'Kokum won't forget you': Sask. Elder finds hope for MMIWG through Sisters in Spirit walk
Lorna Standingready knows how it feels when a loved one goes missing. Her 14-year-old great-granddaughter disappeared last winter.
“It’s devastating. You’re there and you’re crying (wondering) where is she,” she said.
Eventually she was found safe.
“I was praying from the bottom of my heart,” Standingready said. “Praying that she would be found and she was.”
Standingready is one of dozens who participated in the Regina Police Service’s (RPS) Sisters in Spirit Walk for Healing on Tuesday afternoon.
Sisters in Spirit is a national event held annually on Oct. 4 to honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG).
“Those that are still out there, that’s why I walk,” she said.
“I will walk to let them know kokum won’t forget you.”
RPS organized its first Sisters in Spirit walk last year.
“It’s really important to show families that we are there for them to support them,” said Heather Shepard with the RPS Community and Cultural Diversity Unit.
“We are there from the beginning and we walk with you. Whether it’s from patrol, to major crimes involvement or forensic identification, we have a number of members who are involved in cases with MMIWG.”
Dozens walked from the Mamaweyatitan Centre to the RCMP Heritage Centre for the annual Sisters in Spirit event. (Allison Bamford/CTV News)
Crystal George was another participant. She was the niece of Pamela George, an Indigenous woman who was murdered in Regina in 1995. George was also the stepmother of Keesha Bitternose, the 29-year-old mother of four who was brutally killed in 2020.
As an Indigenous mother and grandmother, George said many suffer from intergenerational trauma.
“A lot of the non-Indigenous community don’t understand the life that we live and how can we make them understand?” she said.
Crystal George walked in honour of her aunt Pamela George and stepdaughter Keesha Bitternose. (Allison Bamford/CTV News)
George said there is distrust between many Indigenous people and the police. However, she said she is grateful for events like the Sisters in Spirit walk that help strengthen Indigenous-police relations.
“We have to create those relationships with RPS and the courts. We still need to decolonize in a lot of aspects in the justice system,” she said.
“We need to really put forward in trusting them and forgiving all the people that have wronged us and hurt us.”
Dozens of participants walked 3.4 km from the Mâmawêyatitân Centre to the RCMP Heritage Centre where they laid roses around the Place of Reflection in memory of the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
“It’s important to remember that they are not a number. They are people; they are loved; they are missed and we need to honour them and remember them,” said victim services liaison Rhonda Fiddler.
Forty-six names were attached to the roses, which represented the number of Indigenous women and girls who have been murdered or gone missing in Regina in the last 10 years, Fiddler said.
Forty-one were murdered and five are still missing. Although, Fiddler said there could be more names that have been missed.
RPS have plans to continue the annual walk for at least the next two years.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
DEVELOPING Man sets self on fire outside New York court where Trump trial underway
A man set himself on fire on Friday outside the New York courthouse where Donald Trump's historic hush-money trial was taking place as jury selection wrapped up, but officials said he did not appear to have been targeting Trump.
Mandisa, Grammy award-winning 'American Idol' alum, dead at 47
Soulful gospel artist Mandisa, a Grammy-winning singer who got her start as a contestant on 'American Idol' in 2006, has died, according to a statement on her verified social media. She was 47.
She set out to find a husband in a year. Then she matched with a guy on a dating app on the other side of the world
Scottish comedian Samantha Hannah was working on a comedy show about finding a husband when Toby Hunter came into her life. What happened next surprised them both.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
Young people 'tortured' if stolen vehicle operations fail, Montreal police tell MPs
One day after a Montreal police officer fired gunshots at a suspect in a stolen vehicle, senior officers were telling parliamentarians that organized crime groups are recruiting people as young as 15 in the city to steal cars so that they can be shipped overseas.
Vicious attack on a dog ends with charges for northern Ont. suspect
Police in Sault Ste. Marie charged a 22-year-old man with animal cruelty following an attack on a dog Thursday morning.
The Body Shop Canada explores sale as demand outpaces inventory: court filing
The Body Shop Canada is exploring a sale as it struggles to get its hands on enough inventory to keep up with "robust" sales after announcing it would file for creditor protection and close 33 stores.
Tropical fish stolen from Beachburg, Ont. restaurant found and returned
Ontario Provincial Police have landed a suspect following a fishy theft in Beachburg, Ont.
U.S. FAA launches investigation into unauthorized personnel in cockpit of Colorado Rockies flight to Toronto
The U.S.’s Federal Aviation Administration is investigating a video that appears to show unauthorized personnel in the cockpit of a charted Colorado Rockies flight to Toronto.