Dozens gathered in Caledonia Friday night to remember and call for action on missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.
Students of North Queens Community School’s Citizenship Education class held the ceremony in Miriam Hunt Park to wrap their months long project on the subject.
The students put together Red Dress displays at their school, Miriam Hunt Park, and Wildcat First Nation Reserve.
The evening featured music and a prayer by Wildcat artist Melissa Labrador as well as songs sung by her children Nakuset and Tepkunaset.
The Beating Hearts Drummers also sang and danced at the event and imparted some knowledge to the audience as well.
Students stood by their signs with flashlights explaining some of the devastating facts about the issues, dresses hanging from trees behind them.
A ceremonial dress sewn by Carrie-Ann Whynot, Candace Nanibush, and Val Whynot featured prominently in the centre of the gazebo.
Ira Reinhardt-Smith, was a student spokesperson for the project.
He says he was saddened when they learned about the issues facing aboriginal women.
“It’s been really sad and horrible to find all the facts and what it means to all the different families but it’s really eye-opening, it’s showing us some of the bad sides of Canada,” he says.
Reinhardt-Smith says the project has made the students more connected to the local Mi’kmaq community.
“I’m really happy … that’s very important to us.”
Student spokesperson Gracie Reeves says she feels more people need to know about the problems facing First Nations people.
“It’s a big, big issue, not just in our community but everywhere in Canada.”
Acadia First Nation Chief Deborah Robinson was the first guest to speak at the ceremony.
She told attendees she couldn’t think of a better place to spend International Women’s Day.
Robinson says Grade 9 was when she started to get involved in politics and praised the students and community for looking at the issue.
“It hurts and affects everyone of us when we hear the staggering numbers of how many indigenous women and girls are still missing and unaccounted for.”
According to the Native Women’s Association of Canada aboriginal women 15 years and older are 3.5 times more likely to experience violence than non-Aboriginal women.
Numbers show anywhere between 1,000 and 4,000 indigenous women and girls have gone missing since the 1970s.
Robinson urged those present to remember to treat these women, not just like another statistic or face on the news, but as individuals loved by their families.
Story and photo by Brittany Wentzell
Twitter: @BrittWentzell
Email: wentzell.brittany@radioabl.ca
