LE3 .A278 2021

2021

Alexander, Cynthia

Acadia University

Bachelor of Arts

Honours

Political Science

Politics

In my thesis I explore the persistent inaction present in Canada when it comes to addressing the genocide of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit Peoples. In this work I focus on the need for strategic action, rather than further reports, studies and apologies from governments during this supposed time of reconciliation. Governmental inaction to advance the recommendations of the MMIWG2S+ Final Report means that: justice is not served to the victims, their families and their communities; violence against Indigenous women and girls and Two Spirit peoples is perpetuated; the trauma initiated by colonialism against Indigenous nations persists. I demonstrate how Canada’s colonial history as well as the systemic violence taking place have contributed to Canadian governments’ reluctant and slow policy response to violence against MMIWG2S+ that occurs across Canada from coast to coast to coast. Importantly, my thesis reflects my own journey of resisting the dominant Eurocentric intellectual and policy frameworks that persist in the 21st Century. As a young Indigenous woman who grew up in Fraser Lake, British Columbia, along the infamous Highway of Tears, this thesis allowed me to decolonize and reconcile my own ways of thinking, researching and writing. My analysis is informed by information and insight from the 231 Calls to Justice from the MMIWG2S+ Final Report, knowledge from Indigenous scholars, activists, and my own experience as a young Carrier woman from Nak’azdli Whut’en First Nation in British Columbia. Most importantly, I was motivated by the stories of the victims and their families whose realities with systemic discrimination, racism, and state-based violence have been reduced to statistics that are often filed and then forgotten by public officials. Each of these individuals had a family, friends, a community, a story, and a life ahead of them, but that was silenced.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3596