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         Throughout most of Canada, an issue has evolved regarding the lack of attention towards crimes that are perpetrated against First Nations women. In the novel The Lost Ones, we uncover more about this issue as the main character, Nora who is of indigenous decent is treated unfairly by the police after reporting that her daughter Bonnie has gone missing. Throughout the book she undergoes an investigation practically on her own involving nightmarish circumstances and dangerous endeavors that no one should have to go through. Although this novel is fictional, there are many cases of indigenous women who have alarmingly similar stories to Nora’s. After exploring further into the issue, I learned that all of Canada has failed to address that First Nations women do not receive the justice they should in violence or crime related situations that have been perpetrated against them. Moreover, if Nora’s report to the police about Bonnie had been taken seriously, perhaps she could have found her daughter sooner and more easily.

One could assume that police enforcement strives to assist the public in safety and protection. However, it is apparent that in Canada there is an inequality between who is provided with this security. It appears that indigenous women do not get the attention they need in certain circumstances and perhaps women that are white or of European decent do. For example, in the novel, there is a discussion of getting the police involved to help find Nora’s daughter Bonnie. On page 41, Nora speaks to Brazuca about the issue, “The police…They don’t give a shit. She’s not blond enough…There’s a whole highway in the north of the province stained by the tears of indigenous girls and women who weren’t blond enough to matter, whose families are still looking for justice.” Furthermore, when the author states not being “blond enough” they are referencing First Nations women as not being white and therefore are claiming that the police do not treat their cases fairly in Canada.

According to an article from The Guardian, there is not enough being done to protect First Nations women and Canada needs to put an end to the racism that is occurring. The article explains a case where a woman was murdered in a hotel bathroom by a trucker who was found not guilty which caused outrage for most activists. Furthermore, it illustrated a similar case to Bonnie’s in that it did not get the kind of attention it needed and explained the necessity of bringing more awareness to the matter. The First Nations chief Perry Bellegarde renewed a call for inquiry into missing an murdered indigenous women by stating, “Canada’s inaction in regard to missing and murdered Indigenous women is getting increasing international attention, and this latest from CEDAW calling it a ‘grave violation of human rights’ cannot be ignored…” Overall, the information I gathered from this source was beneficial to the argument that Canada needs to do more to protect First Nations women from violence and crimes concerning them.

The Native Women’s Association of Canada has been the voice for indigenous women for along time. According to their website, the NWAC is “founded on the collective goal to enhance, promote, and foster the social economic, cultural and political well-being of First Nations and Métis women within Canadian societies.” Furthermore, the organization acts to spread awareness to Native women and consists of people who can speak their political voices in aim to promote equality in legislative and policy reforms. They work on several different issues like employment, labor and business, health, violence prevention and safety, justice and human rights. Moreover, this organization has been created in order to help relieve the lack of attention to First Nations women as their overarching vision is to “see an Indigenous community which determines how our natural resources are utilized and can co-exist in co-operation with society – free of racism and discrimination.” Although the organization is very beneficial to spreading awareness, there is still a need for more to be done in order to ensure equality throughout Canada.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau brought attention to the issues indigenous women have endured and made remarks in a speech about taking action, however according to the New York Times, many people are skeptical things will change. According to the article, Mr. Trudeau stated that “to all the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls of Canada, to their families and to survivors – we have failed you.” In addition, he promised to “conduct a thorough review of this report, including a National Action Plan to address the violence with Indigenous partners to determine next steps.” The article also explained that the report Mr. Trudeau talked about mentioned that the police and criminal justice system have in the past failed Indigenous women by ignoring their concerns and used sexist and racist practices with them. This reminds me of what I mentioned earlier about how the police did not help Nora with finding Bonnie. With this news in mind, I hope that things will begin to change for Canada and the attention Mr. Trudeau brought to the subject will help Indigenous women have more of a voice and bring attention to them throughout the entirety of the country.

Overall, the issue that came alive in The Lost Ones is important throughout the country of Canada. First Nations women struggle with receiving attention to the violence and crimes that involve them. After reading more about the issue, I have discovered there have been actions made to help the situation. However, it is important that there is a continuation of spreading awareness in order to further dissipate the issue. I think racism and sexism are things that will always take place in a society. It is our job as community members to shine a light on these issues and make it aware to people that inequality between people causes a divide and overall unhappiness for everyone. All in all, if Nora had received help from the police at the beginning of the book, she would not have had to endure such dangerous situations by herself and they may have helped her find Bonnie in a faster manner.

Works Cited

“About • Native Women’s Association of Canada.” Native Women’s Association of Canada, 25 Sept. 2019, www.nwac.ca/about/ (Links to an external site.).

Austen, Ian, and Dan Bilefsky. “Canadian Inquiry Calls Killings of Indigenous Women Genocide.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 3 June 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/06/03/world/canada/canada-indigenous-genocide.html (Links to an external site.).

Kamal, Sheena. The Lost Ones. William Morrow, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2018.

McCarthy, Tom. “Canada Has Failed to Protect Indigenous Women from Violence, Says UN Official.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 12 May 2015, www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/12/canada-violence-indigenous-first-nations-women.