Canadians need to understand impacts of colonization, MMIWG advocate says

Winnipeg -

When the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its Calls to Action in 2015, it identified the need for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

It’s an issue that’s been the focus of heightened public awareness over the past decade, but advocates say you have to look back decades to find the origins for the inquiry and the MMIWG movement.

“I think sort of the consciousness or awareness in terms of the inherent anti-Indigenous racism in Canada, as well as colonial misogyny and how it impacted Indigenous communities, was exposed in the Manitoba Aboriginal Justice Inquiry report, which also included the inquiry into the murder of Helen Betty Osborne in The Pas,” said Elder Albert McLeod, co-chair of the Manitoba Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Coalition.

Osborne, 19, who was originally from Norway House, was abducted and brutally murdered in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 1971.

RCMP initially determined four men were involved. Sixteen years passed before one man, Dwayne Archie Johnston, was convicted in Osborne’s murder. The inquiry, which ended in 1991, concluded racism, sexism and indifference were the main factors in the case - factors McLeod said are still an issue all these years later.

“Things are moving slowly but again, the legacy of loss and undermining Indigenous culture will persist and there will be vulnerable people, and so we really need to change systems and change policy, change legislation so that it meets Indigenous needs,” McLeod said.

Numerous public systems – including child and family services, education and justice – were reviewed by the Manitoba Advocate for Children and Youth as part of a report released in March 2019 into the death of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine, resulting in five recommendations for change.

The death and discovery of Fontaine’s body in Winnipeg's Red River in August 2014 has had a lasting impact.

Fontaine was raised from the age of five near the banks of the Winnipeg River with her great uncle and great aunt Thelma Favel in Powerview, Man.

It was at home where Favel said Fontaine was loved and protected. More than seven years after her great niece’s death, those are the memories Favel said she likes to look back on.

“I had an old rocking chair and if the girls were late coming home, I’d sit here and Tina would say ‘uh-oh we’re in trouble. Granny’s sitting on her granny chair,’” Favel recalled earlier this month during an interview outside her Powerview home.

Favel still remembers seeing Tina turn the corner while walking home on a gravel road towards her place and feeling relieved when she arrived safe. It's a snapshot of a normal and happy time for Tina, whose life was impacted by Canada’s colonial relationship with Indigenous people, including the historical traumas tied to her family’s experiences in the residential school system.

“There’s not a day that goes by because there’s still so many unanswered questions,” Favel said. “We don’t know how she was killed.”

Vigils, marches and rallies were held in Tina’s honour and after years of advocating for one, a national inquiry was launched in September 2016.

McLeod said prior to Tina’s death, it took years of Indigenous-led activism and advocacy, including the Idle No More Movement and the hunger strike by Chief Theresa Spence. Marches and walks were held annually, leading to growing awareness about the thousands of missing or murdered Indigenous women and girls across the country in the lead-up to the inquiry.

The national inquiry ended in June 2019 with a report containing 231 Calls for Justice - recommendations aimed at ending the genocide, tackling root causes and improving the lives of Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQQIA people.

Justice McLeod said these calls are important for Canadians to understand.

“And for Canadians to realize that these reports are for them,” McLeod said. “They’re not specifically only for Indigenous people to understand, but it’s for Canadians to understand the impact of colonization and how it has affected the Indigenous peoples.”

Yet even after the inquiry, many families still don’t have answers about what happened to their loved ones.

Bernice and Wilfred Catcheway’s daughter, Jennifer Catcheway, disappeared 13 years ago when she was 18.

The Catcheways still search for her. There’s a $20,000 reward for anyone with information that leads the couple to their daughter.

“I’m tired. I just want it to be done with, but it just seems like we’re on our own,” Bernice said earlier this summer.

The Manitoba Metis Federation’s Infinity Women Secretariat is one of several organizations working with families who have missing loved ones, including the Catcheways.

The MMF has created a $1 million fund to provide individual rewards of $10,000 for information that leads to a missing person’s whereabouts.

“If you imagine your loved one murdered or missing, it has to be the pain you would not wish on anyone, and it’s something they carry throughout their life,” said Anita Campbell with the Infinity Women Secretariat. “We’ve created this fund to help families find their loved ones.”

Like so many other families, Favel still doesn’t have all the answers.

Medical examiners were unable to determine the exact cause of Tina’s death, and her accused killer was acquitted following a trial.

“There’s still all those unanswered questions that I don’t think I’ll ever get answers to,” Favel said.

Advocates say it’s important for Canadians to understand legislation and policies have left Indigenous people vulnerable to violence, issues and history they say Canadians need to understand before reconciliation can happen.

The federal government released a National Action Plan in response to the national inquiry’s findings which contains short-term priorities. Some of those priorities include improving public education and awareness on issues Indigenous people experience, and creating more Indigenous-led violence prevention and healing programs.

If you are a former residential school student in distress, or have been affected by the residential school system and need help, you can contact the 24-hour Indian Residential Schools Crisis Line: 1-866-925-4419

Additional mental-health support and resources for Indigenous people are available here.