Missing mothers honoured with 500 km walk from Mishkeegogamang First Nation to Thunder Bay
'When we hurt, we always go to our mother,' says Mishkeegogamang Chief Connie Gray-McKay
About 20 people from Mishkeegogamang First Nation in northwestern Ontario are making a 500 kilometre journey to honour community members who have disappeared or been killed.
The walk, which is also a push for a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women, started on Saturday and is expected to end in Thunder Bay in two weeks.
Two women from Mishkeegogamang, Sarah Skunk and Viola Panacheese, have been missing since the 1990s, said Chief Connie Gray-Mckay, leaving a "real sense of deep wounding" in the community and their families.
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"Not knowing where their mother is all these years must be so difficult for them because when we hurt, we always go to our mother," Gray-McKay.
"A lot of people confide in their mothers and all these years these young adults, now older adults, haven't had the opportunity to go to their mother," she added. "So it's a real sense of sadness and loss."
Mishkeegogamang's population of about 900 people has experienced a disproportionate number of the missing and murdered, Gray-McKay said.
In addition to Skunk and Panacheese, there is the unsolved case of Rena Fox, who died in Thunder Bay. There are unsolved cases within the community as well, including the deaths of Lena Lawson, Thomas Lyons and Sophie Wasaykeesic, according to a news release from the community.
Gray-McKay said the walk is a demonstration of people's spirit and desire for healing and for answers through a national inquiry.
"Those answers would require resources and I really believe that's probably why there's a reluctance on the federal government's part to look at an inquiry," she said.
"Canadian people need to know the truth about conditions in First Nations communities," she added. "I think if people knew, there would be more support and our fellow citizens would help us."