Rally raises awareness of missing and murdered indigenous women

In February 2014, the body of 26-year-old Loretta Saunders, an Inuit woman from Labrador, was found dumped on the side of the Trans-Canada highway in New Brunswick.

Saunders was three months pregnant and was set to graduate from Saint Mary’s University in May. She had been writing her thesis on missing and murdered indigenous women at the time of her death.

Over the past 30 years, 1,026 indigenous women have been murdered and 160 went missing. Indigenous women make up 4.3 per cent of the Canadian population, but they account for 16 per cent of murdered women and 11.3 per cent of missing women in Canada.

There have been several calls for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women, all of them refused by the Canadian government.

The N'Swakamok Native Friendship Centre is sponsoring a Sisters in Spirit rally and march on Friday, October 2, to remind Sudbury of this crisis.

The centre is located at 110 Elm St., and the rally starts at 10 a.m. A traditional feast at the N’Swakamok Native Friendship Centre will follow the march.

The Sisters in Spirit is supported by the Greater Sudbury Police Service and the Council of Canadians.