Thousands remember missing, murdered women in Vancouver DTES march
Posted February 14, 2018 5:42 pm.
Last Updated February 15, 2018 9:48 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Led by community elders and the sounds of drums and song, a couple thousand people took to the streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside Wednesday afternoon to remember and honour women murdered or missing in the urban neighbourhood.
It was 1992 when the murder of Cheryl Anne Joe sparked the march. The list of victims in Vancouver, however, has only since grown, and the names and pictures of dozens of women adorned banners, signs, and ribbons in the march.
The elders made several stops along the march route to pay respects and perform ceremonies at the sites where women were either last seen or found dead.
Myrna Cranmer has been a part of the march for nearly its entire 26-year history and she fears she may never see the day when it ends.
“We get together and we mourn. We mourn the women we have lost,” she said, pointing to the long list of names written on pamphlets handed out to march-goers. “Our women are living, our women have names, and we remember them. So goddammit everybody else, we are not your Indian princess and we are not your squaw.”
She says she is worried the cause of missing and murdered women, particularly indigenous women, has become a “flavour of the day” for artists and politicians.
“Last year I was sad. This year I’m getting really, really angry… We should have those streets filled with women and families.”
She and her fellow organizers criticized the Federal Government and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for a perceived lack of effort to reconcile past injustices and a failure of the ongoing Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.
“Canada, you really need to step up to the plate. Trudeau and [Minister of Justice] Jody Wilson-Raybould, you’re doing a rotten job,” she said.
Despite the mourning and anger, fellow organizer Carol Martin offered thoughts of hope for the future and the resilience of women.
“Us women, we will unite, we will stand together and strong and we will keep fighting for murdered and missing indigenous women, for women that are facing systematical injustices,” she said. “We will not stop. We will only continue and we will only get stronger.”
