By Jill Sperling

Indigenous women and girls advocate says national inquiry lacks action

Feb 14, 2018 | 3:50 PM

KAMLOOPS — A Kamloops woman says more action needs to be taken in order to prevent future generations of Indigenous women from going missing or being murdered. 

Nikki Fraser says she was encouraged by her one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in early 2016, at which time he told her Indigenous lives matter. 

Months after that meeting a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls was launched.

Fast forward to today, Fraser says there has been very little action taken to prevent violence and abuse against Indigenous women. 

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“It’s very common, and that’s why we’re so vocal about it because the stories aren’t unique, and that’s why we share them because they’re so common,” Fraser said. 

The sting of loss is not an unfamiliar feeling for Fraser. In 1995 her aunt Dorothy Spence disappeared from Vancouver’s East Side. 

“I can remember going grocery shopping with her, and her baby-sitting us, and taking us to the park, so she was quite active in our lives,” she said. “And then I can remember the police being at the apartment, and being so young, and asking my mom what was happening, and ‘where was auntie? Where was she?’”

In 2013 Fraser’s cousin Samantha Paul also went missing. Her remains were later found around White Lake. 

Through her grief, Fraser discovered a passion for ending violence against Indigenous women. 

“Being so close in age it just really sank in that that could have been me, … it could have been one of my sisters, and that’s when I was like, ‘this is not happening, I can’t just sit here and not be vocal about this,” Fraser said.

In January 2016, Fraser brought her concerns to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in a face-to-face interview. 

“In that interview he quoted and said, ‘Indigenous lives matter,’ and that quote echoed throughout the country.”

Two years later, Fraser says Indigenous people are still facing the same issues. 

“There hasn’t been any action to really prevent that from continuing to happen,” she said. “It’s just kind of like the inquiry is there, they’re doing the investigation, but no action has really been implemented, no support services, no funding to the grass roots organizations that help Indigenous women and girls that need it, so it’s kind of just plateaued, and I don’t really feel like it’s picked up or anything like that.”

Fraser says events like marches for missing and murdered Indigenous women keep the issue top of mind, and she hopes to see a future where more non-Indigenous individuals join the cause. 

“It’s not about me, it’s not about my peers right now, it’s about change for the good for the younger generations.”