By Bryan Eneas

Sisters in Spirit vigils honour missing and murdered women and girls

Oct 4, 2016 | 5:00 PM

Across the country, many families have received little to no closure regarding their missing or murdered grandmothers, mothers, aunts and daughters.

October 4 has become a national day to honour these lost family members. Sisters in Spirit events were held today in Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, La Loche, La Ronge and Onion Lake.

In Prince Albert, Sheryl Kimbley from the Prince Albert Grand Council is part of a team who came together on short notice to organize a candle light vigil.

“The RCMP had been wanting to do this for some time, and they contacted me very quickly,” Kimbley said. “Anything we can do to keep this issue to the forefront, we will continue to do. It feels really good to be standing shoulder to shoulder with everybody across the country and saying ‘this is on our radar.’”

Kimbley was told in a meeting with RCMP officers 26 women are currently missing in Saskatchewan.

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“To me that is just ridiculous,” Kimbley said. “One (missing woman) is too many.”

Senator Harry Cook, from the Lac La Ronge Indian Band was in P.A. for the vigil. He said Prince Albert is an important location to hold an event like this because of the large First Nations population in the city. He said today’s vigil showed an increase in awareness about missing and murdered women and girls.

“It means that people from the police units, the RCMP, the city police and people generally are very worried about what has happened in the past,” Cook said. “People need to know what happened in the past, what to look for today, and how we go forward in the future for our concerns in safety and health.”

In La Ronge, the Piawapan Women’s Center organizes a mile long walk in honour of missing and murdered women and girls. Honey Bernatchez is responsible for organizing this year’s walk. She said participation has grown every year.

“The first one they had, (the vigil) there wasn’t many people. Since then, it’s just been growing and growing, it’s pretty cool,” she said.

According to Bernatchez, last year’s vigil was also attended by schools in the area. She said this shows a growing interest in an important issue.

“We need to do something to try and let people know and make people see how much of a problem it is,” Bernatchez said. “It’s nice to see that more and more people are coming.”

Bryan.Eneas@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @bryaneneas