In the wake of several high-profile missing person cases in the Thompson area, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) decided to put together a march on July 19 to let the public know what they can do to help.
At the beginning of Thursday’s walk, members of surrounding Indigenous communities gathered at the local MKO office on Selkirk Avenue around 2 p.m. and gradually made their way towards City Hall.
Once they arrived at MacLean Park, family members of missing people spoke to the crowd about how the ongoing search for their loved ones is affecting them mentally and physically.
Lac Brochet residents Tom and Jeanette Shaoullie were the first to speak, as their 26-year-old son Russell Hyslop went missing in Thompson June 19.
“I cannot stand here and explain how my heart goes or how it feels,” said Jeanette. “All we need is some support from our community, our surrounding communities, so with that I’d like to say: thank you.”
Luckily, this story does have a happy ending, since Hyslop was found alive a day later.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the next speaker Clara Bignell, who’s been relentlessly searching for her 60-year-old mother Dianne since she disappeared May 17.
In a previous conversation with the Thompson Citizen, Clara described her mother as 5’4” tall with a heavy build and shoulder-length grey hair, who couldn’t have gone far due to her bad knees and sore hip.
Although Clara struggled to get the words out during Thursday’s event, she managed to thank all the people who have been helping search for her mother on the Burntwood River for the last several weeks.
“Keep us in your prayers,” she said while wiping back tears. “I hope my mom comes home.”
However, representatives from the MKO were quick to point out that people can do a whole lot more than simply offer up their thoughts and prayers.
According to Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, a missing and murdered women liaison for the MKO, increased funding and resources for the Thompson RCMP would allow for more comprehensive searches in the surrounding area.
For private citizens, Anderson-Pyrz said the best way to pitch in is by helping these families directly, either by volunteering your time at a search site or by providing these groups with food, equipment or even temporary lodgings.
“You could also help by allowing some of the searchers who are coming in from the surrounding communities … opening your homes to them, giving them a place to stay, allowing them to shower there and stuff like that,” she said.
Anderson-Pyrz went on to say that most of these volunteer actions can be facilitated through the MKO’s local office at 55 Selkirk Avenue, since they can help anybody connect with these affected families directly.
For this purpose, anyone interested in helping these affected families can contact Kelvin Lynxleg, the executive director of MKO Thompson, at kelvin.lynxleg@mkonorth.com.
