Co-chairs of the regional roundtable on missing and murdered indigenous women are calling it both historic and deeply emotional.

Last Friday, more than 70 people from the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and B.C. gathered in Whitehorse for the roundtable to tell their stories.

After almost 12 hours of dialogue, several commitments were made.

A declaration was signed by the co-chairs to support families, address the root causes of violence against indigenous women and take collaborative action to address the issue.

“This is really just the beginning,” co-chair Elaine Taylor, the minister responsible for the Women’s Directorate, told reporters Monday.

“It may be just a piece of paper, but it speaks volumes.”

Taylor, joined by co-chairs Doris Bill, the chief of the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, and Doris Anderson, the president of the Yukon Aboriginal Women’s Council, will take the stories they heard to a national roundtable in Winnipeg next week.

The co-chairs will also make a submission to the federal government by the end of the month, and host a second family gathering in the coming year.

For Bill, hearing that there’s a lack of support from the family members struck a chord.

“You hear about this issue all the time in the headlines, and I think we’ve become indifferent to a lot of it,” she said.

“It’s different hearing it first-hand from the individuals that are affected.”

The regional roundtable was an idea born out of last year’s national roundtable.

“It was recommended that we have our own roundtable and a family gathering,” Taylor said.

December’s family gathering heard many recommendations from families as to how to best support those affected by the missing and murdered women.

Increasing outreach – gatherings, workshops and healing circles – is a recurring recommendation.

Maintaining culture and ceremony is another.

“We see a lot of supports and services ... but it’s a matter of streamlining to be better,” Bill said.

“At some point, we’re going to have to sit down and talk about all of this... about some of the things that can be done.”

Bill noted Monday that setting up a support network within communities is a solution that requires minimal amounts of money.

It comes down to the simple things, like having potluck dinners or visiting families for a cup of tea.

“Those kinds of outreach does a world of good because in a lot of cases that’s what they want,” she explained.

“The family members, they want to talk – because talking is healing.”

Similarly, Bill said it’s important to involve men in the conversation.

A lack of programs and services for men needs to be addressed, she said.

“In my mind, incarcerating men is not the answer. Our jails are already full of (indigenous) men.”

“This is the beginning of a partnership long overdue with both the RCMP and the governments of the day,” Anderson said in a statement issued Friday.

“Today, over the course of these roundtable discussions, we take action together. I’d like to acknowledge the amazing and hardworking individuals – who have been working very hard on this file for many years.”

The federal government wrapped up its own consultations Monday in Ottawa.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett kicked off a cross-country tour in December to hear input from families as to what the examination should look like, and accomplish.

Bennett heard from about 1,300 people during her visits, which included Whitehorse.

The government hopes to have the inquiry running by the summertime.

A 2014 report by the RCMP states that 1,181 aboriginal women had been murdered or missing between 1980 and 2012.

Bennett said Monday this number is “way bigger.”

See letter.