Community members gathered Oct. 4 to remember First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) women and girls who are missing or murdered.
The Beatty House and Rimbey Group of Amnesty International hosted a Sisters in Spirit Candlelight Vigil to remember the missing woman and girls who were taken from their families and their honour desecrated.
The vigil also allowed attendees to sign a petition addressed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper asking for an inquiry into the violence that plagues Canadian FNMI women and girls.
The first candlelight vigil was held in 2006 in 11 communities. This year more than 100 communities will remember the woman, girls and their families.
“Each of the murdered and missing women and girls has a story,” said Florence Stemo, Rimbey Group International Amnesty member.
Emotional statements and poems were read about mothers, daughters, sisters and grandmothers by family members.
One story was about Emily Osborn (LaPlante). Osborn was 78 years old when she was taken from her home in Kawacatoose, Sask. Her car, dog, medications and personal belongings were left at her house. Searches never turned up any sign of Osborn.
Those who gathered with their candles around the fire tossed in slips of paper with their names for remembrance. “As we throw the names into the fire let the rising smoke remind us of their spirits,” said Stamos.
Remembered were: Amber Redman, Beatrice Sinclair, Daleen Bosse, Georgina Papin, Claudette Osborne, Elizabeth Dorian, Lisa Marie Young, Maisy Odjick, Pamela Holopainen, Shannon Alexander, Tiffiany Morrison, Kelly Morrisseau, Lisa Faye Sheepskin and Shelley Joseph.
All missing or dead, all have families who remember them every day, as other communities remembered their pain on Oct. 4.