Activist Tamara Bernard is Fighting Alongside Indigenous Women and Girls

Content Warning: This article discusses physical and sexual violence

Tamara Bernard often tells the story of two Indigenous women—Jane Bernard, a 43-year-old wife and mother, and 18-year-old Doreen Hardy, who was just beginning her life.

After a visit to Thunder Bay in 1966, Jane and Doreen needed to return home to Gull Bay, Ontario, so they accepted a ride from a seemingly helpful stranger.

They were never seen again by their loved ones.

"They were murdered in what remains an unsolved double homicide," Tamara says.

 Doreen Hardy (left) and Jane Bernard (right) were murdered in 1966.

Jane Bernard was Tamara's great-grandmother. "Trauma from colonial violence has defined my career," she adds.

Tamara is a Lakehead University PhD Educational Studies student, researcher, and activist engaged in thought-provoking public education work aimed at spurring change.

An Enduring Crisis

Although violence against Indigenous women and girls is commonly perceived as a newer phenomenon, it's longstanding and entrenched.

Despite this reality, most research investigating violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada concentrates on the period between 1980-2012.

Tamara's family case from 1966 falls outside this narrow and misleading timeline.

Addressing this gap and advocating for recognition that violence has existed since first contact has become a focus of Tamara's work.

Tamara teaches at Lakehead University's Department of Indigenous Learning and at the Seven Generations Education Institute. She also delivers specialized training to municipal, provincial, and Indigenous police services, parole and probation officers, and other organizations.

"Our women were traded as commodities in the Hudson's Bay Company beginning in the 1600s. This has been normalized and has led to the dehumanization and sexualization of Indigenous women and girls.

In fact, Canada was developed through the enslavement of Indigenous women and girls, predominantly in the Ontario and Quebec regions," says Tamara, who is herself a survivor of violence.

"It was the government's agenda to civilize us to death.

This dehumanization, and ideologies that view Indigenous girls as less human and of less value, are predominant in contemporary society's thinking, which is clear when looking at the crisis of violence against Indigenous women and girls."

"We focus on the Highway of Tears in British Columbia when we think about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, but if we don't act now, Highway 11-17 will become the new Highway of Tears," Tamara says.

'The homicide rate for Indigenous women and girls is over six times higher than that of non-Indigenous women and girls. A staggering 63% of Indigenous women in Canada have also experienced physical or sexual assault in their lifetime.

The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls also revealed that Indigenous women and girls are 13 times more likely to experience violence compared to non-Indigenous females.

Now they are contending with a dramatic increase in human trafficking.

More than Murdered and Missing

This violence led Tamara to establish Tamara Kwe Indigenous Consulting in 2014 to respond to the missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQI+ (MMIWG2S+) crisis.

Racism and sexism cast a long shadow in Canada. "I don't know a single system that doesn't need to be dismantled and rebuilt to adequately support Indigenous women and girls' needs, whether it's the health care, justice, education, or social services systems," Tamara says.

Tamara is also a member of the Ontario Domestic Violence Death Review Committee, and its Indigenous Subcommittee, where she does death reviews. Her goal is to reduce intimate partner violence by examining and analyzing how systems are responding and identifying any points of missed interventions.

"We are in this space of grief that is hard to overcome," she says, "but I don't want other Indigenous young women or girls to experience what I did when I was growing up.

I'm always asking how we can fill the cups of younger women and children so that they learn about Indigenous women in a positive and strengths-based way and not through deficient ideologies or a dehumanizing culture."

Tamara speaks nationally and internationally, but some of her most important work is speaking to grade 6-8 students. “As a prevention strategy, part of my talks discuss love bombing, grooming, and how to identify a safe adult because girls these ages are at risk of being trafficked.”

One way that Tamara does this is through her Lakehead research.

Her master's thesis—the first of its kind in Canada—used intergenerational storytelling between a grandmother and granddaughter to honour her great-grandmother, Jane Bernard, who is one among MMIWG.

In her study, Tamara and her grandmother shared their stories through letter writing, kitchen table conversations, sharing meals, ceremonies, and reflections.

"My grandmother was given the opportunity to talk about her mother Jane Bernard and to honour her. It healed her in unexpected ways, and it healed me, too.

This is intergenerational healing between grandmother and granddaughter when gathering and sharing knowledge (Indigenous research) is done in a good way (Mino-Bimaadiziwin)."

Her Grandmother's Bundle

In the process of her master's work, Tamara has become a nationally recognized pioneer of Indigenous, story-based research methodologies.

Her PhD research is building upon this work.

It focuses on Anishinaabe women's experiences in post-secondary education, particularly in northwestern Ontario at Lakehead's Thunder Bay campus.

"I want to better understand how institutions like Lakehead can support Indigenous women—not just in accessing education, but in escaping violence, rebuilding stability, and thriving."

Tamara's PhD research entitled "My Grandmother's Bundle" is being completed at Lakehead University through a SSHRC-funded grant (a $105,000 Doctoral Fellowship). It examines violence against Indigenous women as a continuation of colonial systems, while also exploring how Indigenous women navigate pathways to safety, healing, and self-determination. "Grounded in Indigenous methodologies and storywork, I centre lived experience to understand how systems like education, justice, and child welfare shape both vulnerability and resilience," Tamara says. "A key focus of my work is how post-secondary education can serve as a pathway out of violence, even as it exists within colonial structures. Ultimately, my research aims to identify systemic gaps and advance culturally grounded, community-driven responses that support Indigenous women's safety and well-being within their education journey."

Tamara's grandmother earned an education degree at Lakehead, which gave her the autonomy to walk away from domestic abuse in the early 1990s. Tamara is seeing this exit strategy repeat itself today with other Indigenous female learners at Lakehead.

"That's why the title of my PhD research is 'My Grandmother's Bundle,'" Tamara says.

"The stories of my matrilineal line—and those of other Indigenous women I have walked with to exit various forms of violence—have guided me to the focus of my PhD dissertation. That is what I mean when I say colonial violence has defined my career.

I often wonder who I would be if these things hadn't happened to me or my family, or other Indigenous women for that matter.

I encourage everyone to talk about the crisis of violence against Indigenous women and girls in Canada, especially in the Thunder Bay District.

Get educated and become aware because discussing these issues is crucial. It's important to note that making crafts and participating in MMIWG2S+ walks is fine, however, this does not change the ongoing issue."

Tamara will be talking about Jane and Doreen's lives in the public lecture, "Stories That Must be Told." This event commemorating Red Dress Day takes place on Friday, May 1, from 6:00 to 7:30 pm at the MacGregor Recreation Centre in Shuniah. Click here for more information. 

Click here to watch Tamara's powerful TEDx Thunder Bay talk, "We are more than murdered and missing."

You can show your support on Red Dress Day by:

• Wearing red and wearing Red Dress Day pins
• Hanging a red dress in your window or yard
• Taking part in walks, vigils, and rallies in your community
• Donating to the Ontario Native Women's Association or to the Beendigen Indigenous Women's Shelter (Tamara's talk on May 1 is requesting donations to Beendigen)
• Sharing Red Dress Day images on social media with the hashtags:
  #MMIWG2S
  #RedDressDay
  #WhyWeWearRed
  #NoMoreStolenSisters
  #reddressproject

Learn more by reading:

• Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
• Amnesty International's Report on Violence Against Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada
• Jaime Black - The REDress Project

Supports for Indigenous Community Members:

• Hope for Wellness Helpline (available 24/7 to all Indigenous people across Canada)
• Ontario Native Women's Association Program and Services Information Line: 1-800-667-0816
• Indian Residential School Survivors Society Counselling Services and Crisis Line: 1-800-721-0066

You can also find more information about this national day of awareness by visiting Amnesty International's Red Dress Day 2026.