''CANADA'S GIRLS-DYING CANVAS'' : 2/3

''WHY are so many girls/students dying?''

The violence against indigenous girls and women, experts say is deeply rooted in Canada's history.

SOME 1,181 INDIGENOUS women were killed or went missing across the country from 1980 to 2012 according to a 2014 report by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

That number has since risen and Patricia Hajdu, who served as minister for the status of women, has estimated that it may be as high as 4,000 since many of the cases go unreported.

Winnipeg has the largest Indigenous population in Canada. That is where Tina Fontaine's life came to a very tragic and unfortunate end.

Her history in many ways reflects cycle of violence affecting indigenous communities. Her paternal grandfather was sent to a residential school, and became an alcoholic. Her mother, who became the ward of the state as a child eventually joined the sex trade.

Ms. Favel said the child was ''doomed before she was born.'' Her mother was 12 when she began dating her father., who was then 23. After their chaotic relationship fell apart and Tina's father was afflicted with cancer, Tina and her sister Sarah went to live with her.

Ms. Favel said Tina was a happy girl who showed promise. But at 12, the girl's father, who only had four months to live, was beaten to death in an argument with two men over $60.

Despairing, she began to skip school, smoke pot and cut herself.

In June 2014, Tina left Ms. Favel's home and went to Winnipeg, about 75 miles away. to visit her mother. Ms. Favel gave her $50 and a prepaid phone card. telling her to call if she wanted to come home. The call never came.

Instead, she said the girl texted photographs of herself with a black eye to her sister, saying that their mother, who was working in the sex-trade had beaten her.

Alarmed, Ms. Favel said she reached out to three Manitoba family services agencies, which bickered over who was responsible.

Eventually, Tina was placed by child and family services in series of local motels, from which she ran away, living on the streets.

The said and tragic publishing of this research continues. The World Students Society thanks author Dan Bilefsky.