REGINA -- On a day that recognizes and celebrates Indigenous voices, hundreds rallied at the Saskatchewan Legislature to mark the occasion and ignite calls for change to address systemic racism and violence against Indigenous people.
“We want everybody to be heard and not ignored,” said Tanyce June, an organizer of the rally. “First contact, residential schools, 60s Scoop, Starlight Tours, missing and murdered Indigenous peoples, day school and all of that.”
Many at the rally acknowledged the lasting effects those events still cause today.
“Not a lot of people understand the intergenerational trauma that’s been brought on by a lot of the stuff that’s occurred,” said Lorna Standingready, another organizer.
The rally’s title is intentionally different from commonly-held events focused on missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
“A lot of people don’t talk about men in this missing and murdered Indigenous peoples, so we wanted that to be acknowledged,” June said.
One of those men is Geoff Morris, who died on May 4, 2019 after being shot by a Regina police officer. His daughter, 16, chose to share his story.
“Not on my behalf, but for the behalf that choose not to because they feel as though they’re silenced and cannot,” Kahaila Morris said. “Things will happen and things will change because people are making more awareness and actually looking more at it instead of just looking away.”
Dozens more took time to tell their stories on the steps of the Legislative Building, hoping to spark a change that will see fewer missing and murdered Indigenous people in the future.
