A lasting memorial for MMIWG
Students build MMIWG memorial for LNG Canada
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This article was published 10/12/2018 (2517 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Two R.B. Russell Vocational High School welding students are raising awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls using their trade.
Grade 12 students Trinity Harry and Joseph Ginter spent more than 300 hours in their welding class designing and building a metal tree and red dress to honour the families of all missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada.
“It feels pretty good to be a voice for people who can’t speak up for themselves, so I find that’s important,” Harry said.
In March, Harry, who is Ojibwa from Little Black River, and Ginter, who is Oji-Cree from Garden Hill, also partnered to weld a rose and donated it to Tina Fontaine’s family who then donated it to Ndinawe Youth Resource Centre. That was the first project they did together to raise awareness of the issues around missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada.
This time, they engaged in a more complex project. The base features the seven sacred teachings and gives support to a dying metal tree where a red dress with the phrase “You are not forgotten” and two roses engraved hangs. The branches also feature metal leaves with the provinces engraved, because “there are missing girls in each province too,” Harry said.
“We felt that the dress should be on there because it goes with the whole point we are trying to get to.”
The tree represents the national crisis Indigenous women and girls face in Canada. The tree is dying and can only become healthy again when people show compassion and empathy in allowing the healing process. The eagle sitting in the tree represents love and reminds all that the more than 1,200 missing women and girls are loved by their families and friends.
LNG Canada, a large industrial energy project that will build and operate an LNG liquefaction, storage and loading terminal in the port of Kitimat, B.C., asked the two students to lead activities at an educational camp called Mind Over Metal in British Columbia in August. The weeklong program was held at Kitimat Valley Institute through a partnership with Canadian Welding Association. MOM focuses on introducing welding and Indigenous concepts and culture to students aged 12 to 15 years old.
The memorial was requested and sponsored by LNG Canada, and because it will be placed in Kitimat, the students also added a salmon in the eagle’s talons to give thanks and honour the Haisla Nation for allowing the piece to be placed on their traditional territory.
“They welcomed us back to run another MOM this summer, and we thank them for sponsoring this project. We couldn’t have done it without (welding teacher) Mike Johnston and LNG’s support,” Harry said.
