In memory of the missing and murdered: MMIWG2S+ event fosters local awareness

Samantha Kyle knows the hurt that comes with losing a loved one to gender-based violence. Her aunt, Shirley Taylor, was murdered in 1999 — the result of a violent relationship that claimed the life of a woman who she considered her “second mom.”

Speaking at this year’s memorial march for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit and Gender-Diverse Persons (MMIWG2S+), Kyle told the large crowd huddled outside the Sault Ste. Marie Courthouse Wednesday that the Crown was only able to pursue manslaughter charges against her aunt’s common-law spouse at the time.  

In 2019, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls learned that Indigenous women and girls are 12 times more likely to be murdered or missing than other women in Canada, and 16 times more likely than Caucasian women. 

“We went through a whole healing circle," Kyle, a member of Brunswick House First Nation, said to the crowd during the event. "We had ceremonies, which is why I’m able to stand up here today and talk about it without crying."

A number of speakers representing Indigenous communities in and around Sault Ste. Marie all spoke of the importance of the event, which is held on Feb. 14 each year in order to remember and honour the missing and murdered.    

Similar MMIWG2S+ memorial marches are staged across Canada on Valentine’s Day, spawned by a movement that began more than three decades ago in Vancouver’s downtown eastside, where a single march called attention to the disproportionately high numbers of missing and murdered Indigenous women in that neighbourhood.  

That’s why Kyle — who has made the red dress pins and signage that have been handed out at the memorial march in the Sault for years now — stressed the importance of preparing Indigenous children for what could potentially happen to them, much like she has done with her own offspring. 

“I need them to know what consent is, I need them to know what boundaries are, and I need them to understand that not all adults are safe — so if they see something, they have to say something,” she said. “Don’t just assume that somebody who wears a uniform or somebody who’s in a position of power is going to have your best interests at heart. You have to trust your instincts, because being polite gets you killed.”  

Leona Skye is living proof that not all adults are safe. She was first trafficked at the age of four, she told the crowd at Wednesday’s MMIWG2S+ event, and was raped more than 11,000 times before she reached the age of consent. 

According to the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Indigenous women are sexually assaulted three times more often than non-Indigenous women — and most of the women and children trafficked in Canada are, in fact, Indigenous.    

“I’m standing here today — alive — to honour my sisters and be able to speak their truths, even though they’re not here,” Skye said. “I suffer every day wondering why I survived and they didn’t.” 

Mayor Matthew Shoemaker used an appearance at Wednesday’s event in order to proclaim February 14th of each year a day to recognize MMIWG2S+ on behalf of the City of Sault Ste. Marie. 

“I also encourage all residents of the city to support this important national event, and to work as a community to heed the calls of justice found in the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Gender-Diverse Persons,” Shoemaker said.   

All 231 Calls for Justice that were created during the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls can be found on the inquiry’s website.