Woman with Gloria Steinem (2016–…): Season 1, Episode 3 - Canada: The Missing First Nations - full transcript

I've traveled the world
as a writer and an activist

for my entire life.

What we are talking about
is a revolution.

We are the women that
our parents warned us about.

And I can tell you
that by confronting the problems

once marginalized
as "women's issues,"

we can tackle
the greatest dangers

of the 21st century.

Behind every major crisis,

there's an unseen factor
at play,

a story you've never been told.



The greatest indicator
of the world's stability,

wealth, and safety
is the status of women.

Around the world, women
from indigenous communities

are often most at risk

of being displaced,
attacked, harmed, and killed.

In North America today,
this pattern is no different.

Right now, in Canada,

violence against native
First Nations women

has become a national crisis.

Across the country,
they've gone missing

and been murdered
by the thousands.

To avoid this fate,

many have fled the widespread
violence on the reserves.

But what we're finding is that,
for indigenous women,



no place is safe.

This is the Tachie Reserve.

It's one of several
Tl'azt'en Nation communities

situated in
north-central British Columbia,

about 10 hours
north of Vancouver.

We are here at a scene

that's all too common
in this part of the country,

a search party for a missing
First Nations woman.

Immaculate "Macky" Basil was 26
when she went missing in 2013.

These guys behind me have been
searching for Macky

for the last two years,
since she went missing.

Right now in Canada,

there's a lot of women
that are going missing,

and especially indigenous women.

And it's, like they say,

it's four times higher
than the national average,

not that any woman
should go missing.

But it seems to be there
is some sort of epidemic

going on right now in Canada.

**

Canadian law enforcement
estimates

that 1,200 native women
throughout Canada

have disappeared
or been murdered since 1980.

But some independent reports
place that number

closer to 4,000.

So are you looking
for an article of clothing?

Macky was last seen heading home

after a night of drinking
with two male friends.

Apparently,
everybody just assumed

that, one way or another,

she had made it back
to the village,

and she either went to town
or to Prince George.

The Royal Canadian
Mounted Police, or RCMP,

conducted an extensive search.

But after just four days,
they called it off.

If they can't find any evidence
of a missing person,

then they have to call off
their assistance.

And then it's left up
to the community after that

to organize themselves.

What do you think
could've happened?

- Everybody's got a version...
- Yeah.

...to try to unravel this puzzle
to find out where Macky is.

And we just can't do it.

Macky's family knows that
the odds of closure are low,

but they keep searching.

It's all they can do.

Meanwhile, First Nations women
continue to disappear,

their cases often going
unnoticed outside the community.

But in August, 2014,

police made an especially
grisly discovery --

the body of a missing
First Nations girl,

wrapped in a plastic bag,

floating in Canada's Red River.

The tragic death of 15-year-old
First Nations girl Tina Fontaine

has renewed calls
for a public probe.

International organizations,

including the United Nations,

have called for
a national public inquiry.

Despite the outcry,

the Canadian government,
at that time

led by conservative
Prime Minister Stephen Harper,

never launched an inquiry.

This phenomenon
is affecting thousands

of First Nations families.

I wanted to hear from the women
on the Tachie Reserve,

who live with this reality
every day,

about why they think
it's happening.

I'm just curious to know
how many of you

have people you know
who have gone missing

or have been murdered.

- Yup.
- Yeah.

My sister was murdered...

by her...

her boyfriend.

She experienced,
like, physical violence

before she was murdered.

But nobody really knew

that she was a victim until --

until the night
she got murdered.

How many of you have been
victims of sexual violence?

**

All of you.

And would you say by members
of your own community,

or by...
- It's...

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

I just want to know why --
why you think,

um, native women,
indigenous women,

are -- are targeted.

Because of residential school,

there was a lot
of physical abuse.

There was a lot
of, um, violence.

I mean, we are all,
like, products of...

...residential school.

Residential schools
were government-sponsored,

church-run boarding schools
for indigenous children.

Kids were taken away
from their parents

and forcibly assimilated
into white culture.

Sexual and physical abuse
were widespread.

The last residential school
didn't close until 1996.

By that time,

150,000 First Nations children
had gone through the system.

When the residential school,

the first wave
that were coming back,

the young men were already
physically abused,

sexually abused,
and they were angry.

The family structure
was obliterated.

Longtime native health
and wellness advocate

Mary Teegee explains
how the violence

inflicted on children
in residential schools

made its way
back to the reserve.

If you're living in a home
where there is violence,

you're most -- you're more
likely to be violent as well.

So then, you have all of
those multigenerational effects.

And because of
all of the abuses,

there is a higher rate
of violence

against women
within our communities.

**

Thousands of First Nations women

have been murdered
and gone missing across Canada.

They are also
the victims of violence

in their homes and communities.

As a result, native women
don't feel safe or happy.

And that leads
to some dangerous choices.

If you're unhappy at home,

if your life
is not good at home...

That's what I did.
I hitchhiked.

I got on the road
and I left and I ran away.

And with all the abuse
and the violence

that happens within the home,
you don't...

...you don't feel

like you're connected
or you have family to turn to.

So you just do things
on your own

because you really
do feel isolated.

And...
- Anywhere is better than home.

You just want to get out,
you know?

- Yeah.
- I was raised --

You take all kinds of risks,
and you go.

The threat of violence
often drives native women

off the reserve
and onto the road.

But in such a remote region,

with no transportation,
they're forced to hitchhike.

This highway's called
the Highway of Tears,

Highway 16, named that way
for the number of --

of girls who have gone missing.

When I think of hitchhiking,
I freak out.

Literally every single person
I spoke to today

had hitchhiked, knowing
that they're vulnerable,

knowing
that they're compromised,

knowing
that they may be targeted.

But there's no other way.

Despite these risks,
many First Nations women

will try to flee
the cycle of abuse,

often making the almost 600-mile
journey to Vancouver

for a fresh start.

Some of our young girls
are leaving their communities

to get a better life,
but also to become safe.

They're escaping the pain
from being abused,

be it sexually or physically...

...abused.

And that's sort of
what they're leaving.

And so they end up in the --
in the Downtown Eastside.

**

This is Vancouver's infamous
Downtown Eastside neighborhood.

It's sometimes referred to
as the largest reserve in Canada

because of its massive
First Nations population.

The area is notorious
for homelessness, drugs,

and prostitution.

As many as 70% of the sex
workers here are indigenous.

When they are
working the streets,

they're leading
that high-risk lifestyle.

They are escaping
from something.

And usually, they're
self-medicating to get drugs,

and how do they get that?

Is by sex trade works,
or survival sex trade.

We passed a lot
of First Nations women.

I can see why they call it
the largest reserve.

I mean, it really is shocking

how many people are just
living out here on the sidewalk,

just homeless and tweaked out

and bags of drugs
and people shooting needles

and sharing needles
and smoking pipes.

It's, it's bleak.

Bernie Williams,
the founder of Sacred Circle,

a community center
for at-risk women,

spends every night
walking the streets,

looking for women
in need of her help.

I work at 11:30 at night,

and I don't get off
till 7:30 in the morning.

So when I see these women
going out,

you know, making the choices,

sometimes,
that they're not their choices.

Some of them,
like, are pushed into it.

Some of them, like, are forced.

Some of them are sold, you know,
with human trafficking

that we hear very little about.

But it's very real down here.

You know, I try to help them,

you know, with services
that they need.

I've learned to be, like,
a great listener.

And that's a huge thing
for them,

even if that touch, just to say,

"Hey. How are you doing?"

How did you end up in Vancouver,
doing the work that you do?

My mother was murdered,

um, November 5, 1977,

in the Downtown Eastside.

Two of my sisters
were also murdered.

You -- you know,
I could've easily been

one of the victims.

And the murderers of your mother
and -- and your sisters...

...were they caught?

No.

Why do all of these cases
go un-- they just go unsolved?

They don't matter.

They don't matter at all.

They're just another Indian.

They always say, you know,

"The only good Indian
is a dead Indian,"

and that still exists.

This young woman here,
she was a tree planter.

This woman
was one of my clients.

Her name, um, is Angelina,
still missing.

Even if they can escape
abuse on the reserve,

First Nations women are finding
themselves even more vulnerable

in Canada's cities.

**

**

The epidemic of missing
and murdered First Nations women

isn't confined
to Canada's reserves.

Here on the Downtown Eastside
of Vancouver,

indigenous women
are in constant danger.

How many women have gone missing
from the Downtown Eastside?

Well, the ones
that are accounted for, 69.

We believe
that there's well over --

at least over 200, maybe more.

You know, we spoke
to many women.

When you sit with them,
back in the alleys,

or when they share
their stories --

- Women who are prostituting?
- Yes.

You know, when you hear them
share their stories,

it's all the same,
over and over.

**

- Hi.
- We met two women

living on the sidewalk

in front of Sacred Circle,
named Crystal and Chanel.

I just came to stay
with my friend, Crystal.

This is our little home.

Can I take a peek in?

Do you mind?
- Yeah, go for it.

- You wouldn't mind?
- Take a look.

We get all cuddled up in there,
and it's nice and warm.

It -- it drops pretty cold,
though, out here.

Body heat's the best.

- Okay.
- Yeah.

You guys feel like you really
don't have anywhere to go,

except for Bernie.

She's wonderful.

- And you're First Nations.
- Yes.

I read that 70% of the women

who are out working
on the streets are indigenous.

Do you see a fair amount
of First Nations women?

Yeah.
Yep.

Um, I see more
First Nations women

out working down here

on the Downtown Eastside than --

than white, Caucasian girls.

But I do see a lot
of the violence

with the native women
out here a lot.

Like many homeless women
on the Downtown Eastside,

Crystal and Chanel
are addicted to drugs.

So when was the last
time you used?

Ten minutes ago.

- Ten minutes ago.
- And what --

what kind of drugs
are you using now?

Um, I -- I use heroin now,

and sometimes crystal meth.

Are you working right now?

I'm escorting.

I don't work myself.

I just -- I go
and I spot for her.

While I was there,

Chanel actually had to leave
to meet a client.

How do you feel
when she's out there working?

It -- it's scary.

I -- I'm scared for her
because there could be a time

where she doesn't come back.

And I don't want that.

And I have a friend that's
missing right now, actually.

And I don't want that to happen
to this friend.

But I'm scared for her
when she goes.

The women out here
that you've met,

they're all aware
of these murdered

and missing girls.

Is this something
that everyone knows?

Yeah.
They all know.

They all -- You know,
they're very aware

that it could be them.

Do a lot of women
end up prostituting because...

Because that is
your only option sometimes.

There's nowhere else to go,
nobody to turn to,

nobody to help you.
So what do you do?

You got to go sell yourself

to the devil,
I guess they call it.

You know, like, just survive.

These high-risk lifestyles

make First Nations women
easy targets.

Some guys that kind
of brag around downtown here,

you know, how easy it is, like,

to kill, like,
a First Nations woman.

And they have no conscience
over it

because we are filth to them.

We are dirty to them.

We are less than.

Nobody would even miss us, like,
if we were gone because,

like, we just basically
don't really exist down here.

I wanted to understand where
such extreme racism comes from.

So, this street here used to be
a quick escape route.

I was able to meet up
with Daniel Gallant,

a reformed white supremacist,

who's spent years
on the Downtown Eastside

preying on First Nations people.

This area's a lot
of First Nations people.

I've shot, I've stabbed.

I've, beat people with

baseball bats, shovels,

chains, propane bottles,

um, vehicles.

Like, I -- I could go on and on.

Did you ever kill anyone?

Not that I'm aware of.
I don't know.

Why -- Why were you targeting
First Nations people?

It was really easy to --
to believe that they were a --

a -- a plague on society,

that they were leeching
off of the white Canadian,

that they were lazy,
they didn't --

they didn't want to work,
and they --

they were just useless people,
filled with social sickness.

And they had to be gone.

Did you get away with a lot?

I got away with
most of the stuff I did.

I can't say exactly,

but I think I had
12 or 13 charges in total.

And I had about six
or seven convictions.

And I never --
never did actual jail time.

Um... Do you think that's
because you're white?

**

The very fact that I could talk
about this stuff publicly...

If I were Fist Nations,

I wouldn't have the privilege
of saying what I say.

I think our society, in general,

doesn't value indigenous people,

that that's why we see
what we're seeing.

The amount of murdered

and missing women
is a structural issue,

and I think is ingrained
in our values

as a, - as a society.

**

According to Daniel,
ingrained racism against natives

has opened the door
to the deadly violence

here on the Downtown Eastside.

It's also the one thing

keeping these women
from finding justice.

If there were, say,

1,600 missing white women,

wouldn't we have already
had an inquiry by now?

The -- It's an issue

that all Canadian citizens
should be aware of.

You can't live in a society
where you're -- where...

We talk about we're
in first world in Canada,

but yet,
our First Nations people

are living in second-,
third-world country.

I think every Canadian
should be upset.

I think every Canadian
should be saying,

"I can't believe
this is happening

in the first-world country
Canada."

**

Canada's First Nations women

are under assault
everywhere they turn.

But many believe
the road to change starts

within the community itself.

You wanted honey, right?

Joe and Joyce Fossella

have lived together
for 48 years.

- Mommy!
- Mommy!

And for many of those years,
Joyce suffered severe emotional

and physical abuse
at the hands of her husband.

Your mum.

Today, Joe and Joyce
run Warriors Against Violence,

a group that works
with First Nations men and women

to end domestic violence.

I was, spiraling
out of control real fast.

I tried to kill my wife 20 --

in our 24th year of marriage.

What we've all learned as men

that the men are the kings
of the castles.

I heard my dad tell my mom,

and I told my wife,

"If you ever leave me,
I'm gonna hunt you down,

and I'm gonna kill you."

And she says
either I change my ways,

or this relationship's over.

That scared the hell out of me.

Where'd she find the courage
to talk to me like that?

Um, as a victim myself,

I know that, um,
one of the best things

I did for me was to get the help

and, um, you know,
empowering myself.

It still didn't stop him
from being abusive,

but he kind of held back
on the physical part of it.

But the other damage
that was done is there.

It probably will be there
for some time.

And I think you all come
to that point in life

when you say, "I've had enough."

I, I had a girlfriend
that I used to --

to hit back in the day.

Um, I will never, ever
behave in that way again.

I don't want to be fucking mad

and -- and for treating
my daughters

the way that I may have
treated women

'cause maybe that violent side
comes up on me again.

I don't want any man
treating my mother

with disrespect, right?

I was raised better
than that, right?

Be good to each other.
Be good to yourselves.

We're all fragile people.

Thank you for coming
and spending time with us.

All my relations.
- All my relations.

Community efforts
like these are the first step

towards changing
the culture of violence.

But change also has to happen
at the highest levels.

In June of 2015,

the Truth and Reconciliation
Commission of Canada

released a report

calling the government's
forced assimilation

of indigenous children
into residential schools

a "cultural genocide."

Later that year, Canadians
elected liberal Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau.

One of his top priorities
was addressing the issue

of missing and murdered
First Nations women

by launching a national inquiry.

The constitutionally
guaranteed rights

of First Nations in Canada
are not an inconvenience,

but a sacred obligation.

**

We know that we have
issues of poverty.

We know we have issues
of violence against women.

But it will be our solutions

coming from
our culture's perspective

that is going to
propel us forward,

to get over this --
these horrible atrocities.

But we also need to look
at the role of the government.

It's got to be
a collaborative effort.

And -- and only then can we have
true reconciliation.

**

The recent steps taken
by the Trudeau government

signal a major shift

in the fight for justice
for First Nations women.

But the problem may be greater
than any one law

or politician can solve.

We need to address the violence
at its source.

Until systemic racism
is recognized,

until there is a national effort
around this cause,

the indigenous women of Canada
will never be safe.

To support First Nations women
in Canada,