"An inquiry has to explore not only the role of policing, not only the role of poverty and addiction and mental health services ... it has to explore the role of government programs in supporting all those things."

The Urbane Indian I am a playwright, amongst a few other related professions. More specifically, a First Nation playwright, a contemporary storyteller, a teller of tales both dark and amusing. I, like many of my fellow literary artists, spend my career writing about the issues and problems faced by our present day Native population.

"Indigenous teen gives instructions to city police chief if she goes missing." This 14 year-old girl who dreams of being a surgeon, lawyer, or police officer lives every day with the awareness that she is four to five times more likely to go missing or be murdered than my non-Indigenous teenage niece living in the same city. When I think about what it must be like to carry around that burden, I find it hard to breathe.

It's become clear the idea to add men and boys to the scope of the MMIW inquiry has gained traction in 2016. But the burning question is why mess with it now? I have to admit I was a little offput initially.

SAN FRANCISCO-The made-on-Manitoulin music video for Crystal Shawanda's single 'Pray Sister Pray' has been nominated for 'Best Music Video' at the Friday, November 5 41st American Indian Film Institute Awards in San Francisco.

BIRCH ISLAND-After a few days spent together in ceremony and learning, families of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls and two-spirited people gathered one final time, this time with members of the public by their side, at what was termed a 'pre-inquiry community circle,' held at the Whitefish River Community Centre last Thursday night.

Brenda Belak is the sex workers' rights campaign lawyer at Pivot Legal Society.

Helen Betty Osborne's story is timeless - and that's a fact I struggle with. I wish it wasn't. I wish she could be remembered only as the vibrant, driven and kind young woman she was. But for that to happen, change needs to happen.

An Ottawa police officer who publicly speculated that a celebrated Inuit artist may have "got drunk and fell in the river" while his colleagues were still investigating her unsolved death has been charged under the Police Services Act.

An upcoming multimedia project that includes a graphic novel aims to show how a young First Nations girl sees the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women. is a collaboration between author David Robertson, illustrator GMB Chomichuk and musician isKwé.

The Current has produced a virtual reality documentary about the notorious Highway of Tears where dozens of Indigenous women have gone missing or been murdered. Anna Maria Tremonti is in Prince George, B.C., hosting a public forum and shares more details.

Mary Akavak, a friend of Pootoogook, was one of the last people to see Pootoogook alive-just two days before her body was found. After a few other speakers had shared lengthy stories in Inuktitut, Akavak spoke earnestly in English, bridging the translation divide for non-Inuktitut speaking friends and reporters.

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwired - Oct. 14, 2016) - Canadian Intergovernmental Conference Secretariat Today, federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) ministers responsible for justice and public safety concluded two days of productive engagement, working on justice and public safety priorities for Canadians. An Elder welcomed ministers to traditional Mi'kmaw territory. Ministers discussed...

Almost two months since the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls began its work, the national Inuit women's group says it's had little communication with the commission. "We're frustrated," says Rebecca Kudloo, president of Pauktuutit. "We don't even have phone numbers to contact them. There's no connection."

Labels warning shoppers to "avoid contact" with a number of revealing Halloween costumes depicting indigenous women were on display at Regina's Spirit Halloween location. On Sunday, members of the Saskatchewan Coalition Against Racism (SCAR) entered Spirit Halloween and added two-sided labels to costumes named "Reservation Royalty" and "Wolf Dancer", among others.

On a warm Saturday night, 16-year-old Ramona Wilson said goodbye to her mother, left her home in Smithers, B.C., and headed out to meet her friends. It would be the last time Matilda Wilson would see her youngest child.

The families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls say they are anxiously awaiting more details about the programs and services they were promised to help them navigate the justice system.

Sacred Roots Productions is a Native production company owned by Akwesasne Mohawk women, Shelby Mitchell-Adams and Jessica Loft-Thompson. In October 2015 they began production on a culturally appropriated adaption of "Pig Girl," a riveting, intense play by Governor General Award Winning Playwright Colleen Murphy, loosely based on serial murderer Robert Picton.

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No one in Chilliwack has been more of a champion for an independent inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women than First Nations leader Ernie Crey. That inquiry into MMIW is becoming reality at the national level. "We lobbied hard to make that happen," he said.