Murdered and Missing Women of Canada

Missing Sisters

As the Indigenous Peoples of this land,--- I hesitate to say, 'of Canada', because as Indigenous People, we have never truly experienced inclusion within Canada--- we suffer collectively. That is to say that we suffer collective and common truths. We suffer in ways that we cannot always describe.
However, those of us who have women, murdered or missing without a trace, from our families, and from our communities, have begun to describe this form of suffering both for ourselves and for the world. Our voices spill out across a land that is peopled by a society that has, in large part, replied with a cool reticence to become involved in this issue.

Although there has been some police action around this issue, there is obviously not enough being done to find the truth and solution to this lingering tragedy that we live with. And as Indigenous People, we do live infused with the socially dynamic realities of this issue. This is an issue that haunts each of us as we go through our daily lives. It has created tensions within our lives that we may not always be aware of. These tensions come to bare upon us within our lives over the long term. As such they affect the dynamics of our families, the way we think, and our general day to day comfort level. In some ways it affects who we are and how we relate to the world around us.
This is an issue that occurs in, and that is relevant to, Indigenous communities, both rural and urban, all across Canada. By extension it is an issue that is relevent to Indiegenous People at the international level. History has proven repeatedly that ,'types of abuse', perpetrated against Indigenous People around the world, have common roots found in the interest of the subjection and the relegation of Indigenous People away from the realm of humanity.

The extent and the longevity of this issue make it an issue that stands as an assault against the humanity of the Indigenous Peoples of Canada, and of the world. Although it may not as yet have been perceived as such, this is an issue that diminishes the level of humanity to be attached to the concept of 'Canadian Society.'
In the interest of maintaining our personal humanity as Indigenous Peoples, and the humanity of our memories of our missing loved ones, it is our responsibility to ourselves as individuals, and to each other, to move this issue beyond these lingering shadows of history. We must place this issue, and keep it, front and center on the stage of the Canadian Consciousness. It is up to each of us to pursue efforts of, and within our Leadership, at all levels across this land, to ensure that this issue be given no rest until we are satisfied with the results.

Greg Robinson, (Haisla Nation)