The Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) Women’s Commission is continuing with their work to raise awareness about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG).
Thursday in Prince Albert the commission held its annual walk to raise awareness about MMIWG. PAGC Women’s Commission Chairperson Shirley Henderson said this year’s walk, which marked the 19th time the commission has put it on, saw a good turnout.
“We had about, I would guesstimate about 125 people that came and we had families there that have lost missing or murdered individuals,” she said.
Among the families of missing and murdered people who came out were the parents of Happy Charles, Megan Gallagher, Kevin Charles along with the family of Lynn Nyland. Henderson said members of the families spoke about the impact of losing their loved ones.
“Brian (Gallagher) and his wife Deb were at the walk and Brian spoke at the Kinsmen Park about what it’s like to lose a loved one,” she said.
Before finishing at Kinsmen Park, walkers gathered on the riverbank in P.A. near the MMIWG monument. Henderson said the design of the memorial does a good job illustrating when someone goes missing how many different people are impacted.
“It effects the person who has gone missing, the mother, the grandmother and the child,” she said.
Since the walk got started 19 year ago, Henderson explained she has seen some positive changes when it comes to addressing MMIWG. One positive development she highlighted was PAGC developing their search and rescue team which works to find people who are reported missing.
“19 year ago we had no one to go to, I would receive calls that someone was missing and you just get you know, 10-15 people together and you just start looking, but now they have well trained individuals at the grand council who know how to conduct searches, ” she said.
Along with helping to raise awareness about MMIWG, Henderson said they hear from impacted families that they appreciate having the chance to come together with people going through a similar experience. She added this has lead to some families building bonds.
“The families have got to know each other and they maintain that contact,” she said.
(Top Photo: Walkers gather before heading over to Kinsmen Park Thursday. Photo courtesy of Sheryl Kimbley Facebook.)