The North Island’s annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) gathering was held this year on Monday, May 5 at the Kwakiutl First Nation's big house in Tsaxis (Fort Rupert).
Hereditary chiefs welcomed everyone to the Kwakiutl's traditional territory, and then introduced North Island Building Blocks manager Stephanie Bernard to come and give a speech to the hundreds who had gathered in the audience, all of whom were wearing red to honour Red Dress Day, which features red dresses being placed in public areas every May 5 as a visual reminder of all the missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirited people.
Bernard spoke about the purpose behind the gathering, noting the North Island communities had come together to show "our love, our compassion, our solidarity, for the legacy of our motherland as Indigenous women and girls who serve it."
She explained First Nations believe the colour red is the only colour "that the spirits see. By wearing red, we hope to call back the spirits of our missing women and girls" and that the red handprint painted across the mouth is "a symbol that is used to indicate the solidarity of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls in North America. This is in recognition of the fact that Indigenous women are 10 times more likely to be murdered or sexually assaulted."
Bernard also spoke about the 231 calls for justice.
"The National Enquiry into the Saving of Indigenous Women and Girls took place in Richmond in 2018, and this report calls for justice. It must be understood that these recommendations, which we frame as calls for justice, are legal imperatives. They are not optional. The calls for justice represent important ways to end the genocide and to transform systemic and societal values that have worked to maintain this colonial violence that we have witnessed."
"They are directed at federal, provincial and Indigenous governments to address areas of human and Indigenous rights, culture, health, wealth, security and justice," she added. "Finally, the report calls for all Canadians to be part of this change. Each person has a role to combat violence against Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited people. Beyond these calls, aimed at specific industries or service providers, we encourage every Canadian to consider how they can give life to these calls for justice."
Bernard then spoke about Canada's own legacy of government policies, such as forced removal, mass seizures, and violence inflicted on Indigenous peoples.
"One of the prolific results is that Indigenous women are 16 times more likely to be murdered," she explained. "Between 1600 and 4000 Indigenous people are missing. It is not only a human rights issue, but it is also a public health issue. The high rates of violence experienced by Indigenous women, girls and two-spirited people have a significant impact on our physical and mental health, contributing to intergenerational effects of trauma experienced by our communities and families."
Bernard concluded her speech by stating the MMIWG gathering is held every year to bring "our beautiful community together. Everybody coming to witness, to honour the families... We're going to wrap our love, our support, our strength, and our hope around them."
Island Health Indigenous Health Manager Dean Wilson was asked to speak at the gathering, noting there's statistics that tell us that violence against women "is terrible in our society and we seem to be okay with it because we're not doing a lot about it, and that violence against Indigenous women is even worse... It's horrendous. Horrendous. And it moves to that level of genocide that [Bernard] mentioned."
Wilson continued, pointing at the large photos of loved ones being held up by family members in attendance who have suffered losses.
"When we see these faces and remember who they were as people, from little children growing up with unlimited potential to be anything, to do anything, they are loved," he said. "Every one of them."
He also spoke about the 231 calls for justice.
"There's a challenge within these calls to action," Wilson pointed out. "What are we doing to help them? What are we demanding from our leaders? They are for our federal government, provincial government, municipal government, nation government. They are for our organizations... Whether they are schools or hospitals, what are we doing to make things better and to change the situation that we live in? It is truly a call to action."
WIlson finished his speech by thanking "each of you who has come here today, knowing that these women matter. It's important for those who are left behind."
Port Hardy mayor Pat Corbett-Labatt also spoke, stating she stood before the crowd "filled with an equal and unshakable responsibility. A responsibility to remember to speak truth, to bring awareness, for all the legacies of those who are no longer with us. These young women and the other young women that have disappeared remind us all of the lives stolen."
She noted their memories will continue to live on "in stories, in ceremonies, in our continued fight for justice... They're not just a statistic. They're not faces. They're not nameless. They were loved. They were needed. They were someone's mother, someone's sister, someone's daughter, someone's aunt, someone's cousin, someone's friend. They were someone, and they still are."
Corbett-Labatt added she knows that women, girls, and two-spirit people experience violence, "and these issues go unrecorded. We all know that mourning is a job. We stand here together united in mourning, in memory, and in movement. We stand and say, you are not alone. We will speak your names. We will tell your stories. To the families still searching, still grieving, you are not alone. We walk beside you. To the ones you have lost, you are with us."
The ceremony at the big house ended with a cedar branch cleansing, a cultural female dance, and then a march around the Tsaxis village before lunch was served.
