Gone but not forgotten.
That is Splatsin woman Jody Leon's mission, to ensure that murdered and missing Indigenous women in Canada will not be overlooked and is organizing a rally to keep them in the spotlight.
The No More Stolen Sisters rally will focus on justice for all Missing Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2 Spirit people (MMIWG2S), with an emphasis on the three local women who most recently went missing in the Okanagan and Shuswap. The event takes place Thursday, May 1 at 1 p.m. at the Splatsin Community Centre, 5767 Old Vernon Rd.
In 2016, Indigenous women Deanna Wertz, 46, and Caitlin Potts, 27, were reported missing from Yankee Flats and Enderby respectively, while Vernon's Traci Genereaux, 18, was declared missing in the spring of 2017. While her remains were found on the Sagmoen farm in Silver Creek that October, no charges have ever been laid.
Those women's families will be at the rally, and Leon is calling for everyone, all First Nations and allies, to attend.
"The focus will be asking for accountability, protection and safety for our Indigenous women on our unceded lands," she said in a media release. "This rally will be for our Secw茅pemc and Syilx people to speak about their loved MMIWG2S, many for the first time."
Speakers will include former Neskonlith kukpi7 (chief ) Judy Wilson, and a woman from Adams Lake who will talk about her family's experience with a cold case from 1972. Advocate Glady Radek from the Highway of Tears and Walk4Justice and Bernie Williams with Downtown Eastside MMIWG2S will also be attending.
Participants are expected from as far away as Vancouver and Prince George, with organizations representing sex trade workers, residential school survivors, battered women and an expert who fights human trafficking. There will also be a Search, Recovery and Detection K-9s dog team that will give a demonstration and provide people information on how to conduct a search.
"All transition houses and organizations that support MMIWG2S have been invited from all four directions, all races, all allies," Leon said.
Leon, who holds degrees in law and social work, has made justice for MMIWG2S her life's work since being asked by Priscilla Potts to search for her daughter at the time of her disappearance. She has organized walks, rallies and calls for justice since then, and will be holding a symbolic search for Wertz and Potts on June 21, National Indigenous People Day.
Families are invited to contact Leon if they have photos of the missing they would like to have displayed, and anyone who would like to help cover costs of this event and others for MMIWG2S. Event inquiries can be directed to mmiwg2s@gmail.com, and e-transfers to Jody_royce@hotmail.com.
