Halifax group unveils project to honour missing, murdered aboriginal women

HALIFAX – The Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre unveiled a unique project on Friday to honour the more than 1,000 missing or murdered aboriginal women in Canada.

A 10-foot dreamcatcher is the newest addition to the centre, located on Gottingen Street. It’s made up of 1,187 smaller dream catchers, one for each murdered and missing aboriginal woman in the country.

There have been protests, petitions and frustrated pleas across Canada, all asking the federal government for a national inquiry on murdered and missing aboriginal women.

“I’m hoping when somebody comes in and takes a look at each one of those dreamcatchers and looks at the list of names that people will realize that these are actual women that have been lost to our communities,” said Pamela Glode-Desrochers, who works at the centre.

The centre is a non-profit organization that connects urban aboriginal people in the community and also provides social programs.

The project has been in the works for months, and Friday was its official unveiling, with all the names on display next to it.

“We’ve opted to write the names one at a time, by hand, so that it gives it a more of a home feeling so that these women know they’re part of our family,” said Debbie Eisan, who worked on the project.

The name of each woman will be attached to one of the dreamcatchers.

“Each person that makes up that statistic is a real person,” said Glode-Desrochers. “They had feelings, they had loved ones, they were real and they deserve to have a voice.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Each person that makes up that statistic is a real person," said Glode-Desrochers. "They had feelings, they had loved ones, they were real and they deserve to have a voice."

Eisan said they wanted people “to see just how large a number 1,187 actually is.”

The issue is one that touches communities all over Canada, and Halifax is no exception.

A march is held through the city’s streets each year to honour Tanya Brooks, a 35-year-old woman whose body was found was found in a ditch at St. Patrck’s-Alexandra School in May 2009.

More recently, the push for an inquiry was renewed after the murder of Loretta Saunders.

Saunders, who was pregnant, was writing her university thesis on missing and murdered aboriginal women when she was killed. Her body was left on the side of the road in New Brunswick.

Workers at the Friendship Centre said although their event isn’t about opening a national inquiry, they do support one.

They say more individual dreamcatchers will be added to the project as needed.