Remembering missing, slain women By: Katie May Posted: 8:49 PM CDT Sunday, Oct. 4, 2020 Last Modified: 9:58 AM CDT Monday, Oct. 5, 2020 Updates

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This article was published 04/10/2020 (1836 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Red dresses draped on trees and red ribbons tied to handrails and bridges stood in stark contrast to blustery grey skies Sunday — signs of respect for Indigenous women who have gone missing or been slain in Manitoba.

The province’s third annual day of honouring and awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) was marked with fewer public displays, leaving families to search for contactless outlets for their grief amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

A scaled-down outdoor vigil surrounding the MMIWG monument at The Forks Sunday afternoon saw roughly 30 people intermittently stop by in memory of relatives and friends they’ve lost, passing bundles of tobacco in honour of those lost souls. It was organized by NDP MLA Nahanni Fontaine — who introduced the bill in 2017 that led to Manitoba officially recognizing Oct. 4, which is also a national day of action in honour of MMIWG — and by Gerri Pangman, whose sister Jennifer McPherson was murdered in 2013.

Even during a pandemic, Pangman said, women are still going missing or being taken.

“It’s important never to stop,” she said, urging families to continue to speak out about injustice now, a year after a national MMIWG inquiry culminated in a final report and calls to action — some of which are still awaiting implementation in Manitoba.

Her mother, Betty Rourke, said it’s important to her to have a day dedicated to this kind of remembrance — although the grief never stops. She’s been checking in with other MMIWG support-group members by phone or text since pandemic restrictions prohibit their usual weekly meetings.

“That was so much healing for me, just to sit there with other family members and I knew what (they were) going through in their hearts, in their minds,” Rourke said.

“I really miss some of the family members, because I’ve gotten close to so many of them. I really miss seeing them.”

Rourke’s sister Jennifer Glenna Johnston was murdered on Aug. 17, 1980 — less than 40 years before her namesake niece was also killed. That’s part of the reason Rourke decided to participate in a virtual awareness campaign this year — she said she doesn’t want any other grieving families to feel alone.

“I lived through that loneliness by myself, when my sister was murdered; there was nobody to reach out to. So I guess I’m dealing with this COVID OK, but still I miss my extended family members,” Rourke said.

She was photographed as part of a social-media campaign happening this week via Manitoba Moon Voices. Every day until Oct. 10, the non-profit organization is posting portraits of six Manitoba families who’ve lost loved ones.

Sonya Ballantyne of Moon Voices said the campaign was born out of pandemic-related restrictions on public gatherings, but after seeing its early success Sunday with the ability to reach thousands of social media users, it may be expanded in the future.

“When it was evident that we weren’t going to be able to have a vigil in person, we decided that we would do this photo series as a way of honouring the families who have dealt with this sort of trauma, and (it’s) just a way to let people know we’re still out here, thinking about them,” Ballantyne said.

“When we hear ‘murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls,’ that often doesn’t include the people that are left behind, and I think the photo series helps remember the families who are left behind and how they’re impacted.”

 

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay