AMHERST — In 2013, Canadian police estimated that there were 1,181 unresolved cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. The number today is closer to 4,000.

A 2014 film directed by Leonard Yakir, a Granby filmmaker, puts faces to these numbers. The film, “1200+,” mainly follows the life and death of 17-year-old Cherisse Houle, informed by a detailed diary by Houle’s foster parents. Interwoven in the story is testimony of other Indigenous survivors explaining their own experiences with sexual exploitation, substance-use disorders and family isolation, specifically through the Canadian Indian Residential School System.

“The original intent for residential schools was clearly stated — to kill the Indian and the child,” said Shelia North, a journalist who produced “1200+.” North is the former Grand Chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak.

At a special screening and discussion of “1200+” on Monday at the University of Massachusetts, North and Yakir talked about how the film was made and its subsequent impact.

The event, organized by Indigenous Studies Librarian Brandon Castle and Head of Access Services Melissa Harter, aims to raise awareness about not only missing and murdered Indigenous women, but explain the connection between these tradegies and systems of oppression against Indigenous people.

“I didn’t know that certain buildings in the city I grew up with were, in fact, at one time, residential schools. I didn’t know the scope of the issue at all, at all,” Yakir said. “Winnipeg had the largest Indigenous population of any city in North America, and I lived in the north end. The north end was the most populated area by Indigenous people. I never had an Indigenous friend. The worlds were apart, and I was totally unaware.”

Yakir and North met in 2014 while independently documenting the discovery of 15-year-old Tina Fountaine’s body along the Red River in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

The issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women was new to Yakir, who learned about it in a newspaper article while visiting family in Winnepeg, but North had been reporting on stories just like Fountain’s since the beginning of her journalistic career.

“When Leonard and I met, I was at the point where I was frustrated with just how we’re telling stories in mainstream media,” North said. “I thought that we could do better by expanding some of the stories that I’ve heard in the past. The stories in the film were some of the stories that I’ve been working on previous to Tina Fontaine.”

North adds that early in her career, she struggled with the cognitive dissonance of how the media portrayed these victims as prostitutes, drug addicts and criminals rather than mothers, sisters and daughters of beloved community members.

“I started talking to more families and victims, and they started pushing back,” North said. “They were saying, ‘if you’re going to tell stories about my loved one and if you want me to be attributed, then, you’re going to have to use their name. You’re going to have to tell them that their mom, their sister, their loved one that they’re missed, that people want them home.”

“1200+” embraces this approach by diving intimately into Houle’s life, putting her humanity in the spotlight. In between reenacted passages from the diary North received from Houle’s foster parents, the film includes interviews with Houle’s sister, mother, foster parents and friends. Each described their complicated relationship with Houle, as well as their own trauma and struggles with addiction.

Yakir credits North as the key to capturing these moments, as her presence and professionalism created a foundation of trust with interviewees. North agrees, but adds that Yakir’s approach using humility and humor lead to a greater sense of comfort.

“I think it’s a testament to the need to express what has been happening,” Yakir said. “There’s a pent up need to share one story. It’s a very tragic story in this case, but there’s a real need to tell people and to let people know what was happening.”

Many of the stories have roots in residential schools or day schools, a type of institution that existed from the 1600s to 1987 in Canada. These initiatives isolated children from their families, community and culture, replacing models of love and affection with exploitation and malnutrition. Nearly 20,000 children were taken from their families during “The Sixties Scoop,” a policy in Canada that allowed child welfare services to forcibly take Indigenous children who were deemed “unfit” and adopt or foster them out.

“You’re never taught to parent because you grow up in a situation that’s violent and abusive, as these schools were,” Susan Knight, Yakir’s wife, said. “You can see the mental health issues come in, and it’s so easy to want to stop pain with drugs or alcohol.”

While North explains that the multi-generational pain remains, she has begun to see a greater healing in the Indigenous community now that younger generations are free from these oppressive school systems. Indigenous peoples exercise more sovereignty today over their land and lifestyle. With more freedom, Indigenous women are beginning to find themselves and their inner strength again.

“This was a societal problem that was fostered in the school system, and that’s why they call the education system the new buffalo,” North said. “Education got us into this mess, and education will get us out of the mess.”

To learn more about “1200+” visit https://www.mmiw1200plus.com/.

Emilee Klein can be reached at eklein@gazettenet.com.