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Press conference for missing Webequie member Kelsey Anderson, who was
reported missing on May 9 and whose body was recovered from Thunder
Bay’s Neebing-McIntyre Floodway.
Indigenous families call for permanent search team in Thunder Bay
By: Jon Thompson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Ricochet
Indigenous searchers are calling for the creation of a permanent search and rescue team in Thunder Bay, where the bodies of four missing persons have been found over
the past two weeks. Meanwhile, Thunder Bay’s police chief and the
region’s First Nations leaders traded barbs on social media, amid
criticism of the force’s actions during the search. Nishnawbe Aski
Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler and Thunder Bay Police Service chief
Darcy Fleury exchanged critical social media posts on Wednesday and
Thursday. Fiddler accused the police of instructing searchers not to look in a set of abandoned grain elevators.
This
is a growing map of MMIW/P resources available across Turtle Island to
help groups and families quickly locate agencies, non-profits,
grassroots, and other organizations that provide direct services to
families of MMIW/P and survivors of violence. The map was co-developed
by Waking Women Healing Institute, the Data + Feminism Lab, and MIT
students. We hope to improve responses and increase access to support
for those experiencing violence and cases of MMIW/P. Each
dot opens a pop-up that shares the location, contact details, and
services available for each known entity. Notably, this is an on-going,
collaborative effort to map Indigenous-led, community-based
organizations and we welcome your suggestions for groups that should be
on the map. Please reach out to us with your suggestions atsthompson@wakingwomenhealingint.organddignazio@mit.edu.
Waewaenen to
Profs. Elizabeth Rule, Gabriella Carolini and Larry Susskind for leading
the Indigenous Environmental Planning course from which our
collaboration began.
We have expanded the mapped resources to include so called Canada,
United States, and Mexico. The image to the left is a highlighted view
of what users will experience when navigating the map. They can search
and filter resources by 3 main categories: Direct Services, Coalition,
and Both Coalition & Services.
In 2016, over 5,700 Indigenous women and girls were reported missing.
The U.S. Department of Justice recorded just 116 of those cases. That’s
not a data error. That’s a decision repeated year after year by
institutions that were never built to protect Native lives.
The epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women is not a mystery. It is a test of whether this country can confront the systems it built to disappear people.
The federal government has delayed. Law enforcement has failed. The media has ignored. And most of America has looked away.
But Native communities never have.
They’ve searched when no one else would. They’ve named their daughters when others erased them. They’ve demanded justice when the system delivered only silence.
As one landfill search ends and another is planned to
begin, an MMIWG advocate says countrywide implementation of the Red
Dress Alert and addressing "systemic racism" could prevent the agony of
such searches ever needing to happen again.
"We know
when someone is missing, time is of an essence to locate them and to
find them safely," said Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, a member of Nisichawayasihk
Cree Nation in Manitoba and chair of the National Family and Survivors
Circle.
Manitoba is in the process of launching the Red Dress Alert pilot
project, which will provide a notification to people's mobile phones
when an Indigenous woman, girl, two-spirit or gender diverse person goes
missing — similar to how an Amber Alert works.
"They
should be looking at the next phase to, alongside the federal
government, fully implement the [alert] … and adequately resource it to
ensure that it's long-term and sustainable," Anderson-Pyrz said.
"We'll
be fighting for those resources, because what the Red Dress Alert means
in this country is very powerful for Indigenous women, girls and
children."
President Donald Trump surrounded by tribal leaders as he signed the Not
Invisible Act during his first term in office. Still image from White
House video.
The Not Invisible Act requires the Departments of Justice and
Interior to create a joint commission on violent crime involving
Indigenous communities. It also details how federal agencies should
address what it calls an “epidemic”: the high rates of Native American
youth and adults who are missing, murdered or victims of violence.
“We
ask that the DOJ take immediate steps to restore the Not Invisible Act
Commission Report. Removing the data from public government websites
obstructs long-overdue justice and harms any efforts to combat the
crisis.”
Belinda
Cameron holds her daughter, Stephanie Cameron-Johnson, in 1993. The
last confirmed sighting of Cameron was at a Shoppers Drug Mart in
Esquimalt, B.C., on May 11, 2005. (Submitted by Stephanie Johnson-Cameron)
Stephanie
Cameron-Johnson was 11 and in foster care when she learned her mother
had gone missing on Vancouver Island, after a friend showed her a photo
in a newspaper.
What followed would be two decades of
challenging racial stereotypes surrounding her mom, undoing shame,
and repairing identity disconnection caused by the child welfare
system, Cameron-Johnson says.
"The narrative that's been
spoken about missing, murdered Indigenous women and two-spirit folks… I
really feel like it's my responsibility to change that," said
Cameron-Johnson.
Her mother Belinda Cameron, a Sixties Scoop survivor from Peguis First Nation in Manitoba, was 42 when she was last seen at a Shoppers Drug Mart in Esquimalt, B.C., on Esquimalt Rd near Head St., on May 11, 2005.
She
suffered from a mental illness and was prescribed medication, to be
picked up at Shoppers daily, but failed to attend the pharmacy in the
days following. She wasn't reported missing until June 4.
Police consider disappearance suspicious
Det. Colin Hanninen of the Victoria Police Department said Cameron was a person of routine and a fixture in Esquimalt in 2005.
She
was considered a vulnerable person by police due to addiction and
mental health issues, said Hanninen, and her disappearance is considered
suspicious.
Cameron was initially reported missing by a
man who she'd been involved with, but the man told Victoria Police he
had not seen her in over a month. Police used a polygraph test to
question if the man had harmed Cameron; he denied doing so and passed
the test.
"At the time there was a robust investigation involving this person, and a polygraph was part of that," said Hanninen.
Investigators
conducted over 100 interviews and an extensive forensic examination of
Cameron's Cairn Road apartment near Old Esquimalt Road, said Hanninen,
as well as canine and helicopter searches.
Cameron wasn't reported missing until June 4, 2005, nearly a month after her last confirmed sighting. (Submitted by Stephanie Cameron-Johnson)
"Unfortunately,
you know, it had been potentially three to four weeks from the time we
can confirm she was last seen to her being reported, which puts you at a
disadvantage," said Hanninen.
"In 2005, it would have
been a lot more challenging than it would be today to find clues of
where she could have gone or, you know, if she was with anybody."
A 2010 report
from the Native Women's Association of Canada said British Columbia had
the highest number of cases of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
and Girls in the country, according to its database.
B.C.
also had the highest percentage of suspicious death cases: nine per
cent of the cases in its database from B.C. fell under the category of
suspicious deaths, compared to four per cent nationally, the report
said.
Our lead story: a look at some of the MMIWG events across the country for Monday's National Red Dress Day, when communities gathered to honour and remember the lives of missing or murdered Indigenous women and girls.
Note: This American Life
is produced for the ear and designed to be heard. If you are able, we
strongly encourage you to listen to the audio, which includes emotion
and emphasis that's not on the page. Transcripts are generated using a
combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and
may contain errors. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting
in print.
Prologue: Prologue
Ira Glass
Sierra Crane Murdoch has been on our show before. She reports on
Indigenous communities out west. Back in 2023, she got a call from a man
in Montana, Kevin Howard. He said his daughter Mika had been killed in a
hit-and-run. Local police were dragging their feet. He thought the
driver might get away with it. The driver was white. Mika was Native, a
citizen of the Blackfeet Nation.
Lots
of Native people are killed in hit-and-runs, and the drivers are rarely
brought to justice. And Sierra thought she might be able to document
why by diving into Mika's case, because Mika's parents had recordings of
nearly all their interactions with law enforcement. Mika's parents did
some other things, too. They were very strategic and did some
extraordinary things other families had not tried to make sure Mika's
case was one that the authorities could not ignore.
That
story and how it unfolded, and what it's like to be a couple making
that happen, that's going to be our whole show today. From WBEZ Chicago,
it's ThisAmericanLife. I'm Ira Glass. And with that, I hand it over to Sierra.
Family affected by the Missing
and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP) Crisis feel lackluster media
coverage influences how cases are perceived by the public and pursued by
law enforcement. That’s according to new guidelines released by the
federal government this week on best practices for media coverage of
MMIP.
The guidelines result from roundtable discussions moderated by
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs Bryan Newland and attended by
more than 200 participants, including journalists, survivors, community
advocates, and Tribal and federal officials. Among the participants
where members of the Not Invisible Act Commission,
a 41-person committee tasked with developing recommendations improving
intergovernmental collaboration on violent crimes in Indian Country and
providing resources for survivors and victims’ families.
Between 2022 and 2023, the Commission held seven in-person listening
sessions across Indian Country, plus one virtual session. According to the Commission’s 212-page report,
more than 600 individuals attended the hearings. Of those, 260 gave
testimony to the NIAC, sharing their expertise, experiences, and
recommendations to address and reduce the tragic consequences of the
crisis of missing, murdered, and trafficked American Indians and Alaska
Natives. Many families and survivors expressed concern at the lack of
media coverage or coverage that reinforces long-standing prejudice
against Native communities.
The new recommendations encourage journalists to focus on an MMIP
humanity rather than any potential criminal background. Also, the
guidelines urge media to contextualize cases within the disparities
faced by Native communities, wrought by generations of forced
assimilation, broken treaty promises, and gross underfunding for health
and public safety. Using language such as “crisis” vs. “epidemic” and
“at-risk” vs. “vulnerable” is encouraged.
The report also features guidelines for strengthening collaboration
between law enforcement and journalists, including designating public
information officers to release timely information on MMIP case
developments to the media.
The MMIP crisis is characterized by Native American communities
experiencing disproportionately high rates of assault, abduction and
murder. The crisis dates back decades, underpinned by systemic apathy,
jurisdictional confusion, and underfunded law enforcement. There is no
nationwide data system for MMIP information, and the actual number of
MMIP cases is unknown; however, the Bureau of Indian Affairs estimates
there are 4,200 unsolved cases.
MMIP.The
Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced today it will launch a new
print and digital awareness campaign to commemorate the upcoming
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day on May 5.
Putting a spotlight on missing and murdered Indigenous women is
something Kali Reis (Wampanoag) has been passionate about throughout her career and is
one of the reasons she signed on to play Navarro. “That’s the whole
reason why I started bringing awareness to different issues in the
community with my boxing career,” Reis says.
In June 2022, Reis was announced as the co-lead of True Detective: Night Country, the fourth season of HBO's anthology crime series. Reis starred alongside Jodie Foster as a detective investigating the disappearance of eight men from an Alaskan research station. WIKI
In Canada, research shows that 13 per cent of missing adults are Indigenous, despite Indigenous people making up only 5 per cent of the population.
“We
started MMIP [Investigations] because we thought, ‘What can we do on
the ground to bring tangible results to the families that need it the
most?'” said Vawn Jeddry co-founder of Alberta-based MMIP Investigations and a member of English River First Nation.
MMIP Investigations currently has private investigator licences in Alberta and British Columbia, with charitable status in Alberta, they’re working towards nation-wide charitable status as funding plays a big part in what they can offer.
One of two signs that have been put up at both ends of We'koqma'q, on Cape Breton Island. (submitted by Annie Bernard-Daisley )
Two new signs along
TransCanada Highway 105 passing through We'koqma'q First Nation in Nova
Scotia are meant to shine a light on the ongoing issue of missing and
murdered Indigenous women and girls.
Chief Annie Bernard-Daisley
said she wants to empower her community to tackle the underlying risk
factors that make Indigenous people targets of violence.
"One part of the signage is that change is needed," said Bernard-Daisley.
"The change should be occurring on a community level, community by community."
Bernard-Daisley
said the signs in the community on Cape Breton Island, about
75 kilometres southwest of Sydney, N.S., have three key goals: to shine a
light on the ongoing issues, to deter human trafficking and to honour Cassidy Bernard.
Bernard, Bernard-Daisley's
22-year-old cousin, was found dead in her home in 2018. Bernard's
ex-boyfriend Austin Dwight Isadore pleaded guilty to manslaughter and
child abandonment in 2022, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
"It was emotional for [Cassidy's mother] to see the signage in our community on many levels," said Bernard-Daisley.
Annie
Bernard-Daisley at a rally in memory of her cousin Cassidy Bernard in
2019. Now chief of We'koqma'q, she says the signs are meant to keep the
conversation going around murdered and missing Indigenous women and
girls. (Brittany Wentzell/CBC)
She said We'koqma'q has worked to make the community safer and has applied for funding through Indigenous Service Canada's Pathways to Safe Indigenous Communities Initiative,
which has committed $120 million over five years (2021-2026) to improve
safety and well being in First Nation, Métis and Inuit communities.
Bernard-Daisley
said through the program she hopes to add sidewalks, street lights and
reliable taxi services to the First Nation.
"Those of us that are working on the front lines know what our community needs more than the government ever will," she said.
In
2019, the national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women
and girls released its final report, with 231 calls for justice —
recommendations on how to end violence toward Indigenous women and
girls.
CBC News released a report card in 2023 tracking progress on the calls for justice, and at the time only two calls were completed, with many still in progress.
'A strong message'
Barry
Bernard from Eskasoni First Nation, co-designer of the sign, was at a
photo shoot working with a Mi'kmaw model when he thought about messaging
around MMIWG.
Once he saw the model with the red hand print, he said he knew it embodied strength.
"It's
a strong message to send out, but it's true there are still missing and
murdered Indigenous women and children today as we talk all around
North America," he said.
"I hope the message says that we need to educate everybody and it's not only just our problem, it's everybody's problem."
Anita
Boyle, executive director of Nignen women's shelter, says she'd like to
see communities return to traditional systems that valued women. (Oscar Baker III/ CBC )
Anita
Boyle, executive director of Nignen, a women's shelter in Natoaganeg
First Nation in New Brunswick, said addressing the issue of missing and
murdered Indigenous women and girls is multifaceted.
It would
require things such as ensuring law enforcement and the judicial system
understand the role intergenerational trauma plays in the lives of
Indigenous people, adequate housing for Indigenous women in urban
centres; and for men in Canada to get more education around intimate
partner violence.
Cases in new AK missing persons report go back to 1960
A first-of-its-kind report on missing persons in Alaska,
which maps out hundreds of cases going back to 1960, has been released
by state's Department of Public Safety and the Anchorage Police
Department, as Rhonda McBride from our flagship station KNBA reports.
The State Department of Public Safety and the Anchorage Police Department collaborated to collect this data.
Austin McDaniel, a spokesman for the Public Safety Department, says the report maps out hundreds of cases going back to 1960.
“We think this is a good first effort, and we’re definitely interested in adding additional data points.”
McDaniel
says the work, which is an outgrowth of Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R-AK)’s
People First Initiative, will be updated every quarter and can be found
online.
In the last quarter, from April to June, 200 Alaska Native
or American Indian people went missing in the state. Most of those have
been found, except for 25.
The database has an important new feature.
It categorizes the circumstances surrounding the disappearances, identifying those which are suspicious.
As
director of the Data for Indigenous Justice group, Charlene Apok
welcomes the new report and says it’s what advocates for missing
Indigenous people have been asking for – for years.
She worked on an earlier attempt to track their numbers.
“Sadly,
I think what this really illustrates is a systemic issue of violence
that’s being perpetrated in our community in the state of Alaska. And
that should raise flags and alarms, and really start igniting justice.”
Apok
hopes the database will continue to improve and provide more
information about those missing, including their hometowns and Native
cultural identities, so they become more than just points of data, but
reminders of loved ones, lost to their families.
my screenshot from the new report👆
**Maybe this TV show helped?👇👇
only one season, sadly
Yesterday I watched the last two episodes of Alaska Daily who had made a similar map and report... Devastating to watch... Trace
Kim Wheeler was adopted during the Sixties Scoop and fought to find her way back to her culture My name is Kim Wheeler but some know me as...
Bookshop
You are not alone
To Veronica Brown
Veronica, we adult adoptees are thinking of you today and every day. We will be here when you need us. Your journey in the adopted life has begun, nothing can revoke that now, the damage cannot be undone. Be courageous, you have what no adoptee before you has had; a strong group of adult adoptees who know your story, who are behind you and will always be so.
Diane Tells His Name
click photo
Lost Birds on Al Jazeera Fault Lines
click to read and listen about Trace, Diane, Julie and Suzie
NO MORE STOLEN SISTERS
click image
We conclude this series & continue the conversation by naming that adoption is genocide. This naming refers to the process of genocide that breaks kinship ties through adoption & other forms of family separation & policing 🧵#NAAM2022#AdoptionIsTraumaAND#AdopteeTwitter#FFY 1/6 pic.twitter.com/46v0mWISZ1
As the single largest unregulated industry in the United States, adoption is viewed as a benevolent action that results in the formation of “forever families.” The truth is that it is a very lucrative business with a known sales pitch. With profits last estimated at over $1.44 billion dollars a year, mothers who consider adoption for their babies need to be very aware that all of this promotion clouds the facts and only though independent research can they get an accurate account of what life might be like for both them and their child after signing the adoption paperwork.
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