Concert, community honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls

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This article was published 13/08/2022 (1158 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the first time in two years, community members and the families of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls gathered together to honour their lost loved ones in St. John’s Park on Saturday.

No Stone Unturned, an annual concert and community event, was first organized 14 years ago as a response to Claudette Osborne-Tyo’s disappearance.

Her older sister, Point Douglas NDP MLA Bernadette Smith, was at times tearful when speaking of the unanswered questions that grip her family.

Then-21-year-old Osborne-Tyo went missing early on July 25, 2008. She was in the area of Selkirk Avenue and Charles Street the day prior and later went to the Lincoln Motor Hotel — now the Four Crowns Inn — on McPhillips Street, according to Winnipeg police.

Her family, fiancée and four children have been left behind as the police investigation slowed, Smith said.

“It’s really day-to-day — 14 years is a long time, no answers, and we don’t feel any closer to the police finding answers for us, so it’s really difficult,” Smith said.

“You wake up every day with her on your mind, you go to sleep with her on your mind, and things run through your head: What happened to her? Are they ever going to find her? Are we ever going to bring her home?”

At the time of her sister’s disappearance, her family was left, Smith said, having to call in people from Norway House to assist in a search.

“That really was hurtful, and we really see the disconnect between community and the issue. So it’s important to bring more people and connect them, that aren’t directly affected by somebody missing or murdered, to help them see the impact that it’s having, not only on the family or the person, but the whole community,” she said.

The past two years, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the concert was held virtually.

“Lots of families for the past couple of years have really felt isolated and alone,” Smith said.

“A lot of services were scaled back due to the pandemic, so they really felt alone… it’s important to bring people together to show the families there’s people who care. We need to stand united in ending this violence in Manitoba, in Winnipeg and right across the country.

The event in the park off Main Street included free food and resources for families of missing and murdered women and the wider community, as well as children’s activities.

“A lot of community members have voiced that they don’t know what to do, how to do it, how to support families — they want to do more, and this is a way to come together in a positive way on such a sorrowful issue, to wrap our arms around each other,” Smith said.

Saturday’s concert, which ran from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m., included performances from C-Weed; Black Hawk Band; Ivy Venin; concert founder Hector Menow; Kristen McKay; and Indian City, whose founding member, Vince Fontaine, died suddenly in January.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera