“It’s very troubling to me that communities are being left hanging and wondering whether they’re going to continue to receive funding from the federal government to do the investigations that are, and have been, happening across the country. Some are far along in their investigations, and others are at the early stages. To be cut off at whatever stage is a big problem. I did have some hope at the time of the 2025 federal election, because in the platform of the Liberal government, they said they would continue to support the investigations for missing children and unmarked burials.

But, as of today, we do not know what that’s going to look like in the near future. As I said in my Final Report, I feel that Canada has legal, ethical, and moral obligations to continue supporting communities as they search for the missing and disappeared children. Until we get that commitment, I think that Canada, as a government, is just causing more trauma to survivors and communities.”

— Kimberly Murray is a lawyer who served as executive director of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 2010 to 2015. She was subsequently special interlocutor for missing children and unmarked graves and burial sites from June 2022 until December 2024. She is Mohawk and a member of Kanehsatà:ke Mohawk Nation.

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150 years ago, First Nations leaders and the Crown negotiated Treaty 6. But what was written down was only part of the agreement.

In this episode of Canadian Time Machine, award-winning journalist Brandi Morin explores the promises made in 1876 and why understanding the treaty means looking beyond the written document. Beverly Asmann shares her family’s connection to Treaty 6, the impact of those broken promises, and the ongoing fight to restore the Michel community.