Supporters from Prince George and local First Nations gathered on Valentine's Day to raise awareness and show support for Indigenous missing and murdered women, girls, and Two-Spirit people.
The march took place from Friday, Feb. 14 from 12:30-3:30 p.m. Supporters gathered outside The Native Friendship Centre and headed to the Prince George Courthouse, where they shared their stories.
Prince George was just one of several locations across BC where people gathered to bring attention to this ongoing issue affecting Indigenous communities nationwide.
“This event has been happening since 1992 in Vancouver,” said Mary Teegee, executive director at Carrier Sekani Family Services. “We have to hold these marches to ensure that people never forget that the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people, along with gender-based violence, is still very real. As a country, we need to keep reminding everyone that this ongoing problem persists. Marches like this also give hope — not just to Canadians, but to our people, to First Nations communities, to our Indigenous people, and to Indigenous young women and girls, including those in the LGBTQ+ community. We want them to know that we care and that we hear them.”
Teegee, who attended the march, told The Citizen that this issue is not going away anytime soon, and that events like this are essential for bringing humanity to this nationwide crisis.
“It’s still ongoing,” said Teegee. “Look at Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and here in BC. There’s still a lack of awareness, or maybe a lack of empathy in some cases, or people don’t realize how real it is until they lose someone themselves or know someone who goes missing. It’s not just about changing minds—it’s about changing hearts. It’s about getting these stories out there and humanizing the statistics.”
To date, there are 160 cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in British Columbia. Of those, 80 cases occurred along Highway 16, known as the Highway of Tears, making this issue even more personal for Indigenous communities in and around Prince George.
“The event is so important in Prince George because we have a large urban Indigenous population,” said Julie Daum, executive director of justice at Carrier Sekani. “Prince George serves all of the communities along Highway 16 and is a major hub for Indigenous people in the north.”
Daum told The Citizen that while raising awareness is important, real change is needed at both the national and local levels.
“Awareness is important, but what I would like to see is more action,” said Daum. “We need more people showing up, more people lending their voices and actions to the message that we need change — change in systems, attitudes, values, and stereotypes. There are many opportunities for people to learn about Indigenous issues, to lobby politicians, mayors, MPs, and MLAs to allocate funding to help address this crisis.”
Daum also spoke about the significance of holding the event on Valentine’s Day.
“I love that it happens on this day,” said Daum. “It reminds us that love isn’t enough. We can say it as a noun, but it needs to be a verb. We need to take action. We need to lend our voices, our feet, and our lobbying power to governments to help stop this.”
