A group of Black and Indigenous women say they want a national public inquiry into a recent spate of police-involved deaths after nine Indigenous people were killed in interactions with police in August and September.

About two dozen people gathered on Parliament Hill on Tuesday, including the families of eight people who died.

The families say accountability and justice for the deaths of their loved ones is difficult to get and that concrete actions need to happen to address police brutality and to offer support and resources for the people affected.

Laura Holland, a Wet'suwet'en woman and the mother of Jared Lowndes, said police-involved killings are a state of emergency for Indigenous people.