By Tiffany Goodwein

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women to be honoured Saturday

Jun 19, 2019 | 8:00 AM

Following a 1,200-page national inquiry report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, groups around the North Okanagan are hosting events Saturday to honour the lives of those affected.

In Vernon, the North Okanagan Friendship Centre is hosting a community wellness day. It takes place Saturday, June 22 at the Schubert Centre from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

In Armstrong, the Journey with Elders group is sponsoring a separate event, including workshops, at Memorial Park starting at 2 p.m.

“We are hoping to really support and uphold their stories and commemorate what has happened in the national inquiry,” North Okanagan Friendship Center Society Executive Director Patricia Wilson said.

Indigenous advocate Jody Leon of the Splatsin First Nation will serve as the keynote speaker at the Vernon event.

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“I think it’s important to talk about how this important report applies to what people can do,” Leon said, adding activism can take many forms.

“I was out driving my car and I saw an intoxicated woman out in my community. This was three days ago and RCMP had that woman down in handcuffs. You know, to me, I went over there and basically said to them, this is not acceptable,” Leon said.

In the past three years, a total of five women have gone missing in the Vernon area.

Deanna Wertz, Ashley Simpson, Caitlin Potts, Nicole Bell, and Traci Genereaux, whose body was found on a rural property on Salmon River Road in October 2017.

Leon said she will honour each person at the event on Saturday.

“I’ll be acknowledging that we have had an issue in the Splatsin community since 1972 when the first woman went missing in our area, and I’ve done lots and lots of work to raise the names of those women, for people to keep them in their memories and for people to do work to help the families,” she said.

The Armstrong event in the park will focus on peace and reconciliation, said organizer Molly Bono.

She described the Journey with Elders as a group of urban elders and others from the Splatsin and Okanagan First Nations who conduct community education in regard to current issues.

“We’re all about peace and harmony and we want people to to step up and do whatever they can to stop the violence against women and girls,” Bono said. “Everyone can make a difference.”

There will be a series of workshops and ceremonies at the park.

They include:

letter writing and activism
how to be a better ally (focusing of reconciliation)
the Cindy Gladue case in Ontario where a retrial will be heard
trauma (focussing on intergenerational harm)
the cultural history of the Splatsin and Okanagan First Nations
a ceremony to bring the First Nations together
hand drumming
children’s programs
BBQ for participants

The final report on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women was released June 3.

The report concluded that the treatment of missing and murdered Indigenous women amounted to a genocide.

A total of 231 recommendations were made as a result, calling for equality within the criminal justice system, more culturally appropriate treatment for victims, and measures to protect Indigenous culture.

The full report can be viewed here.

by Tiffany Goodwein

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