October 4th is recognized as Sisters in Spirit to remember missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and Two Spirit folks while also fighting to end colonialist violence. In Dawson we are gathering on Monday, October 5th.

On June 3rd 2019, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls released it’s Final Report: Reclaiming Power and Place which includes 124 Calls to Justice - a roadmap to ending the continuing colonialist genocide Indigenous women, girls, and Two Spirit folks experience.

The Calls focus on all areas of Indigenous women, girls, and Two Spirit folks’ lives: government, health, media, legal systems, policing, resource extraction, social services, transportation, education, and child welfare.

We’re focusing, today, on the Calls for All Canadians.

From the report:

Human rights and Indigenous rights abuses committed and condoned by the Canadian state represent genocide against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. These abuses and violations have resulted in the denial of safety, security, and human dignity. They are the root causes of the violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people that generate and maintain a world within which Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people are forced to confront violence on a daily basis, and where perpetrators act with impunity.

The steps to end and redress this genocide must be no less monumental than the combination of systems and actions that has worked to maintain colonial violence for generations.

Calls for All Canadians:
As the Final Report has shown, and within every encounter, each person has a role to play in order to combat violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. Beyond those Calls aimed at governments or at specific industries or service providers, we encourage every Canadian to consider how they can give life to these Calls for Justice.

We call on all Canadians to:

1. Denounce and speak out against violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people.

2. Decolonize by learning the true history of Canada and Indigenous history in your local area. Learn about and celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ history, cultures, pride, and diversity, acknowledging the land you live on and its importance to local Indigenous communities, both historically and today.

3. Develop knowledge and read the Final Report. Listen to the truths shared, and acknowledge the burden of these human and Indigenous rights violations, and how they impact Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people today.

4. Using what you have learned and some of the resources suggested, become a strong ally. Being a strong ally involves more than just tolerance; it means actively working to break down barriers and to support others in every relationship and encounter in which you participate.

5. Confront and speak out against racism, sexism, ignorance, homophobia, and transphobia, and teach or encourage others to do the same, wherever it occurs: in your home, in your workplace, or in social settings.

6. Protect, support, and promote the safety of women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people by acknowledging and respecting the value of every person and every community, as well as the right of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people to generate their own, self-determined solutions.

7. Create time and space for relationships based on respect as human beings, supporting and embracing differences with kindness, love, and respect. Learn about Indigenous principles of relationship specific to those Nations or communities in your local area and work, and put them into practice in all of your relationships with Indigenous Peoples.

8. Help hold all governments accountable to act on the Calls for Justice, and to implement them according to the important principles we set out.