Saskatoon women add chapter to MMIWG book

The chapter begins with a story, but not one you’d tell to lull your children to sleep — not one you’d likely tell your children at all.

Beginning, middle and end, it’s a story of loss, anguish and trauma.

It’s the story of Daleen (Muskego) Bosse, a 25-year-old wife, mother and fourth-year university student from Onion Lake Cree Nation, who went missing from Saskatoon in 2004 and whose remains were found four years later.

Ten years after her disappearance, her killer, Douglas Hales, finally stood trial and was convicted of second-degree murder.

During the trial, gruesome details of her murder were recounted in court, traumatizing her family

all over again.

It was Daleen’s case that prompted the formation of Iskwewuk Ewichiwitochik (Women Walking Together), an organization that supports families like Daleen’s and is the subject of a chapter in a new book titled Keetsahnak/our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Sisters.

“It’s comforting to know that what we’re doing is actually working and people see that and recognize it,” said Darlene Okemaysimsicotte, an activist and Iskwewuk E-wichiwitochik co-chair.

“That always floors me and inspires me.”

Four years in the making, Keetsahnak explores the tension between personal, political and public action as it looks at the root causes of violence against women and helps create a model for antiviolence from an Indigenous perspective.

In Chapter 14, Okemaysimsicotte, together with educators Susan Gingell and Rita Bouvier, share how grassroots activism has helped address the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) in Saskatchewan and has supported the families torn apart by it.

Based out of Saskatoon, Iskwewuk E-wichiwitochik was founded in 2005. It is a grassroots organization with about 10 core members and is neither a nonprofit nor government funded.

Okemaysim-sicotte hopes that by sharing their story, others will see that you don’t need much to take action and make a difference.

The members of Iskwewuk Ewichiwitochik do two main things for families of missing or murdered Indigenous women and girls. Firstly, they provide immediate financial assistance to families in the initial stages after a family member goes missing, so they can travel, print posters and provide food for themselves and their family.

“What we also do predominately, is welcome them and invite them to share their story at a public event like our annual Sisters in Spirit walk,” said Okemaysim-sicotte.

She said sharing their stories is a way to improve public awareness of the issue of MMIWG and garner more support. Hearing about it on the news is one thing, but people wonder, “Who are these families? What are their names?” she said. “They want to get out of their head and to the heart and that’s the best way to do it.”

“Once they really see the pain and the love they have for their missing loved one, it really touches their heart, and that’s when the action can happen with them,” said Okemaysim-sicotte.

She said that’s when people feel inspired to donate money, host a potluck or attend an awareness event. Iskwewuk E-wichiwitochik also connects families with other families who have gone through similar experiences so that they “know they aren’t alone in their grief or in valuing and insisting on remembering the loved ones who have been taken.”

The organization’s work helps keep the issue of MMIWG at the forefront and counteracts the stereotype that women who go missing or are found murdered are poor, ill, uneducated, an alcoholic or drug addict and therefore deemed “throwaway people.”

Families of missing and murdered women and children have trouble eating, sleeping and simply thinking clearly, said Okemaysimsicotte. “Sometimes they need other people to speak with them and walk with them because they don’t know how to navigate this,” she said.

Able to provide more immediate support in some ways, Okemaysim-sicotte says Iskwewuk Ewichiwitochik fills a gap between families and mainstream services such as victim services and police.

“I think that plays a critical role in making sure that those service providers are aware that there is a local women’s group supporting them and helping them,” she said.

The book has 16 chapters in total that touch on topics such as gender violence, Indigenous myths and colonial resistance. A total of 36 people from across the country contributed to the book, which was edited by Kim Anderson, a Metis writer and associate professor at the University of Guelph, Maria Campbell, a Saskatoon-based Cree Metis author, playwright, facilitator and Elder and Christi Belcourt, a Michif visual artist from Manito Sahkahigan (Lac Ste. Anne, Alta.).

More information about the book can be found at www.uap. ualberta.ca.