MONTREAL – For the past 10 years , Aboriginal women and their supporters have been gathering in cities across Canada on Oct. 4 to march in memory of all the murdered and missing native women.
Every year, they pay tribute and give a voice to all the aboriginal women who no longer have a voice.
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In Montreal, hundreds of marchers gathered at Cabot Square, Sunday afternoon.
Photos of the missing and murdered women were a focal point in the square with people spontaneously coalescing around them.
According to organizers, the goal of the annual march and vigil is not only to remember the disappeared but to raise awareness about the systemic nature of the violence inflicted upon native women.
The group also hopes to put pressure on the federal government to fulfill resounding demands for a public inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW).
But as Gilles Rivet from Amnesty International says, the call for a national inquiry has been falling on deaf ears.
“This inquiry has been asked for by Indigenous women, Indigenous organizations, Amnesty International and all the organizations of human rights have been asking for that for years and years. And unfortunately it has not been created.”
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An RCMP report released earlier this year 1,186 identified 1,186 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women across Canada in the last 30 years. But Indigenous activists say the number is closer to 3,000.
To put that number in context, Quebec Native Women Inc. (QNW) says 1,186 native women is equivalent to 35,000 Canadian women, or 8,250 Quebecois women.
Francine Benoit, a French Canadian, said she came to support the cause, saying she was only made aware of the issue a few years ago when she lived on the west coast.
“We never talk about it on the French TV, on the French radio. Nothing.”
For Benoit, the march is personal. She says that she’s marching in memory of Sonia Thomas, 41, a friend’s sister who disappeared in British Columbia.
Benoit says it’s important to come out and learn about the issues and to show your support.
“I came to support them because the government didn’t do nothing about them. They don’t care.”
According to QNW, a national inquiry would avoid a duplication of efforts by different groups researching and tallying information about missing and murdered women and could lead to a targeted national action plan.
The theme of this year’s march is “Justice.”
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