Frances Neumann talks about her sister-in-law Mary John, who died in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside in July 1982.
Frances Neumann searched tirelessly for her missing sister-in-law in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, only to learn from a newspaper article she had been dead for years.
Neumann, the first family member to speak publicly at the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, urged the commissioners not to let Mary Smith John's death be in vain.
Smith John fled Yukon as a young woman after enduring the loss of an infant son and was found dead of an alcohol overdose in 1982.
Neumann said Smith John had been in the company of Gilbert Paul Jordan, known as the "Boozing Barber," who is believed to have plied multiple women with a lethal dose of liquor.
"These women were vulnerable. They had no protection. They were lost, but each one of those women had families that loved them," Neumann said Tuesday, wiping away tears.
"We let them down. We did not protect them because they were weak. Because they were weak, no justice came to their aid."
Jordan was convicted of manslaughter in the death of a non-indigenous woman in 1988. But he was linked to several aboriginal women's deaths before then, reported APTN in a segment that was played at the hearing. He died in 2006.
Smith John was buried in an unmarked grave in Vancouver long before her loved ones learned of her death. Neumann used family photos to help police identify her sister-in-law as the same Mary Smith referenced by the newspaper article she had found.
Neumann told the commissioners that there can be no justice for her sister-in-law, but she wants her daughter and granddaughters to be able to walk the streets safely.
"We must stand up for justice for these women that have walked before us. This has been coming (for) many years and I thank Canada for supporting our families," she said.
"Please, please see this through. We have come up and waited for many years to see the results. Don't sweep it under the carpet."
Neumann's testimony marked an emotional start to the first family hearings.
The commissioners have faced criticism from across the country about poor communications and delays.
Chief Commissioner Marion Buller began Tuesday's hearing with an opening statement. She said Canada needs to hear the truth about the violence endured by generations of indigenous women and girls in order to have a better understanding of systemic violence, to find solutions and heal.
"Today is a turning point in our national history," she said. "Now there is a national stage for the stories and the voices of the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls through their families."
More than 40 people are expected to share their stories this week.
"We will hear about mothers, grandmothers, sisters and aunties, nieces, cousins and dear friends. They are and were real people who loved and were loved, who dreamed and hoped, who laughed and cried," said Buller.
"This is a sorrowful but essential part of our national history. We need to recognize and understand colonization and racism. We need to heal and we need to craft solutions."
Other community meetings have been delayed until the fall, but Buller said the hearings are going ahead in Whitehorse because of the willingness of people in the city to participate.
Families have the option of testifying privately to a statement-taker or speaking publicly inside a white tent, where the interior walls are decorated with brightly coloured blankets created by volunteers and chairs are set up in a circle. Buller said the setting was designed to provide comfort and safety to families and survivors.
(The Canadian Press)
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