Grief, frustration, hope: Range of emotions at Vancouver’s annual memorial march

More than three decades after the first footsteps fell, the annual memorial march for missing and murdered Indigenous women in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside has changed in many ways, but the heartache remains.

A huge crowd gathered for the annual Feb. 14 event which included speeches, a march, and deeply personal reflections from those most impacted by the disappearance of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit and trans people as well as their supporters.

“Until we no longer have our Indigenous women murdered or missing, we're going to have this march –I would hope that that doesn't mean we're going to have this march forever,” said Grace Howse, a member of the event organizing committee.

The event began in 1992 with the murder of a woman on Powell Street and has gained momentum and prominence over the decades as awareness of the nation-wide crisis grew, and demands for a national inquiry got louder and eventually came to fruition. 

PERSONAL CONNECTION FOR MANY ATTENDEES

The gathering was peppered with posters sjowing the faces of Indigenous women who disappeared or were found dead in the neighbourhood, elsewhere in B.C., and even an unidentified woman from Winnipeg believed to be a recent victim of a serial killer. 

“A lot of our women, a lot of our sisters have gone missing, including family members within my own household,” said Norma Nahanee, a member of the Squamish nation.

“We've had many family and friends that've either been assaulted, murdered, missing,” said Doreen MacFarlane, who brought her 86 year-old mother, a residential school survivor.

“It's the one day of the year we can come together as indigenous people and have our voices heard, that we're still here.” 

Ryan Ajecoutay, who was there with his two young children, found solace in the sense of community and camaraderie, which others echoed as well.

“It's good for me, it's good for my family, good for everybody else too,” he said.

Howse agreed that there are many layers to the event, noting “this is about learning how to grieve together, how to take our collective sadness as a community to try to lift one another up.”

WIDESPREAD SUPPORT AND ACTION

The Indigenous population continues to bear the brunt of overlapping crises of poverty, racial discrimination, and gender-based violence. 

The province issued a statement on behalf of the premier and two cabinet ministers saying, "The urgency of this issue and the need for progress on reconciliation and meaningful action is woven throughout everything we do” which includes supportive housing and culturally-responsive sexual assault services.

But CTV News repeatedly heard comments that not enough was being done, and that for many families and observers, there is a sense of frustration because it feels little has improved over the years despite ongoing and tragic disappearances as well as growing awareness of systemic racism. 

“We really want to be justice to be found for the number of people that've gone missing in the Aboriginal community,” said Satbir Garcha, a turbaned Sikh who wanted to show his solidarity by witnessing the speeches and hearing stories.

His participation is exactly the type of broad-based support many elders have been hoping and waiting for.

“It gives me hope,” said Sandra Bell, originally from Haida Gwaii. “Because when there's more recognition paid to it and the more people pay attention to it, the better -- not just our people, we need people from all walks of life.”