Conference Background
| Purpose/Mandate | Convention
Facilities | Speakers and Contributors |
Affinity Groups
Conference Background
From the northern border city of Juárez,
Chihuahua to the west and east coasts of Canada, Indigenous
girls and women are at far higher risk to be kidnapped, sexually
abused or raped, and murdered.
According to the Native Women’s Association
of Canada’s Sisters in Spirit initiative, there are more
than 500 missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. In
Mexico, thousands of women have disappeared and hundreds of
women have been killed in Juárez since the early 1990s.
This violence is now spreading throughout the country, leaving
a trail of grief and trauma in its wake.
The conference “Missing Women: Decolonization,
Third Wave Feminisms, and Indigenous People of Canada and Mexico”
examines the consistent and alarming rise of missing Indigenous
women throughout both countries.
Deemed feminicide, a phenomenon that
has been described as “gender extermination”, the
taking of Indigenous women reveals a violence spurred by sexualized
racism thereby tracing the legacy of colonization.
While the conference provides a forum to examine
this violence, it also maps a path to justice.
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Purpose/Mandate
The goals of the conference are the following:
• to raise public awareness about violence
against indigenous women on a global context, but specifically
in Canada and Mexico;
• to participate in the ongoing development of a critical
analysis of systemic sexualized racism;
• to create a forum for multi-disciplinary organizations
to meet and discuss both the theoretical and the grassroots
activist work that needs to happen to stem this tide of violence;
• to facilitate support and activist networks for family
members of missing women.
Anticipated outcomes include:
• a public presentation of a nation-wide
petition for a full investigation into and resolution of this
injustice;
• documentation of the event in the form of a DVD and
a written account for secondary and post-secondary educators;
• establish resolutions for change, which include the
formation of an international network;
• preparations to host a second conference in another
two years to discuss the progress made towards a healthy and
safe Aboriginal community.
The conference is bringing together activists,
including family members of disappeared women, academics, Elders,
writers and journalists, artists and filmmakers from across
Canada, the United States and Mexico who are addressing the
violence of feminicide.
Speakers will discuss issues that are common to
Indigenous women living in colonized countries, specifically
patterns of violence, sexualized racism, the impact of residential
schools, poverty, and the lack of access to education.
Who should attend?
• Family members with missing loved ones
• Academics
• Members of the community
• Activists
• Elders
• Members of faith communities
• Students
• Artists
• Members of the policing community
• Government workers
• Policy makers
Presented by Luther College in conjunction with
the Women’s Studies Department and the University of Regina.
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Convention Facilities
Please check back next year for information.
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Speakers and Contributors
Cynthia Bejarano
Cynthia L. Bejarano, a native of Southern New Mexico
and the El-Paso/Juárez border, is an assistant professor
of Criminal Justice at New Mexico State University. Her publications
and research interests focus on border violence; race, class,
and gender issues; and Latino youths’ border identities
in the Southwest.
Bejarano was recently awarded a 1.3 million dollar grant to
assist migrant and seasonal farmworker children to attend New
Mexico State University. She has been an advocate and activist
working with the families of disappeared and murdered women
in Ciudad Juarez for five years, and works closely with people
at Casa Amiga, the rape crisis center in Ciudad Juarez. She
is also the co-founder of Amigos de las Mujeres de Juarez, an
NGO dedicated to assisting the women of Juarez in their fight
for justice.
Gwenda Yuzicappi
Standing Buffalo First Nation member and mother of Amber Redman,
murdered in rural Saskatchewan, Canada at age 19 on July 15,
2005. Her case was featured in "Stolen Sisters: Discrimination
and Violence against Indigenous Women in Canada," a report
released by Amnesty International that addresses the disproportionate
number of First Nations women who have been abducted, and how
these crimes have not been deemed a priority by numerous police
forces.
Eva Arce
Human rights activist and mother of Silvia Arce who disappeared
in Juarez on March 11, 1998. Eva Arce's daughter vanished in
March 1998 along with a friend, Griselda Mares. The Washington-based
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the Organization
of American States has accepted her case.
Paula Flores
An activist in the community of Lomas de Poleo in Ciudad
Juarez, she is the mother of María Sagrario González
Flores, who disappeared on March 11, 1998 in Juarez and was
murdered in April, 1998. Her daughter is one of over 400 women
who have been disappeared and slain in Juarez over the past
13 years. Paula Flores runs the María Sagrario Foundation,
an organization that established the kindergarten Jardín
de Niños Ma. Sagrario González Flores in Juarez.
Lourdes Portillo
Lourdes Portillo was born in Chihuahua, Mexico and moved to
the United States in 1960. Her films focus on the representation
of Latina/o identity, human rights, social justice and Latin
American realities. An equally important aspect of her filmmaking
is experimenting with the documentary form. Her most recent
film, Señorita Extraviada (Missing young woman), released
in 2002, is a documentary about the disappearance and death
of young women in Juarez and the search for truth and justice
by their families and human rights groups. It received a Special
Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, the Best Documentary
Prize at the Havana International Film Festival, and the Néstor
Almendros Prize at the Human Rights Watch Film Festival. It
premiered on P.O.V. and received more than 20 prizes and awards
around the world. The film inspired a number of governmental
and non-governmental organizations such as Amnesty International
to conduct intensive investigations into the disappearances
and murders of women in Juárez. Lourdes Portillo made
her first film, a dramatic short called After the Earthquake,
in 1979. Some of the other documentary, dramatic, experimental
and performance films and videos she has made are the Academy
Award-nominated Las Madres: The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo (1986);
La Ofrenda: The Days of the Dead (1988); Vida (1989); Columbus
on Trial (1992); Mirrors of the Heart for the PBS series “Americas”
(1993); The Devil Never Sleeps (1994); Sometimes My Feet Go
Numb; 13 Days, a multi-media piece for a nationally toured play
by the San Francisco Mime Troupe (1997); and Corpus (1999),
a documentary about the late Tejana singer Selena.
Isabel Arvide
In two decades as a journalist, Isabel Arvide has written extensively
about drug trafficking and Latin American cartels, corruption,
and violence in Mexico. In 1996, Arvide wrote the book Muerte
en Juárez (Death in Juarez), which chronicles Arvide’s
investigation into the disappearance and murder of her friend,
Heidi Slauquet. Since publishing the book, Arvide has accused
Mexican authorities of complicity and corruption, linking the
killings of women in Juárez with powerful drug cartels
and complicit government officials.
Arvide’s journalistic work on the murder of girls and
women in Juárez has made her a target for death threats
and assignation attempts. She has also been arrested and detained
twice for defamation against a state prosecutor in Chihuahua.
Arvide is known for her political commentaries, novels, erotic
poetry, biographical writing and interviews. In 1984, she was
the first woman to receive the National Journalism Prize for
her work, her daily column is published in 15 newspapers across
the country.
Kim Erno
Kim Erno is an ordained ELCA pastor with more than
20 years of parish ministry experience. He has worked with various
solidarity organizations related to El Salvador and Mexico.
Before this assignment, he was a mission developer serving a
Latino community in Washington, D.C. He is the program director
for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Transformational
House in Mexico City.
Laura Madison
Laura Madison from Toronto is a research Criminologist,
consultant and media Analyst. In one element of her ongoing
research she has investigated disparities in media coverage
with regards to missing or murdered native woman.She also looks
at issues in Policing sciences and the government response to
missing persons. She volunteers with Policing agencies in Ontario
to assist in matching found human remains with missing persons.She
is also the founder and curator of the Lost Treasures Community
Arts Project which she uses to educate police in training and
the general public about missing woman across the country.
Ian Peach
Currently seconded to the Office of the Federal
Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians as a Special
Advisor, Ian Peach has been with the Government of Saskatchewan
for thirteen years. Prior to coming to Ottawa, he was the Director
of the Saskatchewan Institute of Public Policy, where he had
previously been the 2003-04 Government of Saskatchewan Senior
Policy Fellow and, later, the Research Director. Prior to his
secondment to the Institute, he was Director of Constitutional
Relations in the Department of Intergovernmental and Aboriginal
Affairs and, for five and one-half years, a Senior Policy Advisor
in the Cabinet Planning Unit of Executive Council.
In his nearly 20 years of public service, Mr.
Peach has been involved numerous intergovernmental negotiations,
including the Charlottetown Accord, the Calgary Declaration,
the Social Union Framework Agreement, First Nation self-government
agreements, and the Canada-Saskatchewan Northern Development
Accord. He has also been involved in developing Saskatchewan’s
policies on a broad range of issues, including Saskatchewan’s
argument before the Supreme Court of Canada in the Quebec Secession
Reference and key cross-government strategies to address the
socio-economic disparity of Aboriginal people in Saskatchewan
and northern economic development. Born in Halifax, N.S., Mr.
Peach holds a Bachelor of Arts from Dalhousie University and
a Bachelor of Laws from Queen’s University and will be
returning to Queen’s in the fall to pursue a Master of
Laws.
Adrian Stimson
Adrian was born and raised in Sault St. Marie, Ontario and lived
on a number of First Nations across Canada including his home
reserve Siksika Nation (Blackfoot). His formative years were
spent in Saskatchewan on both the Gordon’s First Nation
and Lebret. After completing his BFA at Alberta College of Art
and Design in Calgary, Adrian moved to Saskatoon to complete
a MFA at the University of Saskatchewan. Though he initially
trained as a painter, he now considers his practice interdisciplinary.
As artist-in-residence at the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon,
Adrian has been researching and experimenting with his personal
blend of environmental art and activism, Indigenous knowledge,
and sustainable communities. Stimson is currently working on
the legacy sculpture in honour of missing women for the conference.
His work will be featured in the Healing Gardens near the First
Nations University of Canada.
Amber Dean
Amber Dean is a PhD candidate in the Department of English and
Film Studies at the University of Alberta. In her dissertation
she is tracing what lives on from the women disappeared from
Vancouver's Downtown Eastside by examining representations of
the women in media, memorials, and art. She is also theorizing
the links between colonization of Western Canada and the disappearances
and murders of Indigenous women from Western Canadian cities.
With Vancouver writer Anne Stone, Dean recently co-edited a
special issue of the journal West Coast Line on representations
of murdered and missing women.
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Affinity
Groups
The questions that were discussed in the affinity groups were:
What did you enjoy about the conference? What
did you learn over the past few days?:
What was the least helpful about the conference?
Areas to improve.
What were your experiences around the issue of missing women
before attending the conference?
What strengths can we (this healing group) bring to working
for a solutions? What strengths exist or what positive action
is presently taken?
Community Groups
Healing
What did you enjoy about the conference? What
did you learn over the past few days?:
The testimonies of the women.
The true reflection; the openness.
Just hearing first hand stories from a diverse group of women.
Meeting the families.
Having psychologists on hand; support.
The ladies; how they opened up; its about time to hear these
things; very important to get that out or be heard; liked the
realness; about time they listened.
Guests from Mexico tell their stories as well; they brought
real life to the conference.
Liked the testimonies of Morningstar and Shawneen because of
personal testimonies and transformation and giving that story
to people; Indigenous rituals because it is healing; drumming
circle was very significant.
Many things……everything; we are constructing a network
of valiant women; grateful to be able to drum- felt like I was
amongst my people; I want you to pray with me so I can forgive
the murderers, I cannot forgive them; I wanted to gain the strength
of Gwenda; my daughter is not resting if I keep doing this.
We are far away from rituals here and discovered that there
is healing in rituals; Mexicans can learn from Canadian rituals;
we all agree with Mother Earth because we all live on Earth;
rituals offered to the women from Mexico.
I cant give what was given to me away; we can connect but we
cannot give them what is our own tradition; we have to keep
some of that or it will throw our children off balance; if I
got into that then I am hurting myself and the children; when
we use what we are not given, it does more harm than good; we
can give comfort.
They are not asking to be given what is not theirs; all societies
drum and drumming helped them heal.
Variety of information and speakers; strength and determination.
Safe space provided, allowed to ask those questions; safe space
to feel anger, sadness etc.
Told me I was not alone; don't dwell on the past, take action.
Rekindled my passion; closer to both mothers.
What was the least helpful about the conference?:
Grieving/crying to begin to fix ourselves; let
them cry because when you give them something you stop the crying
and crying is important, people were wearing slacks and that
is saying, whatever.
You are making them stop crying when you give them something.
Conference leaders need to know more, when we all come together
all pieces come together and the story comes together.
Room was so cold.
More information in the program about the speakers so you could
better choose which ones to go to; detached from speakers; childcare
needs to be better covered.
More artists present and speak of the role pf art in healing.
More government people because that perpetuates the violence;
more police representatives
More white male bureaucratic law makers and chiefs; SFSIN,
Need young men, high schools could give them credit for coming,
even 5% is enough young men to hear this.
Food was not respectful of people with special dietary needs
(sugar, salt).
Music at end of conference to get all of the energy out, energy
needs to get out, more cohesive as well (someone did tell this
person about the Roundance).
Areas to improve:
Education.
Claim our kids back.
Grandmas- keep girls off the street and let them know we care.
Know there is someone who cares.
C.A.R.E- program here in Regina and everywhere.
Kinder House- need one here in Regina.
"White guilt"- education system needs to be changed
a lot, "get over it", pay homage to the brown skinned
people of this country.
Queens Park (parliament)- she will put the pink ribbon there.
Police and parliament are approachable.
Silence and inaction are complicit.
Authorities are held accountable.
Prayer is very important, send extra prayers.
Need time to ask more questions.
Educate men.
What were your experiences around the issue of
missing women before attending the conference?:
· In Scott Collegiate – Walk around
Scott, aboriginal teacher teaching about missing women. If it
was a majority white school, there would be workers to help,
but at Scott, there wasn't. Students walked.
· Heard through the media. Annual thing.
· Pickton Farm, Amber Redman. Know street
workers.
· Didn't know much at all.
· Knew nothing – Went to Mexico with
class.
· Something scary, what are they doing
with their sins: In my way, I pray, I prayed hard.
· Knew families – Amber Redman –
Worked in North Central. Really shocking. Sodistraught(??) so
I prayed. Own people killing our own people; so I pray. People
have to want to heal. Pray, family, self-improvement. Only hurting
people hurt others – Because they were hurt before age
six and didn't heal. Some women hurt other women.
What strengths can we (this healing group) bring
to working for a solutions? What strengths exist or what positive
action is presently taken?:
· Conference healing, place to be safe
· Start to heal one person, they heal the
next
· Programs, sharing, networking
· Never treat people lower than yourself.
· Families to put ribbons. Cynthia to see
what they do. Use Cynthia's model.
· Ribbons to Mexico and BC (HWY of Tears).
· Dresses – People paint and work
on dresses and have vigil. Each dress represents a women. Vigil,
group projects.
· So happy you took cross as yours. Memorial
of girls who've been murdered and do vigils there, even one
permanent cross if good if you can't do them on the light posts.
Cross in front of government building.
· Media accountable – Distorts. It
should be about the girls; they should not be titled. Change
how media presents.
· Focus to find that person
· Women not asking for it
Policy
What did you enjoy about the conference –
What stood out for you?:
· Media
o How they portray missing women
o Example of Tamara
o Early
o Centered on her
o Later shifted to perpetrator
· Women getting together.
o Conversations very real, honest
o Women in activism
· Media aspect critical.
o Eg. of Amber Redman
o Late reporting
o Community resonated on it
· Come from behind stories.
o Bravery to speak, back it up with their recovery
o The shift
o What happens
· Commonality
o Treatment of it in general
o International
o Size of problem
o Need for action
o Important that we include the men
· Follow up scope of the problem
o International
· Validated a lot of what we already know
· Need all the pieces to make the change
· At one point went down another road
o Risk level
o Missing Women
o Why they go missing
· Activism in the 60's
o Become complacent since then
· Women are vulnerable, targeted in many
ways
· Need to work together
o Strategize
o Hearing the stories
o Emotionally draining
Least helpful:
· Time not enough of it
· Stakeholders, where were they?
· Women there working for change
· Where were the politicians?
What were your experiences before the conference
regarding missing women?:
· Personal involvement
· Sit on committee/group regarding missing
women
· Status of women – involvement
· Impact of long loss on families
· Reality pout in your face – renews
· Personal involvement – impacts
at local level
· Frustration felt by families –
have done everything. Family not kept informed.
· Dates from awareness of violence with
Pamela George case through news
o Class discussion
o Then Tamara
o Visited personally by police regarding any
information
o In court
o Being asked about
o The child no longer the story
o Shifted to violence in the family
· Tisdale case – how the perpetrators
were called "boys"
· Ukraine experience
o Sex trafficking
o Not imported to Canada as we have "our
own pool'
o Aboriginal women an easy target
· Watching the cases – The community
has dehumanized women. Where are the voices Women are exploited.
· Governments respond to what they hear
most about
· Focus on colonizational feminism
o Feel as a white male
o Will be targeted so won't attend conference
Saskatoon – Higher than Bangkok:
· Internet – exploitation since 2000
· More services now, but more violence's
younger
· We haven't changed – Process of
sexual assault cases.
· The system victimizes the victim, those
trying to help
· Vulnerable when you try to help regardless
of
· Generational
o Yes and no
o Now a "young boy's club"
· A culture curriculum - high rate of domestic
violence in military, police, other
· Need internally to examine the culture
and change it in some areas of our society – same of this
is happening need to look at 'white male' privilege
· In discussions regarding culture –
Anger
o Need to unpack it, not pass it by others
· Immigrants not receiving educations/regarding
laws here regarding safety – culture, religion
· Professionals regarding nurses, doctors,
relationships better, but doctor / patient not good regarding
aboriginal, other people, women.
What areas we need to work on and improve:
· Complex issue – racism, sexism
· Need complex way to deal with this regarding
changing structure, language, other
· Overwhelming to government officials
· Target ones (politicians, others) who
are not on our side.
· Need to take back control of discussions
· Push them to keep talking
· Bring more organizations to the table
· Input of those affected
· Is there a way to make it more personal?
This is an everyday occurrence - makes them uncomfortable
· Need them to feel more of what is being
experienced
· Some progress being made in some areas
· Need to mobilize from the ground up
· Find common ground.
· Need allies in provincial and federal
government for these programs. Educated aboriginals and university
sought out as partners – expertise - can't do it all,
too few money and resources.
· Input of aboriginal (university, academics),
very under-funded
· Health issues – progress being
made
· Need to connect with professionals, academics
· Everyone needed in struggle
· Who would you bring to the table? How
does it all become a 'collective voice?'
· 'Blend and braid' the strands together
to make something stronger by bringing them all together –
includes policy makers, maximize all of the strengths available.
Some groups like this exist, examples of a group in Saskatoon
(Senator Dyck regarding source regarding this)
· Frustration regarding working in government
– Always changing
· Building relationships takes tike –
a one-time meeting doesn't work. Build dialogue.
What role can we do to play in creating positive
change?:
· Every women here will be doing something
· Internet – info needs to be available.
Tap into info there
· Conference – Pulled 'Out of your
cocoon'
· Changes 'Us, them' attitude. Sensitizes
· Need a dialogue to maintain the momentum
· Take advantage of opportunities
· Political involvement
· Be aware of what is happening –
political, council agendas
· This exists at all levels
· Need to know how the system works –
policy analysts in political offices
· Collaborate with policy makers
· Be sneaky – If you have to be to
get an in. Advisor's secretaries can be very informative
· Respect if needed
· Helps to be present in places that are
unpredictable
· Not everyone can stand up and have a
voice, so encourage women to advocate voice where they are comfortable
and grow from that.
· Give one another permission to be comfortable
where they are, an grow from there.
· Need to help the next generation to be
aware, speak out.
· Energy and voice of the youth voice needs
to be promoted.
· Aboriginal resource beginning
· Peer groups – How to take back
from them though youth and working with youth. Youth education
research leads to new projects (even critique of ceremonies)
· Where are the grandmothers? The men have
to have conversations.
· Explain traditions amongst youth. Need
to learn form everyone.
· Indicators of colour of skin amongst
us. Its impact
· Question regarding – Recognize
not recognize at the same time – How do you do this
· Shift from race, culture.
· Need more people to be engaged in the
main issues.
· Goals/issues – Immediate, long-term.
· Use the issues – How they effect
us (women). E.g. Economic growth of the province. Women unemployed
- Marginalization, education.
· Internet connection to keep in tough
· Conference held in summer, many not aware
· Encourage women to be self-sustaining
· Money had higher levels of education,
other still not safe, still vulnerable.
· Protection of men in high places who
are abusers
· Promote, women's creative side –
guitarist, drummers, singers – brings awareness.
More stories on youth, need sponsorship.
Family Affinity Group
Enjoyed and learned:
· Connecting with family members.
· Learning about Mexico
o Stories are similar
o Differences in policy
· Bonding with other families
· Speaking mothers
· Gaining strength from stories and other
women.
Least helpful:
· Some speakers were too academic and families
would not relate.
· There may be a timing issue
· This is a very ceremonial season
· Fall may have been better.
· Wished there were more men. Not a women's
issue.
Strengths for a solution:
· Connecting with families and stories/net
working.
· Groups and individuals need to support
the families.
· Help families who are new to the situation
and need guidance wand understanding.
· People are beginning to recognize the
issue.
· Anything that brings light is important.
Family members Needs:
· Financial strain
· Funding
· More available information
· When it happens, what happens?
· Need an available search and rescue team
that will come out without the police.
Roles to Play:
· Awareness in own communities
· More active
· More involved and accountable
· Need to mobilize, realize the crises.
· Community information – Awareness
· Someone in the community, a collective
with that experience, who you can contact for information.
· Be teachers in our own families. Teach
our songs how to treat women and our daughters how to be treated.
· Advise families on what they should do
after police have stopped searching
· Tool kit
· Take the blinders off
· Men need to take responsibility
Youth Action
· Create program: For public school system
and other educational institutions for children and youth about:
