CONTENT WARNING: Please be advised that this guide contains references to sensitive material, including violence, sexual assault, and abuse. Students can access 24 hour support from the Good2Talk Helpline at 1-866-925-5454. Support for staff is available through the Employee Family Assistance Program. Access more resources available to the Centennial College community through the Centre for Accessible Learning and Counselling Services.
Remembering Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
this river (2016)
available via NFB Campus
This short documentary offers an Indigenous perspective on the devastating experience of searching for a loved one who has disappeared. Volunteer activist Kyle Kematch and award-winning writer Katherena Vermette have both survived this heartbreak and share their histories with each other and the audience. While their stories are different, they both exemplify the beauty, grace, resilience, and activism born out of the need to do something.
Nimiseyak Bigiiwag (Sisters Come Home) (2014)
available via Alexander Street
Four Anishinabe women recount their own personal experiences and views on racism and sexism, and how the two relate to Canada's missing and murdered Indigenous women.
Finding Dawn (2006)
available via NFB
Acclaimed Métis filmmaker Christine Welsh brings us a compelling documentary that puts a human face on a national tragedy – the epidemic of missing or murdered Indigenous women in Canada. The film takes a journey into the heart of Indigenous women's experience, from Vancouver's skid row, down the Highway of Tears in northern BC, and on to Saskatoon, where the murders and disappearances of these women remain unsolved.
The Red Dress (1978)
available via NFB
Renowned Métis author and screenwriter Maria Campbell explores themes of cultural identity, sexual assault and the familial impact of colonialism in The Red Dress, echoing the themes of her seminal memoir, Halfbreed.
Kelly is a Métis man without treaty or hunting rights, struggling to sustain his traditional life. His daughter Theresa longs for a red dress from France that she believes will give her power and strength, as the bear claw once did for her great-grandfather Muskwa. When Theresa escapes an assault and Kelly turns his back on his daughter, he realizes that he must reconnect with his culture in order to make things right. Today, the red dress is a powerful symbol recognizing over 1,000 missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.
"Art is a powerful tool for commemoration. Public commemorations, through art, can help bring forward personal stories of colonial violence. Art as commemoration bears witness to injustice, recognizes human dignity of victims and survivors, and calls institutions, systems and structures to account."
Check out these links to find some of those artistic expressions relating to missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people in Canada.
Ignorance by Terry McCue (2017)
The disproportionate number of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit people (MMIG2S) in Canada is a human rights crisis. "In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada supported the call for a national public inquiry into the disproportionate victimization of Indigenous women and girls. The National Inquiry’s Final Report was completed and presented to the public on 3 June 2019" (The Canadian Encyclopedia).
This guide contains resources to learn about MMIWG2S and the path towards reconciliation.
Photo via CBC News
Thank you to librarian technician, Ishrat Gulshan, for her care and attention in creating of the first iteration of this guide. It is currently maintained by School of Advancement librarian, Stephanie Power. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, email spower@centennialcollege.ca.