Reconciliation needs more action, not more words

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/06/2020 (2013 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The brutal reality that racism is alive sent tens of thousands of people out onto North American streets last week. We stand in solidarity with George Floyd’s family and countless others victims of racist practices and mourn this senseless loss of life.

Here at home, we stand witness to the fact that one year ago, on June 3, 2019, thousands of First Nations, Métis and Inuit families and survivors gave voice to their ongoing reality of racism, sexism and violence with the release of Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

The ongoing violence against First Nations women, girls and LGBTTQ+ people is the direct result of racist and sexist colonial practices. We need to understand the true history of Canada.

Before Europeans arrived, First Nations women had significant influence in governance, lands, economies and cultures. Women and gender-diverse people played key roles: they were leaders; they were healers and medicine people who tended to physical, emotional, and spiritual health; and they were protectors who managed community resources, as land defenders and water keepers. Europeans brought their own ideas about the roles of women, and men, to these lands and territories. The European systems relied on patriarchy — the dominance of men. This new, patriarchal worldview consistently undermined the role of First Nations women.

The 1876 Indian Act entrenched this practice by only recognizing the male bloodline, even though many First Nations traced lineage through the mother, or through both bloodlines. Just as tragic, colonization required that First Nations womens’ roles be devalued not only in the colonies, but also within First Nations. Colonization created the racist and ethnocentric ideas that continue to dehumanize First Nations women and make them targets of violence today. This must end.

It takes political will, resources, compassion, and most importantly, deep listening and collaboration with First Nations families at the centre of all decisions to begin unravelling this destructive history. The blueprint to create a pathway to reconciliation in Canada already exists. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and its Women’s Council are dedicated advocates for MMIWG, their families, and survivors with a consistent message — there must be a fundamental paradigm shift and support for First Nations ways of being and knowing.

On June 3 last year, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sat with and listened to hundreds of First Nations, Métis and Inuit families and survivors in the powerful and sacred closing national inquiry ceremony held at the Canadian Museum of History in Gatineau, Que. His words that day are on the record: “To the families and survivors here today, and to those listening and watching at home, I want you to know that this report is not the end. The work of the commissioners and the stories they have collected, and the calls for justice they have put forward, will not be placed on a shelf to gather dust. I know, and you know, we need to fix the way things work in this country.”

Yes, we need to fix the way things work in this country. The federal government has accepted the calls for justice to create a national action plan with First Nations, Métis and Inuit people at the table. Yet in the many months following the release of the national inquiry’s final report, neither the federal government nor the Manitoba government have reached out to engage with us. There is no national or provincial action plan, designed with and for First Nations people. There is no articulated and transparent process to make life safer for First Nations women, girls and LGBTTQ+ people.

First Nations in Manitoba, through our pandemic response and coordination team, have been able to engage and consult with leadership and technicians quite successfully. We could have worked with Canada to implement that process for this national action plan during COVID-19.

Families and survivors also want clear answers about what happened to their loved ones. We need an independent, national police task force established to re-open investigations and delve deeper into the cases of missing and murdered women, girls and LGBTTQ+ people.

To blame these delays on a three-month-old pandemic is plainly ludicrous and insulting. In fact, data show that violence against women and girls increases during the isolation caused by a pandemic, which makes these consultations all the more pressing.

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that governments and agencies at every level can act quickly and meaningfully to create services and programs for people when the need is urgent.

We say clearly that racism is deadly. Genocide is urgent.

Arlen Dumas is Grand Chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. Francine Meeches is Chief of Swan Lake First Nation.