About 70 people joined a Mother’s Day walk in Regina to honour missing and murdered indigenous women.
It’s the third annual walk held by the Prairie Region Public Service Alliance of Canada.
Dodie Ferguson walked with her sister, mom and daughter. They want to keep memories alive of the many mothers and daughters who are now gone.
“It’s frightening because you wake up every morning knowing someone is missing, and you go to bed every night knowing that person is still missing,” Ferguson said.
“The struggle is always there. These events just really remind us to be appreciative of what we’ve grown up with and what we’ve overcome, and it also helps us support our friends and families that are still facing these struggles.”
The hope is continued awareness of the issue will lead to more action by the government.
“They have adopted the Truth and Reconciliation report, and established a commission. That is not going to bring these women home — it’s not going to stop it from continuing, so we really need the federal government and provincial government to step up,” said Prairie Region PSAC vice-president Marianne Hladun.
Until then, many mothers are hoping to spur change by speaking out.
“There’s little kids without moms, there’s mothers that have lost their daughters — it’s very important. I even got my own mom out here with my son. It’s important to recognize it isn’t just faces — these are people involved in families,” participant Kori Baron said.
“I think that it’s very important that my daughter acknowledges and respects our past and all the hurt that went on, so that we remember these incidents and hopefully we never see them again in the future,” Ferguson said.
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