For the third time in the last six years, Thompsonites gathered at the Miles Hart Bridge over the Burntwood River Oct. 2 to tie red ribbons on the bridge railings in memory of missing and murdered loved ones.
The first ribbon-tying in Thompson was held in later December 2015 and was modelled after an event organized by Rhonda Head, Paulene McGillivary, Janet Head and Jennifer Flett in Opaskwayak Cree Nation and The Pas. The last Thompson event was in 2018.
“A small group of us here in Thompson decided that we would follow suit because we have so many missing and murdered Indigenous people but missing and murdered people period,” said Bobbi Montean, organizer of the Thompson events, noting that there are at least 100 people from Northern Manitoba considered missing right now.
The ribbons were blessed by elder Marie Ballantyne before being tied onto the railing in order to honour the spirits of missing and murdered people, said Hilda Anderson-Pyrz, manager of the Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) liaison unit.
“We all are part of the solution in ending the genocide against indigenous women and girls,” said Anserson-Pyrz.
Elder Jack Robinson, who has had two people close to him go missing and never be seen again, said a prayer before dozens of participants walked down to the bridge to tie their ribbons.
“The ones that have gone missing are in a better place than we are,” said Robinson. “In our culture, we were told that they don’t need our prayers, we need theirs. We pray for the ones who are suffering today of not knowing what has happened to their loved ones. It is so hard every day for these people that have lost a loved one, not knowing what has happened to them, some still hoping every day they’ll hear from that loved one.”
