Awareness is the path toward justice. A common conversation linked to the missing and murdered women in Vancouver is the failing of the government and police forces to take action. Discrimination against aboriginal people is often cited as the reason behind the inaction of government forces. Just to give you context as to how severe the oversight is, a report written by the police themselves states that “a 2004 government survey of Aboriginal women and a 2011 Statistics Canada report both revealed rates of violence (including domestic violence and sexual assault) up to 3.5 times higher than for non-Aboriginal women” (Vancouver Police, 10). In this article the police admits to their oversight in the case of the missing and murdered aboriginal women and call for action.

This is where I think the work of Walking With Our Sisters plays an important role. This program asks volunteers to make moccasin tops that are “intentionally not sewn into moccasins to represent the unfinished lives of the women and girls” (“The Project”). I think what this project  allows people to grasp the gravity of the systemic racism and violence against aboriginal women in a tangible way. The foundation also was very clear in a video on their website that they stayed true to aboriginal traditions and ceremonies, as well as, making a point to follow the elders guidance (Muskrat,”Book Launch”). I thought it was also interesting in the video, they pointed out the importance of bringing the women lives and culture into the ceremony to and “not to Gawk” at them, but rather to commemorate them (Muskrat, “Book Launch”).

I think the idea that these women should be honoured in their natural heritage is what separates this project from other work that commemorates the women who lost their lives. I have noticed in my reading about the missing and murdered women that they always mention that the women are aboriginal, but they rarely go on to talk about them in any other context. Books like Missing Sarah: A Memoir of Loss and Forsaken, both texts that focus on the missing and murdered women, focus on the victims role as women not their race. This foundation marries the two. They make these moccasins to signify each women and honour their race through their traditions in ceremony.

This foundation raises important points to think about when remembering people. When we speak about groups in memoriam, especially those that have been victims, we must be careful to focus on their lives in a manner which they would appreciate. When speaking about groups that have been victims of a crime I find there to be a tendency for people to focus on giving that group agency to change a social problem instead of focusing on the individuals and thinking about how they want to be remembered. For example, in Forsaken, when there is no family backstory on a victim, a poem is written for them (Oppal, 39). How are we to know if that is how the women wanted to be remembered. Many people might say that any representation is better than none, but we also must ask ourselves if we are filling these silences in a manner that is representing a voiceless victim in a way they would have wanted.

Citation:

Magazine, Muskrat. “BOOK LAUNCH | Honouring Indigenous Women Vol. 2: Hearts of Nations | Faith Turner”. Online Video Clip. YouTube. YouTube, 21 Feb. 2014. Web. 17 March. 2016.

De Vries, Maggie. Missing Sarah: A memoir of Loss. Toronto: Penguin 2008. Print.

Oppal, Wally T. “Forsaken: The Report of the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry” Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication. 19 Nov. 2012. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

“The Project”. Walking With Our Sisters. N.P. N.D. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.

Vancouver Police, Sisterhood Watch. The Tragedy of Missing and Murdered(2011): 1-33. Vancouver Police Department, June 2011. Web. 17 Mar. 2016.