Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Carolyn Bennett has rejected another extension for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) inquiry.

The national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls will conclude its evidence gathering activities this week in Ottawa. A full schedule of hearings is available on CBC News, as well as a link to watch the hearings live.

Matthew Jefferson, whose aunt Frances Brown went missing over a year ago, has been walking across Canada since June to raise awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Charla Sylvester, a photography student from Beausoleil First Nation in Ontario, is working to bring awareness to missing and murdered Indidenous women through her photography skills.

More than two years after her disappearance, a driver’s license belonging to Ashley Simpson has been found in the tank of a vacuum septic truck at Sasquatch Crossing Lodge in northern British Columbia.

The names of more than 100 women and girls have been added to the list of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls since Prime Minister Trudeau took office three years ago. The list was compiled by Families of Sisters in Spirit (FSIS), a grassroots group founded in January 2011.

The annual Sisters in Spirit Vigil took place in Edmonton on October 4. The vigil, now in its 13th year, honoured missing and murdered girls, women, boys, and men. At least 200 family members and supporters attended the event.

National inquiry into missing and murdered women and girls commissioner Qajaq Robinson gave powerful closing remarks at the Iqaluit hearing challenging non-Indigenous people to make room for Indigenous voices.

Thousand of Indigenous women go missing or are murdered each year, but few statistics are available about the actual numbers.

On Aug 2, 1989, Ronald and Doreen Jack and their two children disappeared on their way to new jobs in a logging camp. The Jacks lived in Prince George, B.C.