By Alexandra Mehl, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter HA-SHILTH-SA

For more than three decades, ValentineB次元官网网址檚 Day in VancouverB次元官网网址檚 Downtown Eastside (DTES) has been marked with the commemoration of Indigenous women and girls who are missing and murdered.

But women and girls continue to be missing and murdered, leading family members and advocates to say not enough is being done to protect Indigenous people.

Sheridan Martin of Gitxsan Nation attended this yearB次元官网网址檚 memorial march with her mother, daughter and granddaughter to honor her sister, Cindy Martin, who went missing in 2018. For five years no one knew what happened to Cindy, but on Aug. 9 of 2023 CindyB次元官网网址檚 remains were discovered.

B次元官网网址淚f you rewind it 20 years ago, Cindy was the one that brought us here,B次元官网网址� said Sheridan of the DTES Memorial March, adding that Cindy was involved in advocating for missing and murdered women and girls.

Cindy had lived in Vancouver working as an Indigenous advocate for the school board and teaching Indigenous women and girls from the Downtown Eastside how to drum and sing. But at the time of her murder, she was in her hometown in northern B.C.

B次元官网网址淭his is important for me, because the murdered and missing Indigenous women started going missing in, probably, 1970,B次元官网网址� said Sheridan. B次元官网网址淔ast forward to 2024, and it hasnB次元官网网址檛 slowed down.B次元官网网址�

According to Statistics Canada, 490 Indigenous women and girls were murdered between 2009 and 2021, translating to a rate that is six times higher than non-Indigenous women.

Indigenous women and girls are overrepresented as victims of homicide. During this time period they made up almost three per cent of CanadaB次元官网网址檚 population, Statistics Canada reads, while accounting for between five and seven per cent of victims.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 highly aware that my granddaughter can go missing because sheB次元官网网址檚 Indigenous,B次元官网网址� said Sheradan. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 about my daughter going missing because sheB次元官网网址檚 Indigenous, because sheB次元官网网址檚 a woman, because sheB次元官网网址檚 a female.B次元官网网址�

Karen Williams of Gitxsan was at the march in memory of her sister, Alberta Williams, who went missing in 1989.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 very uplifting, very uplifting and positive,B次元官网网址� said Williams of the Memorial March. B次元官网网址淭o come and support one another.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚ndigenous women are not valued as women in a place where itB次元官网网址檚 our land,B次元官网网址� said Williams. B次元官网网址淲e should be standing together to stop that.B次元官网网址�

Carol Martin has worked in the DTES womenB次元官网网址檚 centre and been involved in the Memorial March since it began.

B次元官网网址淲omen still to this day continue to go missing, nothing has really changed,B次元官网网址� said Martin.

B次元官网网址淭his whole platform is to bring awareness that things havenB次元官网网址檛 changed for us Indigenous women, our sacred givers of life. TheyB次元官网网址檙e to be honored, theyB次元官网网址檙e to be respected.B次元官网网址�

But Martin shared that Canada needs to shift the way Indigenous women are thought of.

B次元官网网址淲hen the media starts talking about these things, the first thing they say is she was a working girl, or she lived a high-risk lifestyle,B次元官网网址� said Martin.

B次元官网网址淚 think at birth, weB次元官网网址檙e at a high-risk,B次元官网网址� Martin added, B次元官网网址渓ifestyle as Indigenous women.B次元官网网址�

The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls was published in 2019. Since then, Martin said that there has been very slow progress.

B次元官网网址淲hereB次元官网网址檚 the response from the government?B次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淭he work is not being put into place to make those changes, and it needs to happen soon.B次元官网网址�

For Sheridan Martin, layers of oppression, poverty and systemic racism need to be addressed to stop Indigenous women and girls from going missing.

B次元官网网址淗ow do we start peeling those layers back and really taking a look at how humanity has treated our Indigenous women and girls,B次元官网网址� said Sheridan.

B次元官网网址淲e have to stop them from going missing,B次元官网网址� added Sheradin. B次元官网网址淗ow do we put the face of humanity on each Indigenous woman and girl so theyB次元官网网址檙e not looked at as something to be killed and discarded?B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚f we stand in solidarity, we become a louder voice,B次元官网网址� she continued. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 not just one voice or thousands of voices, this march is sending out a message across Canada.B次元官网网址�

Sheridan hopes that in her granddaughterB次元官网网址檚 life she sees changes and that there no longer Indigenous people going missing and being murdered.

B次元官网网址淚 see that hope is still surviving, and hoping to find justice for what happened to the women - especially at the Pickton farm,B次元官网网址� said Carol, as she explained the yellow roses used in the march represent hope.

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