Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
Our school had our first “Powwow for Reconciliation” in June 2016. My students and I had an active part in planning the Powwow, from learning drum songs, to making tobacco bundles for the elders, to creating awareness around Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls through our work with Justice for Indigenous Women and The Red Dress Project. Each student at the school was invited to create a picture of a red dress after learning about the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women from family members. The red dresses were a prominent feature at the powwow, allowing people to reflect and learn about the lives of the missing and murdered women. The Indigenous students who were dancing at the powwow not only got to show their non-indigenous friends their regalia and their dance moves, they also got to see that they have true allies in their school community. It was an extraordinarily powerful day.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/gatineau-school-powwow-1.3582832
Tears for Justice
GLADYS RADEK is our hero. She is just amazing. She has walked across Canada to seek justice for murdered and missing women. And Gladys has an artificial leg. But that doesn’t stop her. We helped get Gladys’ van, the WAR PONY, ready for the cross-Canada walk this summer from Cape Breton, NS to Prince Rupert, BC. Gladys has become a real friend, coming in to speak to our class several times.
Learn more about Gladys here. She was nominated as one of the CBC Canadian Champions of Change!
The pictures below are of us the day we helped Gladys get the War pony ready. We were honored to have Theland Kicknosway and his mother Elaine with us.
