Deaths of Indigenous youth 'grossly disproportionate,' NAN lawyer says

About 65 per cent of the young people who died in northwestern Ontario in recent years are Indigenous a statistic revealed Tuesday at the inquest into the deaths of seven First Nations students in Thunder Bay.

One of the lawyers for the Nishnawbe Aski Nation asked Ontario's Chief Coroner about the number of Indigenous deaths in a region where First Nations people make up far less than half of the population.

"Whatever way we slice these numbers, the rate of deaths that come under your jurisdiction are grossly disproportionate to the percentage of First Nations people in the population," Julian Roy said.

The inquest continues Wednesday, with testimony from children's advocate Cindy Blackstock.

Watch live streamingvideo from the First Nation student deaths inquest here.

Follow CBC Thunder Bay reporter Jody Porteras she tweets from the inquest.