National movement calling for an end to violence against Aboriginal women

“It took me a really long time to come through the different stages of grief, and I lived a very, very hard life,” said Krista Shore, a speaker at Regina’s ‘Sisters in Spirit’ event.

Twelve years ago, Shore’s mother was murdered. The culprit was her uncle. She resorted to self-medicating to cope with the crisis, which led her down a dark road.

“I kind of fell within the cracks of the community, because of the pain that I had inside,” said Shore.

Now she’s working to support other women, by sharing her story at today’s ‘Sisters in Spirit’ event – a national movement to bring awareness to violence against Aboriginal women.

“This gathering is not only going to raise awareness about the missing and murdered and violence against Indigenous women, but it’s also going to help us heal together,” said Jaqueline Anaquod, an organizer for Regina’s ‘Sisters in Spirit’ event.

There are at least 18 open cases of missing First Nations’ women in the province. It’s a statistic that caught the attention of Amnesty International – they’re now pushing for a national inquiry.

“I think one of the things is just the sheer scale and large numbers of missing and murdered Aboriginal women in our communities right across Canada. And it’s unfortunately not getting the attention that it needs in terms of addressing this in a justice and human rights perspective,” said Gord Barnes, a field worker for Amnesty International.

The hope is to help people still searching for their loved ones. People, like Angela Grey, whose niece Richele Bear was just 22 years old at the time of her disappearance.

“She’s almost been gone for two months now, with no word on what’s going on,” said Angela Gray.

And watching and waiting for news of any kind, isn’t easy.

“It’s frustrating. I’m confused, I’m scared, and getting a little angry, not knowing what’s going on and not hearing anything,” said Gray.

While Gray and her family continue their search efforts, Krista Shore’s story ends with some answers. Her uncle was sent to prison with a life sentence.

“My heart goes out to the families of our sisters still missing out there. In my case I was fortunate that there was some closure in that way, that justice was served,” said Shore.