The first conference dealing with the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit and gender-diverse persons — also known as MMIWG2S+ — that Cheryl Jamieson ever attended is forever burned into her psyche.
A string of family members who had lost their loved ones were acknowledged with a traditional honour song. Each one of them passed by Jamieson, who now works for Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig (SKG) as its student success and wellness counsellor.
“It touched me so profoundly, because there was a little boy — he was probably five — and he carried a picture of his mother, who was missing,” she said, with emotion welling up in her voice. “That just touched me, because of the loss of the connection.
“When I began this position, I felt it was important that we honour this day, even though it’s a very hard day. But it also creates awareness.”
The Indigenous post-secondary institution held its third annual Red Dress Day in Sault Ste. Marie Friday. Similar events are staged May 5 of each year across Turtle Island to honour and remember missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit and gender-diverse persons.
The final report for the national inquiry into MMIWG2S+ was released in 2019 and included a number of calls for change. It found Indigenous women and girls are 12 times more likely to be murdered or go missing than any other group in Canada.
Five years later, the majority of the inquiry's 231 calls to justice remained unanswered. It’s just one of many reasons why Indigenous Peoples in Canada hold awareness-themed events — like the one at SKG on Friday — year after year.
A teepee and sacred fire were established outside of SKG Friday as an opportunity for students and community members to offer their semaa, or tobacco, as a form of prayer. “The sacred fire offers us a place of healing, and it’s just comforting being able to share with other members in that circle that pain, or even the hope,” said Jamieson. “The hope is important too.”
Jamieson says there are a number of reasons why Indigenous people go missing or are victims of homicide. But it all goes back to the ongoing impacts of colonization and the residential school system, which was designed to strip Indigenous nations of their language and culture.
“The causes basically stem from our historical traumas, but there’s also addictions, family violence,” she said. “That all stems from the residential school system, and the lack of parenting — that generation that became parents, that were raised in that system, didn’t know how to properly care, or show or express their love to their children.”
An art activity with a red dress theme was part of SKG’s annual Red Dress event, with lunch provided by the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association and Nordik Institute. Jamieson also took it upon herself to create a series of red dresses that were affixed to the windows of the school in order to catch the eye of passing motorists on Queen Street East.
“It’s advocating, and showing our people that we can come together and we can have our voices heard — and we can heal from all that trauma,” Jamieson said.
- with files from The Canadian Press