The holiday season usually presents people with a chance to reconnect with the ones that matter the most to them.
Unfortunately, countless families won’t get that chance this year, since some of their relatives have been murdered or reported missing.
This is especially true in Manitoba, where the homicide rate is the second highest in the country, with a disproportionate number of those murders affecting people in the Aboriginal community.
With this in mind, Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN) organized a public vigil at St. Joseph’s Ukrainian Catholic Church Dec. 9, where families from Cross Lake, Nelson House, Wabowden, Leaf Rapids and South Indian Lake all gathered together to collectively grieve the loss of their relatives.
“Christmas time is hard for a lot of families when they lose loved ones, because … that loss that’s there is so noticeable and we need to get past that,” said Jacquie Walker, a member of NCN from Nelson House who’s been organizing this event for four years now. “And coming together and supporting each other during that time makes it easier for them.”
One of the vigil attendees was Delia Saultier, whose 28-year-old son Mark Dumas was murdered back in July 2015. While Saultier said that her family from South Indian Lake is staying strong in the wake of this loss, she admits that the healing process has not been easy.
“It’s so tragic,” she said. “We had a closed casket funeral, so that was hard on my family, not being able to say their last goodbyes.”
Even though nothing will be able to fill that void in Saultier’s life, Walker organized a variety of activities and exercises to help pay tribute to the memory of Mark and the countless other loved ones who won’t be home for the holidays.
Outside of decorating candles, creating Christmas ornaments and enjoying a large communal feast, Walker also encouraged these different families to share a favourite memory of their deceased relatives.
“Because of that common experience we can also create a common bond amongst each other,” she said. “This way people get to know each other and support each other and understand each other’s pain.”
After the event wrapped up, Walker told Nickel Belt News that she much preferred the new format for this year’s vigil, which was focused exclusively on the families as opposed to inviting public speakers.
“We’d usually have the mayor of Thompson come in … we’ll have the member of Parliament that will come in and do a presentation,” she said. “It wasn’t what the families were hoping for, so we kind of changed it up this year to make it more personal and more engaging.”
Moving forward, Walker said that she wants to continue the healing process by organizing a series of support group meetings in Thompson during the new year.
These meetings are going to take place on a bi-weekly basis at 79 Selkirk Avenue, with the first one being scheduled for Jan. 8 at 6 p.m.
“This is a never-ending thing,” said Walker’s husband Felix, who also helped organize this year’s vigil. “This is a never ending moment that we will always live with. But it’s how we deal with it that’s important.”
