Victoria Stolen Sisters march remembers missing women

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Marchers carry signs saying 'Lost but not forgotten'

By Katie DeRosa, Victoria Times Colonist February 14, 2010 12:26 PM

An estimated 200 Victorians took to the streets this morning as part of a national event to remember indigenous women who are missing or have been murdered.

Victoria’s Stolen Sisters march, one of 10 such events taking place across Canada, was organized by the Native Students Union at the University of Victoria. The march, accompanied by First Nations drumming and prayers, began outside the Our Place drop-in centre on Pandora Avenue near Vancouver Street and culminated at Thunderbird Park on Belleville Street near the Royal B.C. Museum.

Marchers, many of whom held signs that said “Lost but not forgotten,” stopped at two places on Government Street where indigenous women were last seen before they disappeared. They also paused to remember 20-year-old Ariana May Simpson, who was pushed in front of a bus at the corner of Pandora Avenue and Quadra Street last February.

Trish Pal of the Native Students Union said Valentine’s Day was chosen for the march because it’s “a day to show our love, so we show our love to these women.”

Fifty-five-year old Maxine Little said she brought her five grandchildren, aged four months to 10 years, to the march so they can understand some of the issues facing indigenous women.

“I’ve been telling them about the ladies who have been going missing,” she said. “We’re thinking about them today.”

Janet Rogers, a co-organizer of the event, said she hopes the march will pressure the B.C. government into taking the issue of missing women seriously, especially given the 18 cases of missing or murdered women on the so-called “Highway of Tears” between Prince George and Prince Rupert.

“For this government to not respond to this issue is an act of prejudice,” she said.

© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist

TIMES COLONIST

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Calgary's 2nd Annual Valentine's Day Memorial March, Sunday February 14, 2010.

Scarboro United Church
134 Scarboro Ave. SW, Calgary
The march starts at 2:00 pm
Please arrive by 1:30 pm
Parking is available on site. Media welcome.

For more information please email: memorialmarchcalgary@live.ca

These Women Are Not Forgotten

Angela Pezzotti for SooNews.ca
Friday, February 13, 2009, 9:32AM

Members of Womyn 4 Social Justice were joined by students from St. Mary’s and St. Basil’s High Schools at noon on Thursday to remember the missing and murdered women in Canada.

The group lined Queen St. in front of the Court House and waved paper hearts and carried banners to raise awareness of the missing and murdered women from across the country and in particular that 80 percent of those missing and murdered are aboriginal women.

This is the second year that the Womyn 4 Social Justice has organized the vigil; it’s the first year the students have participated.

Rose Marie Valade leader of Chaplin Services at St. Mary’s said that students from the Knights Justice League, the schools social justice organization and a number of students from the native studies and language classes came to the vigil. “We are here standing in solidarity with our native brothers and sisters in support of their search for justice for the missing native women.” said Valade.
Bonnie Baranski of Womyn for Social Justice said they hold the vigil on Valentine’s Day because it’s about love. “These women are stilled loved. They are not forgotten.” said Baranski.

Baranski says the latest incident of a native women going missing was in Saskatchewan.
A 17 year old girl went to a party December 12th and hasn’t been seen since. A Calgary Sun article about the incident says the mother of Tara Lyn Poorman feels that because her daughter is native and was at a party the “authorities are not taking the case seriously”.


In August 2008 Gladys Radek a B.C. women walked through Sault Ste Marie on her way to Ottawa to call for a public inquiry in the missing and murdered women. Radek own 22 year old niece went missing along Highway 16 in B. C.

The 720km stretch of highway 16 between Prince George and Prince Rupert is referred to as the ‘highway of tears’ because of the number of women who go missing along this stretch.

http://www.soonews.ca/viewarticle.php?id=21143