In response to the 231 Calls for Justice and the Principles for Change from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, the establishment of the National Family and Survivors Circle (NFSC) was supported by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs to provide guidance on how to engage families, survivors, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people in the development and implementation of a National Action Plan. The NFSC is comprised of Indigenous women from diverse backgrounds.

“We use our strength and lived expertise as family members of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people, and survivors of gender- and race-based violence to advocate for the voices and expertise of families and survivors to be centred in the National Action Plan.” —Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, NFSC Chair

Through the many powerful and sacred testimonies of truths from families and survivors, the National Inquiry was a deeply necessary legal process that established irrefutable evidence of ongoing gender- and race-based violence and genocide against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people. The Inquiry’s Final Report established 231 Calls for Justice as legal imperatives, including Call for Justice 1.1, which calls for all governments to develop and implement a National Action Plan alongside Indigenous partners.

“Building on our collective lived experiences, expertise, and capabilities, we hope to provide  input into how to engage families, survivors, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people in the development and implementation of this National Action Plan, collaborating with the Core Working Group, the Government of Canada, provinces, and territories to complete it.” —Denise Pictou Maloney, NFSC Member

The Core Working Group (CWG) is primarily comprised of the Chairs from First Nations, Inuit, Métis, Data, 2SLGBTQQIA+, urban, federal, provincial, and territorial sub-working groups. The NFSC and the CWG are intended to be central to the process of developing the National Action Plan. The NFSC is working to support the sub-working groups by coordinating and validating their efforts in a process that includes more than 100 Indigenous women. For more information on the NFSC and Core Working Group (CWG), please click here.

• The Blue Pathway represents water, which connects us, sustains us, and gives new life.
• The Green Pathway represents land, which grounds us in who we are and where we come from.
• The Purple Pathway represents dignity and healing.
• The Red Pathway represents the sacredness of the voices and truths of families and survivors.
• The Heart honours and commemorates the immeasurable value of our loved ones who are missing or have been murdered.
• The Fire represents the bringing together of our home fires in the shared responsibility and accountability for ending all forms of gender-based violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.
• The Sunrise represents a new horizon, a new beginning for the reclaiming of Power and Place.
• The White Lines represent ice, snow, and water in all its forms. These are dominant features of the landscape in the far north for many months out of the year. They also represent the delicate and interconnected relationship between humanity and climate change.
• The 13 Moons represent the calendar cycle of opportunities for transformative change and reflection.