MMIWG inquiry hears from youth in P.A.
In the discussions PRINCE ALBERT surrounding the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), sometimes the youngest voices are overlooked.
Last week at the Senator Allen Bird Memorial Gym, it was time for those voices to speak up.
The Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) held a two-day workshop for youth aged 15-24 who have been affected by MMIWG, including immediate family members. Participants were able to explore two days of workshops and healing, and had the chance to get their testimony heard by representatives from the national inquiry.
Terrellyn Fearn, one of the inquiry staff members, was in Prince Albert for three days.
“We had been invited by the Prince Albert Grand Council and the provincial (Family Information Liaison Unit) to participate in the youth gathering,” Fearn said.
“We are here to participate and do some outreach, and to provide an opportunity for young family members and survivors to register with the inquiry to share their truth. We have two statement gatherers on site so people can have their testimony heard.”
This is the farthest north in Saskatchewan the inquiry has heard any testimony.
“Young people hold the wisdom and the knowledge and the solutions. A lot of times in the outside world we don’t value their contribution, their advice and their voice, so through this process it is extremely important that we hear from them, that they provide solutions and guide us on the calls to action,” Fearn said.
She couldn’t disclose what the youths said in their private testimony, but she also spoke with the youth outside the private setting.
“They shared a lot about what it’s like to miss your mother or a female figure — your aunt, your grandma, your sister, your partner — and what that means, what that does to you growing up, what it does to shake your foundation as you’re becoming strong and resilient. It impacts, for young women, the teachings that are passed on to them.”
She said part of the effect is young women don’t have those role models in their lives to teach them, celebrate them and help prepare with them as they become mothers themselves. The youth also spoke about the support they would have liked to have seen from their murdered and missing women and girl relatives.
“A lot of times there’s focus on supporting the larger aspect of the family and the community, and maybe a young person’s needs are a little bit different,” Fearn said.
Getting the commission to visit Prince Albert for the workshop was a victory for the Prince Albert Grand Council Women’s Commission, which planned and hosted the event. They’re hoping the discussions started last week will be carried on in a larger format later this year.