Rise Up! Feminist Digital Archive
A Digital Archive of Feminist Activism
On July 20, 1981, fifty Indigenous women calling themselves “The Concerned Aboriginal Women” occupied the office of the Department of Indian Affairs (DIA) in Vancouver to protest the systemic oppression and neglect of Indigenous peoples in Canada. The action doubled in size and garnered widespread support before the police forcibly removed the demonstrators, whose demands included a full and independent public inquiry into the activities of the DIA and the immediate dismissal of regional director Fred Walchli.
On July 20, 1981, fifty Indigenous women calling themselves “The Concerned Aboriginal Women” occupied the office of the Department of Indian Affairs in British Columbia, issuing a statement about the suffering and oppression experienced by “aboriginal people of this land.” Poverty, poor housing, unemployment rates, sterilization, infant mortality, suicide rates, frequent incarceration, alcoholism, loss of traditional rights, poor water and sewage facilities, interference in decision-making authority, child apprehension …… “and the list goes on endlessly”.
Citing their “frustration suffered at the hands of the Department of Indian Affairs and different organizations”, the women’s occupation attempted to negotiate around three demands: “1) a meeting with John Munro in Vancouver, 2) the immediate dismissal of Fred Walchli as Director General of DIA in B.C., 3) and a full and independent public inquiry into the activities of the Department of Indian Affairs.”
Over the next eight days, the number of occupiers grew to over 100, and the action won widespread attention and support from Indigenous and other groups before it was ended when the Vancouver City Police forcibly removed those occupying the offices, charging fifty-three with public mischief and jailing them overnight.
