Part III: Knowledge Keeper and Expert Hearings

Knowledge Keeper and Expert Hearings examine a range of key topics that inform the work of the National Inquiry.

These hearings gather testimony from a wide range of experts that include Elders, Knowledge Keepers, academics, legal experts, front-line workers, young people and specialists. As part of the hearing process, National Inquiry lawyers and Parties with Standing have the opportunity to ask questions of the experts or cross-examine them for clarity.

The process is designed to ensure the National Inquiry receives best possible information and advice from the expert witnesses – evidence that helps the National Inquiry understand the systemic causes of violence against Indigenous women,  girls and 2SLGBTQQIA peoples and develop concrete recommendations that will reduce violence and increase safety.

Expert Hearings on topic such as Indigenous laws, decolonizing perspectives, human rights, racism, international law, and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) provide the framework pieces that will shape the National Inquiry’s analysis and reasoning and help inform our decolonizing, gendered, culturally specific, and rights-based approach.

Members of the public are welcome to attend all Knowledge Keeper and Expert Hearings as observers.