Aboriginal Gathering Wraps Up
Prince George, B.C. – A good first step.
That seemed to be the overall consensus following a provincial gathering to support healing for families of missing and murdered Aboriginal women at the Civic Centre in Prince George today.
“The family gathering was about coming together and providing a space for family members voices to be heard,” said Chastity Davis, chair of the Minister’s Advisory Council on Aboriginal Women, the group responsible for co-hosting the event.
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“Having a space for family voices to be heard and acknowledged and respected. It’s a first step in families being able to heal.”
She said hundreds participated in the two day gathering, which allowed a forum for family members to share their experiences.
“It’s a first important step in having that reconciliation piece move forward. Healing, reconciliation, acknowledgement, respect and then just bringing people together across First Nations and across Canada to really build that support network.”
So where do go from here?
“I think that’s a big question,” said Lheidli T’enneh Chief Dominick Frederick. “In terms of whether the Province or Canada is going to step up to the plate to continue doing this and working towards the inquiry which is where we’re headed.”
The gathering follows an RCMP report last year which revealed close to 1,200 indigenous women and girls were killed or went missing between 1980 and 2012.
Comments
Its heart breaking for anyone to have a loved one missing or killed, but its not just about First Nation women.
According to the Prince George Citizen it is , if it wasn’t for these stories and comics I’d just have a flyer in my mailbox
From CBC News June 2015….Within RCMP jurisdictions, 32 aboriginal women were killed in 2013 and 2014. The Mounties said this was “consistent with levels of the past decade.”
The RCMP said the new report confirms what was found in 2014, mainly that aboriginal women are most frequently killed by someone they know, be it their spouse or a member of their community. So why Chief Dominick Frederick is it “totally up to the Province or Canada to step up to the plate to continue doing this and working towards the inquiry which is where we’re headed.” What are the First Nation communities also doing to “step up to the plate to continue doing this” and resolve some of the very apparent problems within your own communities?
We all recognize there is a massive problem here but are there any stats available as to non aboriginal women (or men) missing or murdered? I could not locate anything. I’ll have a lot more respect when I see the AFN or the communities start enquiries in their own back yard to figure out what exactly is happening.
X2, 2fargone.
metalman.
FN are the first to bash the previous govnerment for not spending millions more into missing and murdered Aboriginal women.
What kind of answers are the FN looking for? Most FN communities are sending a mixed message to Canadians. When the RCMP try to police FN but FN believe they should be treated differently than the general population and allow the elders to determine the appropriate punishment makes it impossible to police or investigate crimes.
But when they have problems such as missing and murdered Aboriginal women well then the govnerment are not doing enough or doing it right.
FN are the first to stand in the way of economic growth but are always the first demanding more funds. When funds are made available then of coarse there is no money set aside to solve many social issues that need to be done including missing and murdered Aboriginal women.
The federal liberials will soon wake up and find out that there will never be the right thing to do. No matter how many Inviromental studies for economic growth or money thrown at this missing and murdered Aboriginal women will peeze the FN in Canada.
happy13, I think that more people would buy into the idea of support for First Nations, IF and only IF First Nations were more open and honest about taking positive steps to address issues that affect them, instead of seemingly laying the blame elsewhere!
This morning, I read the following about a report released yesterday:
“Health Body Probed.
B.C.’s First Nations Health Authority has numerous problems with executive hiring, compensation and conflict of interest, says a report by Canada’s auditor general. A report released Tuesday by Michael Ferguson’s office said the authority became the subject of an audit in 2014. It said the country’s only such authority wasn’t transparent about the amount of money it spent on professional and service contracts, hospitality and travel or senior executives’ salaries.”
First Nations want and have demanded responsibility for Health, for education and for other issues that affect them, but they don’t wish to be held accountable.
How can one be both responsible for something and not accountable, all at the same time!
Unfortunately, lack of responsibility and accountability doesn’t seem to be just a First Nations issue.
“It’s not my fault” seems to be the order of the day, regardless of race, creed, skin colour, sex, socioeconomic position or status!
Of course I could be wrong, but if I am, it’s not my fault!
Until FN tear down the border on the reserves. Forget laying claim to 115% of the province. have proud home owners that take care of their land and house investments. Pay property tax to the district they Choose to live in for policing, infrastructure and social programs. Have meaningful elected representation in both provincial and federial govnerments.
I’m not sure any solutions can be until the FN make some drastic changes. IMHO
If there were 10 blond haired blue eyed girls gone missing they would NEVER have heard the end of it…I see missing Maddy pics all over,not pics of Missing Native women…Hmmm..and most have been missing alot longer..they[rcmp] do have 1,500 suspects…could be a cop to!!
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