'It's not that there's a lack of evidence; it's that there's no public will': Vigod Lecture
On Oct. 14. In the Kinsella Auditorium at St. Thomas University (STU) the greater Fredericton community gathered for the Vigod Lecture in Human Rights delivered by Christa Big Canoe, on Disappearing Indigenous Children-Canada’s Ongoing Genocide.
This lecture was organized by Gül Çalışkan, STU Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology and Acting Director, Atlantic Human Rights Center.
Part of Bernie Vigod’s legacy as a Canadian historian, educator and lifelong advocate of human rights are the yearly Vigod lectures, its 37 iterations.
Big Canoe is the Legal Director of Aboriginal Legal Services since 2011. She is part of the Georgina Island First Nation, an Anishinabek community.
Recently she was the lead prosector against Canada before the Permanent Peoples Tribunal (PPT), an international human rights organization, on the Disappeared Indigenous Children and Unmarked graves.
“When we talk about disappearing Indigenous children … we need to recognize that this is an ongoing genocide.”
Big Canoe advised that the audience should “protect your spirit” while discussing ongoing genocide.
“Knowing when maybe hearing too much is overwhelming or too much, having the ability to reach out when needed and necessary,” and focusing also on our intergenerational strengths … “We persist and we are still here.”
Ongoing genocide “isn't as simple as something that happened many years ago,” Big Canoe said. “As long as someone has disappeared and there's a failure to investigate, look for, get the documents, research and prosecute against those that we don't know have caused harm, those individuals are still disappearing.”
“In the records during the Indian Residential School, only 47 people were ever convicted or prosecuted for harms against the Indigenous children that attended the schools … 150,000 kids went to residential school when they had the Independent Assessment Process (IAP).”
Edyn Clowater, a fourth-year STU student, honoring in human rights and majoring in criminology and law, politics and society and Administration and Communications Assistant of the Atlantic Human Rights Centre said it is important to “recognize the harms that have been done.”
Aidan Jackson, a third-year STU student hoping to honour in human rights could not understand the “lack of empathy.”
“We could justify doing this to our fellow humans … in the halls of power that plans and executes crimes against humanity,” he said.
Big Canoe emphasized that “Canada's done nothing.”
“The National Inquiry 244 calls to justice. Canada has completed two. The truth and reconciliation (TRC) 96 calls to action,” she said. “As of 2024, they've done 11. I think they're now up to 12 or 13. We need to do better. We need to demand our government does better.”
Big Canoe passionately stated that the evidence of crimes is “massive” and “compelling.”
“Because the problem isn't what Indigenous people know or don't know. It's not that there's a lack of evidence in this country of what's happened. It's that there's no public will.”
“Knowledge is power. Learn more, do more,” said Big Canoe. “Next is as much up to you as it's up to me.”
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