'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
RCMP uncovers alleged plot by 2 Montreal men to illegally sell drones, equipment to Libya
The RCMP says it has uncovered a plot by two men in Montreal to sell Chinese drones and military equipment to Libya illegally.
Demonstrators kicked out of Ontario legislature for disruption after failed keffiyeh vote
A group of demonstrators were kicked out of the legislature after a second NDP motion calling for unanimous consent to reverse a ban on the keffiyeh failed to pass.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Government agrees to US$138.7M settlement over FBI's botching of Larry Nassar assault allegations
The U.S. Justice Department announced a US$138.7 million settlement Tuesday with more than 100 people who accused the FBI of grossly mishandling allegations of sexual assault against Larry Nassar in 2015 and 2016, a critical time gap that allowed the sports doctor to continue to prey on victims before his arrest.
Man wanted in connection with deadly shooting in Toronto tops list of most wanted fugitives in Canada
A 35-year-old man wanted in connection with the murder of Toronto resident 29-year-old Sharmar Powell-Flowers nine months ago has topped the list of the BOLO program’s 25 most wanted fugitives across Canada, police announced Tuesday.
Doctors ask Liberal government to reconsider capital gains tax change
The Canadian Medical Association is asking the federal government to reconsider its proposed changes to capital gains taxation, arguing it will affect doctors' retirement savings.
Keeping these exotic pets is 'cruel' and 'dangerous,' Canadian animal advocates say
Canadian pet owners are finding companionship beyond dogs and cats. Tigers, alligators, scorpions and tarantulas are among some of the exotic pets they are keeping in private homes, which pose risks to public safety and animal welfare, advocates say.
Thieves use stolen forklift to rip cash machine out of U.K. bank
Police in the U.K. are searching for a group of suspects seen on video using a forklift to steal a cash machine from a bank.
'There was a lot of black smoke': Crane operator sounds alarm while trapped during highrise fire in Halifax
A tower crane operator alerted emergency crews after noticing a fire on a construction site in Halifax Tuesday morning.