PHOTOS:Marlene Bird’s assault looms large over awareness walk
For 10 years, participants in the Honouring Our Sisters and Brothers Memorial Walk have gathered in Prince Albert to call for more action from senior levels of government against violence affecting First Nations people.
Thursday’s march featured the long-standing, yet-to-be fulfilled call for a federal inquiry into the issue of missing and murdered aboriginal women. The marchers made stops at four locations to pay their respects to a victim of violence at each place. They then made their way through the slowly dissipating rain to the Senator Allan Bird Memorial Centre where they would honour missing Regina-area girl Tamra Keepness.
But along the way, one recent victim of violence weighed heavily on the marchers: Marlene Darlene Bird.
Family of the 47-year-old Montreal Lake woman took part in the late morning march. Bird was seriously injured in an attack that left her with serious burns, which resulted in a double amputation and numerous skin grafts. She also sustained facial injuries requiring reconstructive surgery. She is now recovering in Edmonton’s University of Alberta Hospital, and is breathing on her own without the aid of life support.