The sod turning ceremony for the Sisters in Spirit monument was held last October. (File photo/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

MMIWG

Hope and the Future: MMIWG monument to arrive in Prince Albert this spring

Jan 3, 2021 | 9:06 AM

COVID-19 pandemic makes 2020 a year many may prefer to forget but there is hope for the future. We’ve decided to make that the focus of our series of end-of-year stories.

By the end of June, a long-awaited monument to honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), should have a new home on Prince Alberts’s riverbank across from First Ave. E.

Shirley Henderson, chair of the Prince Albert Grand Council Women’s Commission, has been involved with the project from the beginning.

“It’s going to be very exciting,” she said.

The Sisters in Spirit project was the idea of the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) Executive, who submitted a proposal to the federal government, and received the green light.

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Representatives from the city, Prince Albert Police Service, and Prince Albert Grand Council, attended the official sod-turning ceremony last fall. Henderson said the monument, which will depict a mother, a grandmother, and two children, will mean a lot to both the families and the women’s commission.

“Memories, I guess, and a place to gather and remember our loved ones that have gone missing,” she said.

The original plan was to unveil the monument last June, but the pandemic prevented the arrival of some necessary supplies from the United States.

In addition to the Sisters in Spirit monument, Henderson said she also hopes to see the return in June of the MMIWG walk, which was cancelled last year due to COVID-19. This year will mark the event’s 15th anniversary.

Families from all over Saskatchewan attend the annual MMIWG walk. (File photo/ paNOW Staff)

“It brings the people together,” Henderson said.

She explained the walk means a lot to the families, and provided one example of a man from Wollaston Lake who has a missing son and makes the long trip each year to attend the event.

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nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell