Walking With Our Sisters Six Nations

I had the privilege of visiting the Walking With Our Sisters Six Nations commemorative installation this past weekend.

Renee Hess shared the story of her granddaughter, Helyna, with me. It’s Mrs. Hess’s story to share, so I won’t go into details. However, the few minutes I spent with her was just a tiny sample of the time, effort and emotion generated by the tragedy we’ve dubbed MMIWG.

The commemorative installation consists of about 1,800 pairs of hand-decorated vamps (tops of moccasins). Many represent specific women or girls. Some honour them collectively. But each and every single vamp is an expression of time, thought, and effort. In short, each one is an expression of love.

Every single bead stitched into a vamp required planning and skill, and required its maker to set aside all other demands of daily life for a brief time.

For the sake of expedience, we’ve abbreviated Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls to MMIWG. In a busy world, I understand that. But sometimes short forms need to be unpacked.

By visiting the installation, we have an opportunity to unpack the acronym and make a true connection with those women and girls who are gone but who continue to be loved by their families, friends and communities.

The outpouring of love demonstrated at Walking With Our Sisters Six Nations is a testament to how many, and how much, lives were touched by those women and girls. They deserve our love, too. Mirko Petricevic Waterloo