The letters of C. Felske and Richard Banville (Gazette, Aug. 3) show that they have misread and misunderstood the article by Ken Allred. In no way was Mr. Allred attempting to trivialize the murders of Indigenous women. Indeed, to the contrary, his central point was that the use of inflammatory words such as genocide serves no valid purpose and, indeed, tends to polarize the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.
It is well established that the rate of violent deaths among Indigenous women is much higher than that of other women. It is also well established that a significant majority of the culprits are known by the victims, often being family members. The situation is deplorable, but is unlikely to change until the root causes are identified and eliminated. The search for and the elimination of underlying causes are hindered by the gratuitous use of insults and insupportable claims.
Ms. Felske wants Mr. Allred to look in the mirror. She should take her own advice and ponder a couple of questions. If an Indigenous woman is killed by an Indigenous man, is he guilty of genocide? Would this mean that the Indigenous community is genocidal? Most of us (no doubt including Ms. Felske) would find this suggestion absurd, and rightly so. I submit, however, that the idea is no more absurd than accusing the rest of society of genocide.
Let us stop the name-calling and look for the real causes.
Dominic Willott, St. Albert
