By Bryan Eneas

A sister walks the prairies to remember her missing brother

Aug 16, 2016 | 8:40 AM

With the announcement of a national inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, some families want to keep the memory alive of their fathers, brothers, uncles and grandfathers as well.

“It’s not taking away from the women or anything like that. It’s not taking away from anybody else. It’s saying that this is just as important because the number of missing indigenous men, that go missing, is pretty high,” Colleen Whitedeer said.

Whitedeer will be walking between Prince Albert and Saskatoon to raise awareness of missing and murdered indigenous men in Canada. She said between 1987 and 2014, there are over 3,000 open or unsolved cases of Indigenous men across Canada. This is a cause that hits very close to home for Whitedeer. Her brother Timothy Charlette has not been seen or heard from since October 8, 2014.

While Whitedeer believes a national inquiry focusing on indigenous men isn’t far off, she has her concerns about what’s happening so far.

“People such as my family, we’re not somebody important. Our voices are kind of just out there. Not everybody seems to be included. People who are up there with their degrees, and what not, do get a say. I just feel that the inclusion of everybody who has been directly or indirectly affected by this – that we all contribute (to an inquiry),” Whitedeer said.

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She wished more had been done surrounding her brother’s disappearance. She believed the fact Charlette was Indigenous, homeless and struggling with addictions made his case less of a priority.

“A lot of these men, they’re caught up in the cracks, they don’t have a voice. Often there’s this stigma of these people… that they’re nobody,” she said.

Whitedeer said she expected to arrive in Saskatoon by Wednesday. The plan from there was to continue on to Regina, to continue raising awareness for the murdered and missing indigenous men across Canada.

Charlette was last seen on the rail bridge in P.A. His friend, Beatrice Adam, was found by two kayakers in the North Saskatchewan River, one day after they both were reported missing.

Bryan.Eneas@jpng.ca

On Twitter: @BryanEneas