In 2010 the Native Women’s Association of Canada initiative called Sisters in Sprit created a database of missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls, listing 582 cases. While the oldest case dates back to 1944, majority of the cases they researched were recent, with 39% of all the cases between 2000 and 2010. Though this data is a few years old, Cheryl Maloney (the president of the Nova Scotia Native Women’s Association) said in a CBC article that “Aboriginal women are still five times more likely to be violently attacked than non aboriginal people.” Ultimately this issue is still very prevalent in society, as seen by the very recent, tragic story of Loretta Saunders, a 26 year old St. Mary’s University student who was murdered by her two former roommates. Saunders was an Inuk woman, who was writing a thesis on missing and murdered indigenous women specifically in Nova Scotia. As an aboriginal woman herself she was very involved with the issue, and as Darryl Leroux (her thesis supervisor) said,“she had a passion for supporting indigenous youth [to] overcome the many barriers they face.”

Her body was found just two days ago, and so as the most recent missing and murdered women case her story exemplifies how pressing the issue of violence against aboriginal women is all across the country in our current society. I noticed that in many of the articles about her death by different news outlets there seemed to be a common pattern of family, political figures and groups such as The Assembly of First Nations calling for action on the issue of missing and murdered women. In a CTV article the Assembly of First Nations Chief Sean Altleo, said in response to Saunders death, “this is a call to action that this must end now. We cannot add one more name to the list of murdered or missing women. We need to see action by all parties to end violence, to respect and honour women and families, to ensure our communities are safe and secure for all.”

This call for action has even been taken up by Amnesty international in partnership with Sisters in Spirit in a campaign called “No More Stolen Sisters: Justice for the missing and murdered Indigenous women of Canada”. They call for a movement of truth and justice and have also called upon the government to act in order to stop violence against women. Ultimately this issue is not only a social issue but a human rights issue that effects the whole country, and so it is important that groups such as Amnesty International, and the Assembly of First Nations speak out to make their voices heard.

In Naomi Angel’s article, “Before Truth: The Labors of Testimony and the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission” she discusses testimony, memory, and remembering in relation to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Though we had discussed the TRC earlier in the year in ASTU as well as in Sociology,  reading this article now after gaining more of an understanding of issues related to the TRC (such as remembering, identity, and silences) made me look at the issue differently. One of the main points that I took away from the article was the connected roles of being both a witness and testifier of trauma. In relation to Angel’s article one definition of being a witness could be that someone has gone through and experienced oppression, “surviving violent conflict and injustice” (Angel 200). While a definition of being a testifier could be, someone who breaks the silence of the oppression, there by giving voice to the “long denied” ( Angel 200).

In the article it is brought up that naturally people can “occupy this dual role” (Angel 200), especially through initiatives such as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission National events, the Belkin Art gallery exhibit – “Witness: Art and Canada’s Indian Residential Schools”, as well as the exhibit “Speaking to Memory: Images and Voices from St. Michael’s Residential School” at the Museum of Anthropology (MOA). In all three of these initiatives aboriginal people can both voice their stories and highlight the fact that they have experienced oppression, there by occupying both the role of the witness and testifier. I found this to be particularly true at the MOA exhibit, because of the way the space allowed for aboriginal people affected by the St. Michael’s residential school to take on both roles. On one wall there were quotes from some of the students of the school, as direct testimony of their experience, and on a second wall facing the quotes hung pictures taken by Beverly Brown, as photographic testimony of the children who witnessed the atrocities, but may not outright testify their experiences. 

One of Beverly Brown’s photographs on display in the exhibit “Speaking to Memory: Images and Voices from St. Michael’s Residential School” at MOA.

What I found very interesting in Angel’s article was the explanation of a third role – listener. She writes that “in many cases, non – indigenous Canadians were not the intended audience for these testimonies. Indigenous family members and communities were often the direct audience with non – indigenous Canadians playing an in direct secondary role as listeners.” ( Angel  209) I found that this idea could be applied to Wah’s Diamond Grill, because of the way the novel’s intend audience appears to be his family, and people who too feel as through they are “living in the hyphen” (Wah 53). Wah writes the testimony of his life, and families life directed to his family, while other readers could be perceived as the “listener” to his story, much like some of the TRC events. It becomes apparent that all there roles: witness, testifier and listener are needed in order to work towards reconciliation.