DEH CHO
When Sharon Allen thinks about her niece, Destiny Nahanni-Hope, she remembers a witty, bright girl who held the love of everyone she knew.
Destiny Nahanni-Hope, left, was found dead six years after her cousin, Keisha Trudel, died in a car crash. Nahanni-Hope's aunt, Sharon Allen, is going to start advocating for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls to visit the community - photo courtesy of Sharon Allen |
"She was just a wonderful girl," Allen said.
Nahanni-Hope died just over two years ago. She went missing in Wrigley after attending a party on Dec. 3, 2014, and two days later her body was found down the banks of the Mackenzie River in the community.
She was 20 years old.
Allen said although the official investigation found Nahanni-Hope had died of exposure, questions still swirl about her death.
Temperatures had plummeted to -35 C the night of her death, but Nahanni-Hope's body was found wearing just a hoodie and jeans, with one shoe missing.
"I don't think she would have gotten so inebriated she wouldn't know where she is. She's never been to that point," Allen said.
"It doesn't explain how she could go from being inside the house to being outside, curled up in a ball, down in the willows. Where's her winter coat and boots?"
Questions like these persist in many deaths within the Deh Cho region, which have been ruled non-suspicious.
Although those deaths include male and female, young and old, Allen said she is going to start advocating for the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls to visit the community.
The inquiry, which launched in September 2016, began in response to pressure from indigenous families and communities.
It aims to examine and report on systemic causes of all forms of violence against indigenous women and girls.
On March 28, the inquiry released a list of dates for advisory meetings with communities across Canada for April and May.
No dates have yet been released for the Northwest Territories.
Allen said she feels communities within the Deh Cho region would undeniably benefit from meeting with commissioners for the inquiry.
"We have so many unanswered questions about so many deaths. People are dying senselessly," she said.
"The accumulation of it all is just crazy."
Tiar Wilson, the communications advisor for the inquiry, said there will eventually be sessions held in the Northwest Territories but could not provide dates and locations.
"We will have 32 hearings in the next year and a half. As for now, we can't say where we're going next because part of that is being invited into communities," she said.
Before a date can be set for a community, the inquiry must first hear from families and organizations to make sure people are aware of what the meeting would be about.
"When they feel comfortable with that, then they'll send their official invite," Wilson said.
One Fort Simpson woman, who is currently living in Grande Prairie, said it is important the inquiry come to small communities within the territory, but added it is equally important supports are put in place within the community for families who will be re-opening old wounds.
The woman cannot be identified because of a court-ordered publication ban on any information that might identify her daughter, who died in Fort Liard in 2015.
Although she did not want to speak about her personal situation, she agreed to speak generally about the inquiry.
"I think it would benefit smaller communities, but you've got to be prepared for the impact afterward. It can't just be a one-time thing," she said.
"If you don't have after-care, where are you going to be?
"It's bad enough people are dealing with residential school, opening wounds and there's nothing there to help them out.
"We have to have something in place for the small regions."
The March 28 news release from the inquiry states family hearings will be held where the inquiry is welcome, which could include smaller and remote communities.
As for Allen, the inquiry could provide some much-needed closure for families still suffering as a result of their losses and could be an important step in the healing process.
"I have not been able to talk about (Nahanni-Hope's death) for the last two years because it has just ruined me, emotionally, to not know what happened to her," she said.
"We're still living with it. For me, it's been really hard because I've been trying to find my way back."
