “There’s a reparations pot of gold waiting for us at the end of the justice rainbow”.
Activists aren’t deterred by stats. Just as most Black people don’t live in gang-ridden urban housing projects, most of Canada’s Indigenous do not live on poverty-stricken, government-run backwoods reserves. Most are busy doing what everyone else is doing: working, raising families and trying to make tomorrow a bit better than today. The familiar applies to social ills of the lower strata: unemployment, poverty, crime, substance abuse and domestic violence. There is a geographical difference though. For Indigenous women and girls, escape usually means leaving remote areas and heading to the Big City where many become street people subject to the dangers that that life entails. The activist narrative was that Indigenous females were intentionally targeted (giving rise to the genocide myth) when the truth was much more banal: the vulnerable are targeted, the number that are Indigenous is simply mathematical probability. This is the same activist math that spawns “over-represented in prison” nonsense.
So Canada had an inquiry (aka activist fundraiser) that dragged on for a couple of years, cost about $150M (three times the original quote) and didn’t do anything to dispel what we already knew. Crime rates are similar in White and Indigenous communities. About 70% of violent crime against women is committed by someone they know. It should also be noted that newspaper op-eds and calls-for-action on Indigenous issues are practically reprints of articles published decades ago.
Billions spent. The same people with the same problems. The same “you owe us” shame offensive. Most reasonable people genuinely care about others but let’s be honest, there’s a limit and Victim Fatigue is a problem. Another gang shooting in Chicago? Another missing runaway Indigenous teen? The police don’t care as much as they should? No surprise there. Same old Same old.
test
Why would indigenous women and girls who leave remote areas end up on the streets? I left a rural home as a teen for the big city, and didn’t end up on the streets. So something must be wrong if so many indigenous females do.
test
Why would indigenous women and girls who leave remote areas end up on the streets? I left a rural home as a teen for the big city, and didn’t end up on the streets. So something must be wrong if so many indigenous females do.
This article is a strange mixture of questionable victim narrative and the serious issue of violence against women. As the indigenous issue isn’t a usual topic in the UK it may help to know that the same lucrative victim industry thriving in the American Black community is active in Canada as well. “Historical injustice and White oppression have left us forlorn and hopeless” is a standard opening line for activists which is quickly followed up by “There’s a reparations pot of gold waiting for us at the end of the justice rainbow”.
Activists aren’t deterred by stats. Just as most Black people don’t live in gang-ridden urban housing projects, most of Canada’s Indigenous do not live on poverty-stricken, government-run backwoods reserves. Most are busy doing what everyone else is doing: working, raising families and trying to make tomorrow a bit better than today. The familiar applies to social ills of the lower strata: unemployment, poverty, crime, substance abuse and domestic violence. There is a geographical difference though. For Indigenous women and girls, escape usually means leaving remote areas and heading to the Big City where many become street people subject to the dangers that that life entails. The activist narrative was that Indigenous females were intentionally targeted (giving rise to the genocide myth) when the truth was much more banal: the vulnerable are targeted, the number that are Indigenous is simply mathematical probability. This is the same activist math that spawns “over-represented in prison” nonsense.
So Canada had an inquiry (aka activist fundraiser) that dragged on for a couple of years, cost about $150M (three times the original quote) and didn’t do anything to dispel what we already knew. Crime rates are similar in White and Indigenous communities. About 70% of violent crime against women is committed by someone they know. It should also be noted that newspaper op-eds and calls-for-action on Indigenous issues are practically reprints of articles published decades ago.
Billions spent. The same people with the same problems. The same “you owe us” shame offensive. Most reasonable people genuinely care about others but let’s be honest, there’s a limit and Victim Fatigue is a problem. Another gang shooting in Chicago? Another missing runaway Indigenous teen? The police don’t care as much as they should? No surprise there. Same old Same old.
Oh, good grief. Is there anyone out there without a f*cking grievance? What happens to women on these hideous reservations starts with the reservations themselves. They are cesspools of government-sponsored generational addiction, horrific child abuse, alcoholism, sloth, and despair. No one is forced to live in them, just as no one is forced to live in the slums of Baltimore. Getting the h*ll out of these dystopias is the solution, since no one is invested in fixing them.
My family sponsored a child from a very dangerous section of the Bronx for several summers. He would stay with us for two weeks so he could go canoeing, hiking, tree-frog gathering, and swimming in our nearby lake (he wasn’t wild about mosquitoes, but thought tree frogs were awesome). It was an outstanding experience for all of us. His mom and I used to talk on the phone frequently throughout his stays (and still keep in touch on FB). She was single, had four other kids, a nursing-assistant job, was on welfare, and wouldn’t allow our summer guest to sit out on her mother’s front stoop after school for fear he’d be shot or would fall into gang life.
I implored her to “move here” (we lived in New Hampshire at the time). “Taxes are very low, quality of life is high and very safe, social serrvices are abundant, you’d be welcomed and pampered by all the white-guilt leftists (at least initially, and then normals would just make you their neighbor), and I could help you find a job before you even made the move.” She liked to kick around the idea, but ultimately she said “I can’t go. My people are here”. Okay, but “her people” are suffering by their refusal to leave disfunctional, crime-ridden cities, and their children – like our former summer guest – drop out of school and fall into criminal activity.
The only answer is for those trapped – or clinging to – their tribal traditions, no matter how destructive – is to get out and join the 21st Century. That requires acknowledging what doesn’t work, what does, and acting accordingly. Male-bashing, Julie’s stock in trade, won’t help anyone.
Old tenet: “To the victor go the spoils”
New tenet: “To the victim go the spoils”
Old tenet: “To the victor go the spoils”
New tenet: “To the victim go the spoils”
Oh, good grief. Is there anyone out there without a f*cking grievance? What happens to women on these hideous reservations starts with the reservations themselves. They are cesspools of government-sponsored generational addiction, horrific child abuse, alcoholism, sloth, and despair. No one is forced to live in them, just as no one is forced to live in the slums of Baltimore. Getting the h*ll out of these dystopias is the solution, since no one is invested in fixing them.
My family sponsored a child from a very dangerous section of the Bronx for several summers. He would stay with us for two weeks so he could go canoeing, hiking, tree-frog gathering, and swimming in our nearby lake (he wasn’t wild about mosquitoes, but thought tree frogs were awesome). It was an outstanding experience for all of us. His mom and I used to talk on the phone frequently throughout his stays (and still keep in touch on FB). She was single, had four other kids, a nursing-assistant job, was on welfare, and wouldn’t allow our summer guest to sit out on her mother’s front stoop after school for fear he’d be shot or would fall into gang life.
I implored her to “move here” (we lived in New Hampshire at the time). “Taxes are very low, quality of life is high and very safe, social serrvices are abundant, you’d be welcomed and pampered by all the white-guilt leftists (at least initially, and then normals would just make you their neighbor), and I could help you find a job before you even made the move.” She liked to kick around the idea, but ultimately she said “I can’t go. My people are here”. Okay, but “her people” are suffering by their refusal to leave disfunctional, crime-ridden cities, and their children – like our former summer guest – drop out of school and fall into criminal activity.
The only answer is for those trapped – or clinging to – their tribal traditions, no matter how destructive – is to get out and join the 21st Century. That requires acknowledging what doesn’t work, what does, and acting accordingly. Male-bashing, Julie’s stock in trade, won’t help anyone.
Julie, why are you betraying lesbian victims of domestic abuse / violence? Why do you not denounce female perpetrators of abuse / violence, regardless of the sex of the victims?
It’s long been known that women are at a higher risk of violence from a female partner than a male partner. One of my blog pieces on the matter with a link to relevant official statistics:
https://j4mb.org.uk/2022/12/09/are-women-more-likely-to-be-abused-in-lesbian-or-heterosexual-relationships/
The official stats accessible through that link show that a woman is almost twice as likely to have been abused (all forms, collectively) by a female partner (10.1%) than by a male partner (5.3%).
I strongly recommend William Collins’s book ‘The Empathy Gap: Male Disadvantages and the Mechanisms of Their Neglect’ (2019), the ebook costs under £5.00 and slays so many feminist baseless conspiracy theories (e.g. patriarchy), fantasies, lies, delusions and myths.
Mike Buchanan
JUSTICE FOR MEN & BOYS
http://j4mb.org.uk
Two women are murdered by men every week in the UK. Where are the piles of lesbian corpses?
Two women a week out of a population of 30 million (?) is an EXTREMELY small fraction. Far more men than that kill themselves after being denied access to their children by their ex-partners. But what point are you trying to make? That lesbian couple violence doesn’t matter unless it ends with murder?
What’s your point?
What’s your point?
Exactly!!
Two women a week out of a population of 30 million (?) is an EXTREMELY small fraction. Far more men than that kill themselves after being denied access to their children by their ex-partners. But what point are you trying to make? That lesbian couple violence doesn’t matter unless it ends with murder?
Exactly!!
That is so not true. A woman is attacked every 11 mins in America by a a male partner be it husband, ex-husband or boy- friend
Two women are murdered by men every week in the UK. Where are the piles of lesbian corpses?
That is so not true. A woman is attacked every 11 mins in America by a a male partner be it husband, ex-husband or boy- friend
Julie, why are you betraying lesbian victims of domestic abuse / violence? Why do you not denounce female perpetrators of abuse / violence, regardless of the sex of the victims?
It’s long been known that women are at a higher risk of violence from a female partner than a male partner. One of my blog pieces on the matter with a link to relevant official statistics:
https://j4mb.org.uk/2022/12/09/are-women-more-likely-to-be-abused-in-lesbian-or-heterosexual-relationships/
The official stats accessible through that link show that a woman is almost twice as likely to have been abused (all forms, collectively) by a female partner (10.1%) than by a male partner (5.3%).
I strongly recommend William Collins’s book ‘The Empathy Gap: Male Disadvantages and the Mechanisms of Their Neglect’ (2019), the ebook costs under £5.00 and slays so many feminist baseless conspiracy theories (e.g. patriarchy), fantasies, lies, delusions and myths.
Mike Buchanan
JUSTICE FOR MEN & BOYS
http://j4mb.org.uk
“she quickly became disillusioned with the…. anti-feminist climate in academia”
I seriously doubt there is any academic institution remaining that exhibits an anti-feminist climate.
Her statement doesn’t help her credibility or anyone’s confidence in her perspective.
“she quickly became disillusioned with the…. anti-feminist climate in academia”
I seriously doubt there is any academic institution remaining that exhibits an anti-feminist climate.
Her statement doesn’t help her credibility or anyone’s confidence in her perspective.
{Taking a more attentive look at the previous comments, I see that most of what I’ve written below was covered already…but I hope you enjoy my largely redundant, less-concise take anyway!}
Indigenous societies weren’t patriarchal, but existed in some matriarchal or gender-permissive paradise? I know there were instances of greater female power and more openness to gender difference among some tribes, but the norm was quite traditional and patriarchal. Correct?
Where does this passage find grounding: “old dogmas – such as that Indigenous men are never abusive to Indigenous women”?. I guess there was less drunken wife-beating prior to Contact, due the absence of alcohol among nomadic tribes (yet not the Aztecs, etc.). But when did such a notion even get enough enough traction to become a “dogma”?
For example, how do the lightly-contacted Yanomami people of the Amazon rainforest treat women in their society? I don’t think its unfair to say they are often treated as property or even spoils of war.
Full-scale idealization of pre-industrial peoples remains a runaway absurdity among some “primitive idealists” and their credulous followers. I think our distant ancestors–of whatever skin tone–were a varied human lot with some admirable qualities (on average) that we might emulate, such as respect for the natural environment and a strong connection to spirit. But taking a few pages from their (usually) unwritten books needn’t devolve into weird, ahistorical nostalgia about what used to be called the Noble Savage.
{Taking a more attentive look at the previous comments, I see that most of what I’ve written below was covered already…but I hope you enjoy my largely redundant, less-concise take anyway!}
Indigenous societies weren’t patriarchal, but existed in some matriarchal or gender-permissive paradise? I know there were instances of greater female power and more openness to gender difference among some tribes, but the norm was quite traditional and patriarchal. Correct?
Where does this passage find grounding: “old dogmas – such as that Indigenous men are never abusive to Indigenous women”?. I guess there was less drunken wife-beating prior to Contact, due the absence of alcohol among nomadic tribes (yet not the Aztecs, etc.). But when did such a notion even get enough enough traction to become a “dogma”?
For example, how do the lightly-contacted Yanomami people of the Amazon rainforest treat women in their society? I don’t think its unfair to say they are often treated as property or even spoils of war.
Full-scale idealization of pre-industrial peoples remains a runaway absurdity among some “primitive idealists” and their credulous followers. I think our distant ancestors–of whatever skin tone–were a varied human lot with some admirable qualities (on average) that we might emulate, such as respect for the natural environment and a strong connection to spirit. But taking a few pages from their (usually) unwritten books needn’t devolve into weird, ahistorical nostalgia about what used to be called the Noble Savage.
I’d really really like to be “banished” to another hut while I menstruate.
Doesn’t sound wrong to me,
It sounds like a practice of nurturing and care and time to rest. It’s actually practiced in many cultures all around the world.
(I know, that’s not really what this article is about) I just found that perspective different to mine.
A little optimistic methinks. The only menstruation hut I ever saw was precisely that – a hut, next to a large house, unheated etc. I very much doubt the tradition has much to do with nurture and care, rather than to banish the unclean. Sometimes the women and girls are allowed back into society only when they show the elder their clean panties, unspotted by blood – ugh.
I think the modern equivalent would be the proposed paid period leave from your place of employment.
That made me chuckle.Ah Yes, a hut of one’s own!
A little optimistic methinks. The only menstruation hut I ever saw was precisely that – a hut, next to a large house, unheated etc. I very much doubt the tradition has much to do with nurture and care, rather than to banish the unclean. Sometimes the women and girls are allowed back into society only when they show the elder their clean panties, unspotted by blood – ugh.
I think the modern equivalent would be the proposed paid period leave from your place of employment.
That made me chuckle.Ah Yes, a hut of one’s own!
I’d really really like to be “banished” to another hut while I menstruate.
Doesn’t sound wrong to me,
It sounds like a practice of nurturing and care and time to rest. It’s actually practiced in many cultures all around the world.
(I know, that’s not really what this article is about) I just found that perspective different to mine.
SO disappointing to see this drivel on UnHerd.
Is a white woman who comes from a broken home/community, uses drugs, has a history of childhood trauma, and is involved in prostitution any less likely to be abused or killed than a native woman with the same risk factors? There is absolutely no proof of that.
The fact that the press in Canada has failed to see that this question must be asked before jumping on the “everything is racism” bandwagon, and the fact that Bindel jumped on board so easily, shows just how self-hating and illogical we have all become in WokeWorld.
To Ms. Bindel. Why not rewind and try again, first answering the question I have posed?
SO disappointing to see this drivel on UnHerd.
Is a white woman who comes from a broken home/community, uses drugs, has a history of childhood trauma, and is involved in prostitution any less likely to be abused or killed than a native woman with the same risk factors? There is absolutely no proof of that.
The fact that the press in Canada has failed to see that this question must be asked before jumping on the “everything is racism” bandwagon, and the fact that Bindel jumped on board so easily, shows just how self-hating and illogical we have all become in WokeWorld.
To Ms. Bindel. Why not rewind and try again, first answering the question I have posed?
Respect to Cherry for her clarity of vision. For side-stepping the mine-fields of culture bending traps on her path to the truth. For not staying with the herd as it flees blindly towards the cliff edge. We need more like her to have the courage to speak out and challenge the false narrative.
Respect to Cherry for her clarity of vision. For side-stepping the mine-fields of culture bending traps on her path to the truth. For not staying with the herd as it flees blindly towards the cliff edge. We need more like her to have the courage to speak out and challenge the false narrative.
When the Canadian government announced its National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women and Girls, some people–including tribal people–asked why the government had no plans to conduct a similar inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal men and boys. It’s not as if there are no missing and murdered men. According to Statistics Canada, at least as many tribal men as women were in those lamentable categories.
Omar Mosleh, ‘Why Aren’t We Talking about It?’ The Forgotten Cause of Missing Indigenous Men and Boys,” Toronto Star, 30 September 2022; https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/09/30/why-arent-we-talking-about-it-the-forgotten-cause-of-missing-indigenous-men-and-boys.html.
Here’s the summary: “Indigenous men are much more likely to be victims of homicide than Indigenous women, but families say they don’t get the same kind of attention.” In fact, the government of Canada not only ignored the men but flatly refused even to consider conducting an inquiry on that topic.
But even the CBC, not known as a news outlet that considers non-feminist (or non-woke) points of view, had noted this particular double standard several years earlier (probably because it’s more acceptable politically to discuss men “of color” than other men).
[No obvious author,] “Are We Ignoring Missing and Murdered Indigenous Men? Unreserved [show on CBC Radio], 23 October 2015; https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/tradition-authenticity-and-the-fight-for-indigenous-identity-1.3281731/are-we-ignoring-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-men-1.3284322
Adam Jones doesn’t want missing and murdered indigenous men to be forgotten. It was a campaign issue in the recent federal election. There’s even an #MMIWG hashtag. After decades of activism, the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women is finally on the radar of the public. But what about indigenous men and boys?
Aboriginal men account for approximately 71 per cent of aboriginal homicide victims in Canada, but rates of violence against indigenous men don’t seem to mobilize the same kind of support or interest — and haven’t been studied to the same extent. Dr. Adam Jones, a professor of political science at UBC Okanagan, wants to change that.
In his work as a comparative genocide scholar, Jones has embarked on a project to understand “patterns of violent victimization against men and boys,” and place it in the context of gendered violence as a whole.
According to Jones, data on male-focused gendered violence is largely absent, and is like searching for “needles in a haystack.”When asked why he believes the issue of missing and murdered aboriginal men has failed to capture national attention, he said stereotypes are partially to blame. “I think it gets at some very deep stereotypes in our culture — of the vulnerable, helpless woman and child. There’s some deeper cultural biases that need to be reckoned there.
Jones also said he believes that the MMIW issue has become “politicized” and “a feminist cause célèbre.”
On this point, Unreserved host Rosanna Deerchild asked Jones for clarification, noting that it was primarily “families and friends of missing and murdered indigenous women [that] made this an issue.”
Jones stresses that it’s important for men and women, indigenous and non-indigenous, to advocate across gender lines and show solidarity with each other. He recently wrote an op-ed that highlights the fact that aboriginal men are murdered more often than aboriginal women, and proposes that an inquiry include an investigation of violence against both genders. “’Men and boys have typically been not only marginalized but demonised in this equation. When we think of ‘the man’ and ‘the boy’ we tend to think in terms of the perpetrator. Of course, it’s the case that the overwhelming majority of perpetrators of severe violence against aboriginal and other women are male – but that has often occluded our understanding of the way that males can be even more vulnerable to violence from other males than women are.”
Jones said that in order to address the violence and racism that faces both indigenous men and women, an inclusive “First Nations anti-violence initiative” is needed.
Shari Narine, “Missing, Murdered Indigenous Men and Boys Need to Be Part of the Discussion,” Yahoo News, 13 April 2023; https://ca.news.yahoo.com/missing-murdered-indigenous-men-boys-013624878.html#:~:text=According%20to%20numbers%20put%20forward,of%20those%20being%20Indigenous%20men.
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller says he is “absolutely willing” to discuss with chiefs how to move forward on addressing the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous men and boys.
The topic “has been, unfortunately, lost in this narrative (about missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse peoples). It is a big part of the reality of missing Indigenous persons in Canada,” Miller told Windspeaker.com in an interview Wednesday morning.
Last week, chiefs at the Assembly of First Nations special assembly said missing and murdered Indigenous men and boys can no longer be ignored.
“We need to give them the same status as MMIWG,” said Grand Chief Cathy Merrick of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs at the special chiefs assembly April 5.
Merrick moved an omnibus package of justice-related bills that included directing the AFN to lobby the federal government to commit funds and resources to establish a working group to examine the root causes of violence against Indigenous men and boys and to advocate for solutions.
“The statistics show us and tell us that we need to be able to support and that we need to be able to extend that required service as well for our families who are searching for their boys, that are searching for their relatives,” said Merrick.
According to numbers put forward by the resolution, in 2020 there were 201 Indigenous victims of homicide nationwide, with 81 per cent of those being Indigenous men.
An Indigenous man is four times more likely to be a victim of homicide when compared to Indigenous women and seven times more likely than non-Indigenous males, says the resolution.
Funding is needed to do this necessary work, said Merrick.
“We’ve overlooked the phenomenon of missing boys and that is something that needs to be acknowledged,” said Miller.
He has been having those conversations individually with chiefs, he added.
“When I sit down with them and go through the list of some of the missing community members, some of them are boys and men,” said Miller.
Many of the boys, he added, have been lost in the same ways outlined in the final report from the National Inquiry on Mission and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. One of those causes is systemic racism.
The issue of missing and murdered boys and men is not unique to Canada.
Miller said there is “some intersectionality” between Canada and the United States and he has been having discussions with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.
“We were talking about some of the cross-border work and the work we have to do together to make sure… (Indigenous) peoples are respected on both sides of an imposed border to keep them safe and alive,” he said.
Miller stressed the need to move forward on the issue in a way that kept survivors and families at the centre.
That is also a direction from the resolution: “The healing and prevention programs must be Indigenous-led, rooted in Indigenous knowledge, culture and ceremony and must include families of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Men, Boys, Survivors, Two-Spirited and Gender Diverse People and communities, also known as the family first philosophy.”
Miller said he had yet to follow up with the AFN on the resolutions they passed last week but “I’m glad always to sit down with the AFN and any working groups with their proposals.”
“We need that support for our women and men who are missing,” said an emotional Merrick last week. “Our lives matter.”
When the Canadian government announced its National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women and Girls, some people–including tribal people–asked why the government had no plans to conduct a similar inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal men and boys. It’s not as if there are no missing and murdered men. According to Statistics Canada, at least as many tribal men as women were in those lamentable categories.
Omar Mosleh, ‘Why Aren’t We Talking about It?’ The Forgotten Cause of Missing Indigenous Men and Boys,” Toronto Star, 30 September 2022; https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2022/09/30/why-arent-we-talking-about-it-the-forgotten-cause-of-missing-indigenous-men-and-boys.html.
Here’s the summary: “Indigenous men are much more likely to be victims of homicide than Indigenous women, but families say they don’t get the same kind of attention.” In fact, the government of Canada not only ignored the men but flatly refused even to consider conducting an inquiry on that topic.
But even the CBC, not known as a news outlet that considers non-feminist (or non-woke) points of view, had noted this particular double standard several years earlier (probably because it’s more acceptable politically to discuss men “of color” than other men).
[No obvious author,] “Are We Ignoring Missing and Murdered Indigenous Men? Unreserved [show on CBC Radio], 23 October 2015; https://www.cbc.ca/radio/unreserved/tradition-authenticity-and-the-fight-for-indigenous-identity-1.3281731/are-we-ignoring-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-men-1.3284322
Adam Jones doesn’t want missing and murdered indigenous men to be forgotten. It was a campaign issue in the recent federal election. There’s even an #MMIWG hashtag. After decades of activism, the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women is finally on the radar of the public. But what about indigenous men and boys?
Aboriginal men account for approximately 71 per cent of aboriginal homicide victims in Canada, but rates of violence against indigenous men don’t seem to mobilize the same kind of support or interest — and haven’t been studied to the same extent. Dr. Adam Jones, a professor of political science at UBC Okanagan, wants to change that.
In his work as a comparative genocide scholar, Jones has embarked on a project to understand “patterns of violent victimization against men and boys,” and place it in the context of gendered violence as a whole.
According to Jones, data on male-focused gendered violence is largely absent, and is like searching for “needles in a haystack.”When asked why he believes the issue of missing and murdered aboriginal men has failed to capture national attention, he said stereotypes are partially to blame. “I think it gets at some very deep stereotypes in our culture — of the vulnerable, helpless woman and child. There’s some deeper cultural biases that need to be reckoned there.
Jones also said he believes that the MMIW issue has become “politicized” and “a feminist cause célèbre.”
On this point, Unreserved host Rosanna Deerchild asked Jones for clarification, noting that it was primarily “families and friends of missing and murdered indigenous women [that] made this an issue.”
Jones stresses that it’s important for men and women, indigenous and non-indigenous, to advocate across gender lines and show solidarity with each other. He recently wrote an op-ed that highlights the fact that aboriginal men are murdered more often than aboriginal women, and proposes that an inquiry include an investigation of violence against both genders. “’Men and boys have typically been not only marginalized but demonised in this equation. When we think of ‘the man’ and ‘the boy’ we tend to think in terms of the perpetrator. Of course, it’s the case that the overwhelming majority of perpetrators of severe violence against aboriginal and other women are male – but that has often occluded our understanding of the way that males can be even more vulnerable to violence from other males than women are.”
Jones said that in order to address the violence and racism that faces both indigenous men and women, an inclusive “First Nations anti-violence initiative” is needed.
Shari Narine, “Missing, Murdered Indigenous Men and Boys Need to Be Part of the Discussion,” Yahoo News, 13 April 2023; https://ca.news.yahoo.com/missing-murdered-indigenous-men-boys-013624878.html#:~:text=According%20to%20numbers%20put%20forward,of%20those%20being%20Indigenous%20men.
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller says he is “absolutely willing” to discuss with chiefs how to move forward on addressing the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous men and boys.
The topic “has been, unfortunately, lost in this narrative (about missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and gender diverse peoples). It is a big part of the reality of missing Indigenous persons in Canada,” Miller told Windspeaker.com in an interview Wednesday morning.
Last week, chiefs at the Assembly of First Nations special assembly said missing and murdered Indigenous men and boys can no longer be ignored.
“We need to give them the same status as MMIWG,” said Grand Chief Cathy Merrick of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs at the special chiefs assembly April 5.
Merrick moved an omnibus package of justice-related bills that included directing the AFN to lobby the federal government to commit funds and resources to establish a working group to examine the root causes of violence against Indigenous men and boys and to advocate for solutions.
“The statistics show us and tell us that we need to be able to support and that we need to be able to extend that required service as well for our families who are searching for their boys, that are searching for their relatives,” said Merrick.
According to numbers put forward by the resolution, in 2020 there were 201 Indigenous victims of homicide nationwide, with 81 per cent of those being Indigenous men.
An Indigenous man is four times more likely to be a victim of homicide when compared to Indigenous women and seven times more likely than non-Indigenous males, says the resolution.
Funding is needed to do this necessary work, said Merrick.
“We’ve overlooked the phenomenon of missing boys and that is something that needs to be acknowledged,” said Miller.
He has been having those conversations individually with chiefs, he added.
“When I sit down with them and go through the list of some of the missing community members, some of them are boys and men,” said Miller.
Many of the boys, he added, have been lost in the same ways outlined in the final report from the National Inquiry on Mission and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. One of those causes is systemic racism.
The issue of missing and murdered boys and men is not unique to Canada.
Miller said there is “some intersectionality” between Canada and the United States and he has been having discussions with U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland.
“We were talking about some of the cross-border work and the work we have to do together to make sure… (Indigenous) peoples are respected on both sides of an imposed border to keep them safe and alive,” he said.
Miller stressed the need to move forward on the issue in a way that kept survivors and families at the centre.
That is also a direction from the resolution: “The healing and prevention programs must be Indigenous-led, rooted in Indigenous knowledge, culture and ceremony and must include families of Murdered and Missing Indigenous Men, Boys, Survivors, Two-Spirited and Gender Diverse People and communities, also known as the family first philosophy.”
Miller said he had yet to follow up with the AFN on the resolutions they passed last week but “I’m glad always to sit down with the AFN and any working groups with their proposals.”
“We need that support for our women and men who are missing,” said an emotional Merrick last week. “Our lives matter.”
“2SLGBTQQIA+… Swerf… Terf”
Go f**k yourself and your pervert jargon. If you aren’t normal I don’t care what happens to you. And I don’t give a damn about any femifascists.
“2SLGBTQQIA+… Swerf… Terf”
Go f**k yourself and your pervert jargon. If you aren’t normal I don’t care what happens to you. And I don’t give a damn about any femifascists.
I accept that it’s a serious issue and based in racism. But does it really detract from concern about missing and murdered women, to extend it to include all missing and murdered people (and I don’t think it’s ‘a small number’ of men either)? As I understand it MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) is frequently extended to cover MMIP (Missing and Murdered Indigenous People). Nobody is saying women are excluded.
I accept that it’s a serious issue and based in racism. But does it really detract from concern about missing and murdered women, to extend it to include all missing and murdered people (and I don’t think it’s ‘a small number’ of men either)? As I understand it MMIW (Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women) is frequently extended to cover MMIP (Missing and Murdered Indigenous People). Nobody is saying women are excluded.