Friday April 30 2021
On May 5, the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, we honour the missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls across Turtle Island.
It is chilling testament of colonialism that these sisters are taken and murdered on such a scale. Colonial tradition encourages police to look the other way and not thoroughly investigate crimes against Indigenous people, especially women and girls. They are not valued by settler society. Were there this level of murder and disappearance occurring in mainstream society, and our daughters, sisters and mothers were disappearing, no stone would remain unturned in seeking to make it stop.
Days of recognition and awareness like May 5 are somber, but necessary events. Indigenous women and girls have suffered physical and sexual violence at disproportionate rates for centuries.
If we were not in a pandemic, there would be many marches, demonstrations and public vigils. Still, you can seek out activities in your area, contact a friendship centre and other support groups to find out how you can demonstrate your honour and commitment in solidarity.
“Many people across Turtle Island are wearing red today to remember the women and girls who have gone missing from our communities, and whose lives were lost. My heart is with all those who have had their mother, daughter, auntie, cousin, friend, grandmother, or granddaughter go missing, and never return home.” – Regional Chief Marlene Poitras, Assembly of First Nations Alberta (Alberta Native News, May 5, 2020).
Settler society must reconcile our past and the role our ancestors, government, and the British Crown played in trying to erase and replace the original inhabitants of the land. This was “civilization” we were told.
There is nothing civilized about the colonial pain and hardship that lead us here. We remained silent as Indigenous children were abducted, robbed of their language, tradition and culture, and faced sexual and physical abuse.
Many of the original societies that existed here were matriarchal. Women and grandmothers were recognized and honoured for their inherent wisdom. They recognized balance. They celebrated feminine wisdom. It was not general practice to obscure or deny feminine power as we do through the patriarchy we live today.
SHOW YOUR SUPPORT:
Wear red.
Download, print, and post a poster: mmiwg_actionnow_poster_8.5×11.pdf (niwrc.org)
Contact your local MP or provincial official and ask what they are doing to fulfil the calls for justice and how they will protect Indigenous women and girls. What are they doing to decolonize their practices? Are there adequate resources, services and funding in place that are accessible to the Indigenous women and girls still facing inescapable violence?
Contact a local friendship centre and ask how you can support them.
It helps the families and communities in pain to know they are not alone and that others are also outraged and seek to stop such horrible practices that occur all over Turtle Island.
In solidarity,