Monica Patsy Jones has worked hard to fundraise, plan and organize the second annual walk for missing and murdered Indigenous peoples of Vancouver Island. She is inviting people from all over Vancouver Island to join in a walk Feb.9 in Duncan B.C. in an effort to draw attention to the unsolved cases of Cowichan Tribes missing men and to the cases of other missing Indigenous people on the island.
About 300 people donning Cowichan sweaters or other regalia arrived at the Quw’utsun Cultural & Conference Center on a bitterly cold Feb. 10 morning to take part in a walk to bring awareness to the unsolved cases of murdered or missing Indigenous people.
Feb. 10, 2018 marks the second year since 47-year-old Everett Jones went missing from the same location that the walk was taking place. In fact, at least two others disappeared from the same area.
From Tuesday to Thursday this week, over 20 families of missing and murdered Nuu-chah-nulth women and girls converged at Maht Mahs gym in Port Alberni. Those affected by the tragedies shared their stories over three days of culturally-based healing.
Several years after her aunt was found murdered on a logging road near Gold River, Lillian Howard encountered the late family member in a dream. Christina Beatrice (Howard) Thomas reassuringly held out her hand to Lillian.
“She said, ‘Hi Lil, I just came by to tell you how much I love you and how proud I am of you. I just wanted you to know that I’m okay, I’m happy and I want you to be happy’,” recalled Lillian.
“I believe that proverb, “a people are not defeated until the hearts of its women are on the ground.” Let me tell you when we come together, regardless of any of the hurts we’ve been through, when we decide to fight for what is right, when we decide to fight for our loved ones, when we decide to become the voice for the ones we’ve lost, our hearts will never be on the ground. They will always be in the air. We will have a strong heart. And that’s what’s going to make sure our nations are never defeated.” — Mary Teegee, Director Carrier-Sekani Family Services
K’omoks First Nation is hosting the memorial installation, Walking With Our Sisters, from July 31 through August 15 at the K’omoks Band Hall.
WWOS honours missing and murdered aboriginal woman and girls from across North America. The exhibit consists of 1,810 pairs of beaded moccasin tops, called vamps, that have been created by over 1,400 artists.
Indigenous women face among the highest rates of violence in Canada.
The 5th Annual Memorial March for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women will be held on Sunday, Feb. 17.
We will gather at 11 a.m. outside Our Place at 919Pandora Ave. At noon we will march down Pandora to Government and on toThunderbird Park.
People are invited to gather at Thunderbird Park around 1p.m. for an open memorial event with speeches, songs, food, and prayers.
About a dozen Tla-o-qui-aht women and their supporters braved a fierce winter rain and wind storm to walk more than 20 km of the Tofino Highway in an attempt to bring attention to two missing women’s cases from their tribe, as well as the missing or murdered women’s cases across Canada.
The Valentine’s Day walk was led by Carol Martin, aunt of Lisa Marie Young, who went missing from Nanaimo June 30, 2002.