A rally for murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls, called the #StandTogether rally, will take place in Prince George this Sunday (Sept. 23).
“We just want to be the voice of all of our stolen sisters, mothers and daughters. This is a national crisis and we want to bring awareness and open people’s eyes that this happens more often than not,” says organizer Cheyanne McNeil.
The rally will take place along the Highway of Tears beginning at the School District 57 parking lot. Participants will march along a path following Highway 16.
McNeil says her motivation to organize the #StandTogether rally was partly because of the recent deaths of Indigenous women in Northern B.C.
Jessica Patrick, who also went by the last name Balczer, was a 19-year-old member of the Lake Babine First Nation and was reported missing on Sept. 3.
Her body was found near Smithers on Sep. 15.
Her family and friends also called for communities along Highway 16 to stand along the highway on Sept. 20 to show respect for her family as her body was transported from Prince George to Smithers.
McNeil says she has asked Balczer's family for permission to use her name in support of the rally along with the hashtag #JusticeforJessica.
McNeil notes that on Sept. 14 the remains of Ashley-Johnson Barr, a 10-year-old girl from Alaska were found near her hometown of Kotzebue.
“A lot of times people go missing and you see their family on Facebook looking for them and nothing ever comes from that and it was just so devastating to have these two girls, who are so young and have such long lives ahead of them, taken away, and it’s all connected to the Highway of Tears.”
McNeil says since announcing the rally, she’s already seeing a lot of interest and support from the community.
“We have gathered quite some interested in it and I’m happy to see the Prince George community pushing it as hard as they are,” says McNeil. “We need the justice, we need answers, and we just want to make people aware so we are asking everyone to come down and support this.”
The march is open to anyone who would like to come to show support. McNeil says they are asking participants to paint a red line of on the left side of their face as a sign of solidarity.
She adds she and some friends and family got together and made signs with some statistics of missing women, which they will hand out at the rally. People are also welcome to make their own signs.
The march will start at 4 p.m. from the School District 57 parking lot, at 2100 Ferry Ave.
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