Shana McNeil holds her hair away from the gel smeared on her face as a technician measures her face with an ultrasound wand. She is one of 100 adults being measured for the study. Photo: Michelle Paul

Canada to get first Aboriginal forensic database

As the gel is smeared across Shana McNeil's face, she cringes from the cold.

The wand sweeps over her chin and the technician shouts, "Position three. Four millimetre depth. Bottom right."

The figures are tapped into the console of the ultrasound machine and, within seconds, images roll out.

McNeil is a participant in a study that measures the thickness of deep tissue on the faces of Mi'kmaw children and adults.

"This research will impact and benefit my People for generations to come," says McNeil. "To be a part of this is an honour for me."

Forensic anthropologist Dr. Tanya Peckmann of Saint Mary's University is using science to help Aboriginal people.

She measures 19 points on the face - the forehead, nose, cheeks and jaws - of people in various age groups to create a database that forensic artists can draw upon to reconstruct images of missing or deceased people.

Amnesty International estimates 500 First Nations women went missing in Canada in 2004.

In 2002, 58,000 Canadian children were reported missing, many of them Aboriginal, the Native Women's Association of Canada reports.

Peckmann's database can provide the information to potentially put a face to these people, offering closure to their families.

The study, 3-D Facial Reconstruction, will provide the world with the only Canadian Aboriginal database of its kind.

"We are starting with the Mi'kmaw (and) eventually would like to take it across the country," says Peckmann.

Aboriginal people vary in appearance from different regions and "it would be wonderful if we could collect data from all across Canada," says Peckmann.

She has worked with various Mi'kmaw First Nations including Membertou, Indian Brook and Eskasoni.

While Peckmann encountered some resistance, her overall experiences were positive.

"We didn't have anyone say, ‘No, you can't come into our community,' but we did have people say we need to discuss this. It was this white researcher coming into this Aboriginal community and you're taking our data to go publish an article and what are we getting out of it?" says Peckmann

She hired Aboriginal students in the communities to serve as liaisons, which helped to inform people and recruit participants.

Mi'kmaq elder Maxine Knockwood offers a historical interpretation of why aboriginal people may be reluctant to participate in such a study.

"It's possible that they may find it too personal and that it may take something away from them, perhaps in a way like as many moons ago when Aboriginal people didn't want their photograph taken because they felt like it was stealing their spirit away from them."

Peckmann measured some faces of the parents and children at the Mi'kmaw Child Development Centre in Halifax.

"It was a great experience for us to feel we can play a role in science." says Lee Thomas, coordinator for the community's action program there.

"I thought it was a great opportunity for people to feel like they can make a difference."

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