Heidi Heavy Shield and Janice Randhile, manager of Indigenous Engagement and Student Supports at Medicine Hat College, played a traditional song on a Highway 1 overpass near the college Thursday during a march for missing and murdered Indigenous women with the Saamis Teepee seen in the background. - NEWS PHOTOS BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Dozens of supporters gathered at Medicine Hat College’s Centennial Hall on Thursday to participate in a Memorial March to Highway 1 for missing and murdered indigenous women.
The walk was the first official Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People walk held in Medicine Hat to raise awareness around the crisis and provide resources, information and healing methods for victims and families.
Participants gathered at the college for a series of speeches, a video presentation as well as drumming and songs to honour victims of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, who are three-times more likely to be victims of violence than non-Indigenous women in Canada.
Participants then banded together in solidarity, holding signs, singing, chanting and wearing red, as they marched to the Highway 1 overpass for a short demonstration above the highway which included more drumming and songs.
“The drum is our heartbeat,” said Heidi Heavy Shield. “Our songs are a way of honouring but also expressing the pain of showing strength. I think that you can’t say something in words, sometimes when it’s too painful or when it’s too emotional, you can’t quite find the words, songs will always show up.”
Four drummers, including Heavy Shield and Janice Randhile, event organizer and manager of Indigenous Engagement and Student Supports at Medicine Hat College, played a traditional song called the, “Grandmother song,” while vehicles passed by.
“It’s another form of prayer, by signing,” explained Randhile. “It was just another way of gathering that energy for everybody to feel, so that’s why we wanted to share that.
“Being here on the Trans Canada Highway, it’s a gateway to and from Saskatchewan and back through and it’s been used in different aspects considering missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, it’s been used for that reason as well.”
In Canada, prior to the national public inquiry into a human rights crisis in 2015, the topic was widely ignored and hidden.
Although data around the statistics has been argued, the RCMP said in the report there had been more than 12,000 missing and murdered Indigenous women between 1980 and 2012.
In Alberta, 206 Indigenous women were murdered during that same time period, accounting for 28 per cent of all female homicide victims in that period of 32 years.
“My heart is full,” said Randhile. “I feel so much gratitude and I’m so thankful that everybody showed up. I know some of them are students, some of them are community and they all came to show their support and solidarity.”
On Saturday, Medicine Hat will be joining the rest of Canada to host its first official MMIWG2S Memorial Walk, “No More Stolen Sisters” which begins at noon starting at City Hall and will include an Elder prayer and guest speakers before a walk.
Randhile, who is organizing Saturday’s walk, says her goal is to bring more awareness to Medicine Hat and make sure its not forgotten due to its geographic location in the province.
“It’s a beautiful city, there’s still things that we can bring from our perspective to just ask for that support.”
