This platform embodies our collective mission to address and eradicate violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people through education, awareness, and systemic change.
We stand dedicated to fostering an environment of support, healing, and empowerment, ensuring every voice is heard, and every story is honored. Our efforts are rooted in the belief that together, we can create a future where justice, equality, and respect for all are unwavering principles.
National Inquiry
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls ( NIMMIWG ) released its final report on June 3, 2019, which included 231 Calls for Justice1. Following the release of the Final Report, the development of a National Action Plan was announced by the Prime Minister. This commitment was a first step toward addressing Call for Justice 1.1, which recommends that the federal, provincial, territorial, and Indigenous governments work together to develop a National Action Plan.
The following 2SLGBTQQIA+ life-philosophy principles were first introduced at the 28th Annual International Two-Spirit Gathering held on August 13-16, 2015 at Batoche, Saskatchewan. After the gathering, 2SLGBTQQIA+ community leaders were consulted and affirmed these principles. They were later integrated into an organizational manifesto by the Two-Spirited People of Manitoba organization. The 2SLGBTQQIA+ Sub-Working Group also affirms these principles and includes them in these terms of reference.
Guiding Principles
Foundational principles such as those identified in the National Inquiry’s Final Report may be used to guide the development and implementation of the National Action Plan. The principles outlined by the National Inquiry include:
• A focus on substantive equality and human and Indigenous rights
• Indigenous-led/ grassroots solutions and services
• A decolonized approach
• Trauma-informed approach
• Evergreen and subject to review and updates
• Leadership of family and survivors is valued
• Distinctions-based
• Cultural safety
• Flexible in response to regional and sectoral priorities and challenges
About the Committee
The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls ( NIMMIWG ) released its final report on June 3, 2019, which included 231 Calls for Justice1. Following the release of the Final Report, the development of a National Action Plan was announced by the Prime Minister. This commitment was a first step toward addressing Call for Justice 1.1, which recommends that the federal, provincial, territorial, and Indigenous governments work together to develop a National Action Plan.
The Government of Canada committed to working together with Indigenous, provincial, and territorial partners on the development of the National Action Plan and to driving transformative change to end systemic racism and violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. As such, the Core Working Group will be supported by several sub-working groups that will support the Core Working Group throughout the development of the National Action Plan and its implementation. We acknowledge and appreciate the efforts of the family and survivors, the core working group, and the various sub-working groups who have supported our work. We are particularly grateful for the strong emphasis by the family and survivors’ working group which directly supported increased efforts to provide public education about 2SLGBTQQIA+ experiences. We also want to thank the Urban Sub-Working Group for their (ongoing) support. We would like to indicate our support for the work done by others and want to make special mention of the Les Femmes Michif Otipemisiwak who released 62 calls for miskotahâ (change) specific to the Métis Nation in their report Métis Perspectives of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and LGBTQ2S+ People.
The mandate of the NIMMIWG was initially designed to report on all forms of violence perpetrated against Indigenous women and girls in Canada, however Indigenous concepts of gender identity broadened the inquiry’s mission to include Two-Spirit/Indigenous LGBTQ+ people.2 This shift recognized that Indigenous cultures accepted and included diverse concepts of gender and sexuality before European colonization. The terms, Two-Spirit and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, and asexual are modern post-contact non-Indigenous constructions that some 2SLGBTQQIA+ people may choose to identify themselves.
The Sub- Working Group recognizes there are over 150 known words3 and terms in various Indigenous languages in North America that were used before contact to describe people who were gender diverse and LGBTQ+. Additionally, the 2S Sub-Working Group recognizes 2SLGBTQQIA+-specific words and terms that are being reclaimed and introduced as Indigenous languages continue to evolve. We also want to acknowledge that references to 2 Spirit (sexual orientation) and Trans, Non-Binary (gender) are often conflated and lumped together without a nuanced understanding. As such, the Sub-Working Group invites the consideration of gender and sexual orientation as separate experiences. Indigenous peoples are constantly evolving.
“Today, I am glad to participate in the development of the National Action Plan
because I not only survived a year or two, I have survived an additional fifty-years to be here to provide my perspectives and insight into the process.”
As we continue to access and reclaim our Indigenous knowledge through our lands and cultures, we must recognize that our languages are also in a constant state of evolution.
The + at the end of 2SLGBTQQIA+ is a way to be inclusive, honour and celebrate how our languages are expanding and offering choices for our sexual and gender diverse relatives to identify. Thus, we also celebrate the diversity of ways our people choose to identify themselves.
Let's work together to create meaningful change.
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