A vigil for missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada. Photo by Max Fine Day / Twitter
Lenard Monkman of the Animoziibing (Lake Manitoba) First Nation wants his daughter and other Native girls to be raised without fear:
Last year, 15-year-old Tina Fontaine was found in a bag in Winnipeg's Red River. On the day after her body was recovered, I went to pick up my kids and I couldn't help but notice there were homicide detectives across the street from where my kids lived in the West End. I had this grim feeling in my stomach that the detectives were looking for clues in Tina's homicide. A few days later, the police said the last place Tina was seen alive was across the street from where my kids were living at the time. I have a teenage son and a young daughter. My daughter was seven years old when I had to tell her there are people out there who don't value the lives of indigenous women and girls. I had to tell her to be street smart. Is this a conversation that non-indigenous people have with their seven-year-old daughters? There are a different set of worries when raising indigenous children. Is it fair that we have to have this conversation with our children?Get the Story:
Lenard Monkman: Fearful or fierce? Raising my indigenous daughter in Canada (CBC 12/12) Also Today:
Enquête investigation into Val d'Or now available in English (CBC 12/12)
He's the former Ontario police board member who called for a missing, murdered women inquiry in '93 (CBC 12/10) Royal Canadian Mounted Police Report:
Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: A National Operational Overvie (May 2014)
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