The Experience of Refugees Accessing Health and Social Services in Calgary

In this paper, I argue that Western media portrays Indigenous women by utilizing stereotypes that reify essentialist notions of culture and race. This is particularly evident when comparing media portrayals of cases involving murdered Indigenous and non-Indigenous women. Drawing on Indigenous feminism and postcolonial theories, this paper analyzes how these media portrayals perpetuate bias, and fail to educate the public about the legacy of colonialism, including systemic poverty and sociopolitical constraints on a marginalized group. By examining government involvement and the manifestation of structural racism in policy, law enforcement, and social biases, this paper will design the framework for a discussion of those murdered and missing Aboriginal women in Canada. I analyze two recent murder cases (2015) involving victims of domestic violence, that of Winnipeg’s Selena Keeper, and Calgary’s Lacey Jones-McKnight. Through the comparison of articles pertaining to the murders that are available in the Winnipeg Free Press, Calgary Herald and National Post, I offer insight into how the victims are described, their portrayed lifestyles, and contrast how they are depicted.