The MISSING and the MURDERED
A new 22-page RCMP report into murdered and missing aboriginal women paints a dark picture of poverty, unemployment and other factors that the Mounties say requires a response from all Canadians.
REGINA — Melanie Geddes’ first grandchild will soon be born; life moved forward as the unsolved homicide of the young Regina woman stalled.
Geddes’ mother, Valerie Smokeyday, is reduced to tears as she thinks about the family milestone her daughter will never share.
She went missing in August 2005, only to be found murdered four months later, a crime that haunts her mother as she reflects on a new national RCMP report. Geddes is among 1,181 aboriginal women who have been murdered (1,017) or gone missing (164) across this country, with the highest numbers in the western provinces, according to the “operational overview” released Friday.
“These are real people. We’re not invisible,” Smokeyday said in an interview.
A 24-year-old mother of three girls, Geddes was last seen alive on Aug. 13, 2005 as she headed home from a gathering in the 900 block of Robinson Street.
Extensive searches followed, but to no avail. Then, just five days before Christmas that year, some horseback riders stumbled upon her remains in the Qu’Appelle Valley near Southey.
Smokeyday has had nearly a decade to ponder the range of “what-ifs” in her daughter’s slaying.
“It just never goes away. What we need is closure,” she said, wondering if she’ll ever get the answers she needs in her lifetime. “It doesn’t get any easier.” Geddes is one of the faces behind the disturbing statistics: 153 aboriginal women (compared to 116 non-aboriginal) who met with foul play in Saskatchewan between 1980 and 2012. They represent some 55 per cent of all female homicide victims, a number grossly disproportionate to their population. The percentage of all Saskatchewan residents identifying themselves as aboriginal is 15.6 per cent.
Someone from the Saskatchewan RCMP is expected to comment on the report at a news conference set to take place on Wednesday.
In Saskatchewan, the “solve rate” for homicides is nearly identical between aboriginal (92 per cent) and non-aboriginal females (94 per cent).
But like Smokeyday, many still wait for answers. According to the report, which includes missing persons cases to the end of November 2013, there were 16 outstanding cases of missing aboriginal females and 13 unsolved homicides of aboriginal women. The combined totals are fourth-highest among the provinces and territories.
B.C. is in the lead, followed by Alberta and Manitoba.
“When I listen to news and people are missing — regardless of their gender or colour — it just hits home so hard ... I could feel for the families,” Smokeyday said.
She remembers back to before her own daughter vanished, hearing about the disappearance of Amber Redman in July 2005, and wondering, “How can a mother go through that?” A month later, she was forced to find out. Redman’s body was found after three years, and her killer arrested in a targeted RCMP sting.
The paths of Smokeyday and Gwenda Yuzicappi, Redman’s mother, often crossed at marches and events to raise awareness. Smokeyday believes it was events like those across the country that pushed the issue onto the national agenda, ultimately leading to Friday’s report.
But what it hasn’t forced is a national inquiry, something she still believes is needed despite the federal government’s stance.
“How would these people really, really feel if it was one of their daughters, one of their sons?” she asked.
Erica Beaudin, of Regina Treaty Status Indian Services Inc., also sees value in an inquiry, “to acknowledge that very real responses are needed,” and believes indigenous organizations should lead it.
She also sees a need for resources so that such groups can work on strategies to keep more people from joining those grim numbers.
“We have to start having proper responses that are going to make a difference in kids’ and adults’ lives so that they can see a different way. And they don’t tolerate violence,” she said.
As the mother of two young adult daughters, Beaudin notes she’s spoken to them and her son from an early age about taking precautions and reducing risks. “I believe in seeing reality for what it is, and how society’s realities are for indigenous women. I definitely put safety plans in place with them. I taught them how best to take care of themselves in risky situations.”
The numbers in the report come as no surprise to people such as Beaudin, who has worked on this issue in a variety of posts for more than a decade. She said the report validates what they’ve been saying, and she hopes it’s an eye-opener to the public generally. She also suspects the numbers are likely higher, given the parameters in gathering the statistics. For example the numbers date back only to 1980.
As Smokeyday looks forward to holding her newest great-grandchild in her arms, she also holds on to the hope of one day learning who ended the life of her daughter, and perhaps why.
“I just pray one of those tips or one of those stones they turn over is the right one.”