The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations is calling on the provincial government and the Opposition to support the recent call by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs for a national inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women in Canada.
The FSIN believes there are as many as 61 missing or murdered women of First Nations ancestry in Saskatchewan alone.
According to FSIN Interim Chief Morley Watson, “We need to find out why First Nation women are more susceptible to violent acts than any other demographic in Canada”.
Watson also says the inquiry “needs to find the causes of the problems which may include poverty, high unemployment, and a lack of adequate opportunities for First Nation women”.
The call was made on the eighth anniversary of the disappearance of five-year-old Tamra Keepness in Regina.
Manitoba chiefs have been campaigning for an inquiry into missing and murdered women ever since the recent arrest of a 52-year-old Winnipeg man accused of killing three Aboriginal women.