Review of The Movie Finding Dawn

The film “Finding Dawn”, talks about the missing of aboriginal women on the first half. There have been a lot of women whose whereabouts are not known at all. Both those involved and those not involved in drugs. There is lots of disillusionment regarding the missing of the native women and people the families of the victims blaming authorities for not acting fast.

The second half of the film talks about personal experiences of some native women giving us insights into how their lives have been growing up. We find out from women like Janis and Avon House how hard the natives’ lives have been. The thing they had in common was that they were all encountered instances of rape. As Janis, the aboriginal columnist puts it after her mother was raped in front of herself and her sister, “I thought it was ok for the aboriginal women to be raped”. Therefore, the first part talks about the loss of hope on the authorities for not taking the necessary actions to find out what is going wrong and not acting fast enough when natives are involved. The second talks about hope and strength as evident on when Janis and Avon make mention when they make mention of their experience.

Christine Welsh states that for the past twenty years, five hundred went missing some of whom their whereabouts is unknown. The women whose story circulates throughout the film are, Dawn Cray, 30-year-old whose body was found in a farm and DNA found 3years after her disappearance, Ramona Wilson, a sixteen-year-old who went hitch hiking to see her boyfriend. Her sister felt guilty for not giving her ride after a request before she went hitch hiking and disappeared.

Daleen Bosse, studying to be a teacher, a mother who also disappeared after leaving the club and her car found a couple of weeks after her disappearance. The police representative mentions in the case of Daleen after being asked by the reporter why they didn’t take an action quicker said, that there were sightings of Daleen, but they couldn’t say anything because they thought she didn’t want anyone find her but an investigation was started after she went missing. Her mother, even though she feels like not a lot has been done also admits that anything she says on the commencement of the investigation could jeopardize the search. This on its own feels like she cannot even air her views on the reality on the delay of the authorities to act faster. All these disappearances take place between Vancouver, BC highways all the way to Saskatoon.

The RCMP in conjunction with the community made up of family members and volunteers are seen helping find Daleen in the film. They start from the where Daleen was last seen. Despite the long walk, searching in the brutal weather and effort put in, they weren’t successful in finding her. The community gathers together to show support for each other. They organize walks ones a year from the place where she was last seen to where her body was found.

Personal the title “Finding Dawn” has two meanings to me. The first being the actual physical searching for not only Dawn but also other women who have gone missing. The second meaning the title could have finding the light and the truth after going through a hard situation. That is what Fey and Janis are trying to accomplish as they travel to Vancouver, Saskatoon and Regina, creating awareness and let the authorities know an action be taken. This also is seen when the native community decide to go infront of the police station to start their call for action.