The Erasure of Identity

Indigenous bodies are commonly perceived as vulnerable and weak. For this reason, crimes against the Indigenous population has too increased due to the idea that Indigenous lives, especially women, are disposable. Colonial violence, intergenerational trauma as well as the stigma that Indigenous bodies come with in society has made it difficult for these individuals to move forward in society as they are left to “[build] a future that is still grounded on a colonial relationship” [1].

Emerance Baker puts emphasis on growing up with a father who although did not attend a residential school, was “forced to hide or deny [his] Indianness just to survive” [2]. In order to avoid becoming placed into residential schools and under government custody, her father had to hide his identity, and forget everything that associated him with his Indigeneity. He was forced to abolish everything he associated with just to survive because he lived in a world “where it was so completely unsafe to be Native” [3]. Baker’s personal experiences shed light on a larger issue which reflect the absence of personal stories from “social narratives, [their] misrepresentation in cultural theory, and the denial of [themselves]” [4].

Portrayal of Indigenous Women

Missing and Murdered Indigenous women: Issues regarding Indigenous female lives has been evident in Vancouver, sparking a debate in which a national inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women has ignited due to this vast social matter [5]. Over decades, Indigenous women have been found murdered while some are still missing. To this day, there is no exact number of how many women have died.
Media Portrayal: Kristen Gilchrist identifies this issue in which poor attention is given to Indigenous females in the media. By her analysis of numerous news articles regarding crimes against women, she notes a difference in length, language, and number of publications for Indigenous women [6]. There was evidently a huge distinction between Indigenous and White women which further demonstrates the mistreatment that Indigenous women face in society. Gilchrist points out that average words printed in one article for white victims were 713 and 518 for Indigenous victims[7]. In addition to that, the way in which white women were commonly described was as “beautiful”, “promising”, and “cherished” while Indigenous women were typically described as “nice” and “caring”[8]. This illustration implies that white women were going places, and were essentially going to make the world a better place to live, whereas Indigenous women were provided with a generic description that would be expected of any other women to naturally carry. This difference emphasizes that white women are more important in society and that their loss would be a huge impact on society while the absence of an Indigenous life would go unnoticed. There is this hierarchy of crime in which Indigenous lives are at the bottom and white lives are at the top[9]. It signifies that Indigenous people are less important and unworthy of attention. Due to this, Indigenous people, women especially are seen as easy targets to crime because they are less likely to draw attention. There is less pressure put on the justice system to investigate and punish individuals involved due to this idea that Indigenous lives are disposable. This highlights the identity issues that Indigenous women are faced with everyday. These women face a double minority status as they belong to a racial minority and at the same time face oppression from their gendered standards.

A Red Girl's Reasoning: Police passivity and this undesirability for the justice department to do anything is illustrated in Elle-Maija Tailfeathers’ a Red Girl’s Reasoning. Her work puts emphasis on missing and murdered Indigenous women on the DTES.

Indigenous women especially face harsh discrimination from society while at the same time, are regarded as less civilized than the rest of society. Tailfeathers’ reverses roles of the abuser and the victim by portraying a protagonist who gives offenders a taste of their own medicine. She notes the unfair judgment of Indigenous women to display the “pretty little lies like this that hide the ugly truth” video . This expression accentuates the harsh reality of the lack of justice and attention given to Indigenous women, forcing the protagonist to participate in a business of revenge in which people “come to [her] for requests for justice when the justice system fails” video . In order to to escape the pain of the abuse, victims are forced to take matters into their own hands not only for themselves as a form of vengeance but also to protect other Indigenous female bodies.We soon learn that one male individual in the film is a previous offender. She expresses that “old habits die hard”video hinting that she had previously dealt with him before as being a personal victim of his assault. This circumstance highlights the failure of the justice system especially noting that if Brian had been punished seven years earlier, his altercation with Nelly could have been prevented.

Nelly notes that she had taken Brian to court, but he was let go as court ruled her lifestyle to be of “high-risk”, adding that she was “asking for it” video . The film depicts a social distinction between Indigenous people and the dominant white class. Through Brian’s action, it is evident he views himself differently from Indigenous people and believes that they should be treated differently especially under the law. Tailfeathers' draws attention to this very invisible matter in which Indigenous female lives are viewed as disposable, marking those of Indigenous identity easy targets to crime.