Slow start to national inquiry prompts action
Hearings scheduled to begin in spring, says inquiry commission chair
Kassina Ryder
Northern News Services
Monday, February 20, 2017
NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Amanda Vittrekwa had someone in mind when she was making hearts for the Beaded Hearts campaign in honour of the national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.
Amanda Vittrekwa shows off the first heart she made for the Beaded Hearts campaign to honour indigenous women who are missing or who have been murdered. - NNSL file photo |
"The person I thought of was our late cousin. Her name was Brandy Vittrekwa," she said. The campaign was intended to have communities throughout the territory create hearts to serve as a reminder of each woman and girl who is no longer with her family.
Brandy, who was originally from Fort McPherson, was murdered in Whitehorse in December 2014. She was 17 years old.
Her killer, a 15-year-old boy, was sentenced to two years in jail plus a year of supervision after pleading guilty to manslaughter.
"She was so young. She was just starting out in her life," Vittrekwa said. "Her life was taken away before she even started."
The Native Women's Association of the NWT launched the Beaded Hearts campaign and Vittrekwa spearheaded the initiative in Inuvik last summer.
The hearts are to be sewn into a tapestry in honour of the inquiry.
The inquiry's commissioners held a news conference on Feb. 7 to address concerns about its progress.
Families of victims have criticized the lack of information being provided to families about the inquiry, as well as how long it has taken to get started. It was officially launched last August.
During the news conference, Marion Buller, the inquiry's chief commissioner, said the commission will not be reaching out to individual communities or families. Instead, it will be up to the communities to make contact with the commission.
"We don't have lists of families to contact. This is all voluntary," she said. "It's their choice whether they want to participate in the inquiry and how they will participate."
In the legislative assembly on Feb. 17, Caroline Cochrane, the territorial minister responsible for the status of women, said she urged family members in the NWT wanting to participate in the inquiry to contact its national office.
Family Information Liaison Units are currently being prepared in the territory, she added.
"In the Northwest Territories, the Department of Justice is working with the federal government and the Native Women's Association to establish a unit that will serve all Northwest Territories communities during the Inquiry," Cochrane's statement said.
Health teams will be made available to participants both during and following the hearings, she also said.
During the news conference, Buller said hearings are scheduled to begin this spring.
The Native Women's Association of the NWT couldn't provide any additional details to News/North but president Paulina Roche said more information could be available after the organization's annual general meeting, which is scheduled for March 6.
The inquiry will examine the factors contributing to the rate of violence against indigenous women and girls, according to the Government of Canada.
"The commissioners are required to examine and report on the systemic causes behind the violence that indigenous women and girls experience, and their greater vulnerability to violence, by looking for patterns and underlying factors that explain why higher levels of violence occur," states the Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development website.
In the NWT, the majority of that violence occurs in the home, states a report published by the Native Women Association of Canada.
The report, published in 2010, compared the number of murdered and missing indigenous women and girls in the North to the rest of Canada.
It found that 86 per cent of women murdered in the North were killed in a residence, either the woman's home or someone else's dwelling. The national average is 59 per cent.
The report also found that 41 per cent of deaths involved an intimate partner, compared to 17 per cent in the rest of Canada.
After hearings and information-gathering are complete, the inquiry's commissioners are scheduled to produce an interim report by November 2017 and a final report by November 2018.
In the meantime, Vittrekwa said she and other families will continue to remember those they have lost.
"They're not forgotten," she said. "They're still loved and they'll never be forgotten."
