According to the article Tyendinga Mohawks begin blockade for missing/murdered women, found here: “As of Sunday, roughly 70 members and supporters of the Mohawks of Tyendinaga erected a blockade on Shannonville Road, pushing for the Canadian government to host a genuine inquiry into the disappearances and deaths of Indigenous women across Canada — thus stating their dissatisfaction of the Oppal Inquiry.” During the blockage, Ontario police arrested 4 people who have since been released.

This is yet another response to the Canadian government’s lukewarm investigation of the missing and murdered Aboriginal women. When the Canadian Human Rights Commission called last year for this investigation, it was virtually ignored by the government. This community activism is an attempt to pressure officials into making real progress toward finding justice for these women and their families– some of those involved in the protest have missing family members themselves. “I hear more from the streets about my sister than I hear about from the cops,” said Tanya Nepinak, whose sister is counted among the missing (quoted here from CBC news).

This mirrors the narrative outlined in Missing Sarah– the refusal of officials to acknowledge the problem, the community organizing dedicated to pressuring  the powers at be to come up with a solution. Eventually, Vancouver’s police department did start an investigation, but Missing Sarah makes it painfully clear how slowly that investigation moved for a long time. The city and federal governments have both expressed regret at the systematic violence toward Aboriginal women, but while Vancouver eventually made real progress in their investigation, the national government has done virtually nothing. In Missing Sarah, it in part took the work of a white, highly educated, middle class, and locally fairly well-know person to jump start official interest and action in the missing women– and even then, it was an uphill battle at first. What or who will it take for the Canadian government to make change on a national level?