Every year on October 4 communities gather to remember the women they’ve lost, who have gone missing or have been murdered. These annual vigils are a time for friends and family members to come together and remember, reflect and continue their healing journeys.
Vigils honouring lost mothers, sisters, daughters, cousins, aunts and grandmothers began in 2006, on the release day of Amnesty International’s Stolen Sisters report. The first vigil was held on Parliament Hill and since 2006, they’ve spread across the country.
Sisters in Spirit is the name of a Native Women’s Association of Canada initiative that began in 2005 and had the goal of researching and raising awareness about the high rates of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. The initiative was funded by Status of Women Canada until 2010.
Families of Sisters in Spirit started in 2011 and according to Bridget Tolley is still going strong. FSIS organizes the vigil in Ottawa each year.
Tolley said the vigils began to honour her mother Gladys, who was struck and killed by a Sûreté du Québec police cruiser on October 5, 2001. “This year is my mother's 15th Anniversary so it’s been quite the journey for justice,” she added.
“I want justice so bad for her. I need to make sure this doesn't happen to my family or any other family again,” Tolley said.
The event on Parliament Hill will begin at 11am on October 4. Find a vigil taking place near you on NWAC’s website here.
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