The Chiefs of Ontario launched the Who Is She campaign on Wednesday to raise money for their own inquiry into missing and murdered Native women.

The effort won't replace an inquiry that Native leaders said the Canadian government must undertake. But they decided to take action rather than wait for the sitting Conservative administration.

Ashley Callingbull, the first Native woman to win the title of Mrs. Universe, speaks in support of an inquiry into missing and murdered Native women on September 9, 2015. Photo from Chiefs of Ontario / Twitter



“This campaign will not only provide much needed funds to implement a call for an Ontario First Nations specific inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls but it will raise the awareness of the issue on a grander more accessible scale,” Chief Isadore Day. said in a press release . “We are determined to prompt a national dialogue supporting this vital cause. We know the government will not call an inquiry so we have taken it upon ourselves to lead our own, on our own terms for the benefit of everyone impacted by this national crisis.”

According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police , nearly 1,200 Native women have gone missing or were murdered between 1980 and 2012. The number from Ontario hasn't been specified but Native leaders hope their inquiry will answer that question.

Get the Story: Ontario First Nations to hold inquiry into missing, murdered indigenous women (CBC 9/9) Ontario chiefs fundraise to pay for inquiry into missing women (CP 9/9) Ontario First Nations to begin fundraising for inquiry (The Globe and Mail 9/10) Norway House walk for MMIW extends to Vancouver (CBC 9/10) Family holds memorial for Audrey Desjarlais years after disappearance (CBC 9/9)

RCMP Report: Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: A National Operational Overvie (May 2014)

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