This message contains sensitive content and could be triggering. For crisis supports here in BC please contact the KUU-US Crisis Line at 1-800-588-8717, or visit the First Nations Mental Health and Wellness Support page for additional support services.
Today marks the 33rd annual Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) Memorial March, also known as the Stolen Sisters Memorial March. The first march began in 1992 in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside (DTES) where community members demanded awareness and action because Indigenous and non-Indigenous women, girls and members of the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community were going missing or being murdered at alarming rates.
The names and faces of our women, girls and the 2SLGBTQQIA+ community are more than statistics and numbers; they are our loved ones, our mothers, aunties, daughters, nieces, Knowledge Keepers, nurturers, activists, community gatherers, and so much more. Indigenous women, girls and our Two-Spirit are sacred, strong and resilient members of our communities. They hold important wisdom and power for our individual and collective self-determination, resurgence and connection to land and our cultures. They have and continue to hold important roles to our wholistic wellness. Our thriving communities would not be what they are without them.
The FNHA, alongside our five regional Missing Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) coordinators, continue to work with First Nations organizations like Nuu Chah Nulth Tribal Council, Tsow Tun Le Lum and Indian Residential School Survivors Society, and many communities to support healing from our shared reality. This work is crucial to ensuring that Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit are heard, seen and protected.
February 14 is an opportunity for us to commemorate our sisters, young ones and Two-Spirit who have been stolen from us. We honour their lives, their legacy, and the loved ones they left behind. They will be remembered and loved, they will not be forgotten as we gather in ceremony, as we march and as we continue to share our stories of both heartbreak and resilience.
Together in wellness and solidarity,
The First Nations Health Authority
Resources and Support
For more information about Canada's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), click on these links:
National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls: https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/
Films and documentaries: https://www.kairoscanada.org/missing-murdered-indigenous-women-girls/films
Adaawk (A-Dow-ick) is a powerful and moving documentary that gives a glimpse into the lives of loved ones who are missing or murdered along the Highway of Tears.
The REDress Project: https://www.jaimeblackartist.com/exhibitions/
Sacred and Strong Report – Upholding Our Matriarchal Roles: The Health and Wellness Journeys of First Nations Women and Girls Living in BC (PDF, 154 pages)
Mental health and wellness supports are available here:
www.fnha.ca/what-we-do/mental-wellness-and-substance-use/mental-health-and-wellness-supports
Government of Canada Support Line
This website deals with topics which may negatively impact the reader due to its subject matter. If you are affected by the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQI+ people and need immediate emotional assistance, call 1-844-413-6649. You can also access long-term health support services such as mental health counselling, community-based emotional support and cultural services and some travel costs to see Elders and traditional healers. Family members seeking information about their missing or murdered loved one can access Family Information Liaison Units.
