New MMIWG monument a sacred place for families to gather, mourn
CBC
For 22 years, Sandra McNeil never had a place to grieve for her mom.
Dawn Carisse, who is Abenaki, disappeared in 2001 after fleeing the North Bay Psychiatric Hospital, where she was admitted after a brain injury caused short-term memory loss.
To this day, Carisse's case remains unresolved.
"I don't have a gravesite or anything I can actually go to … visit or talk to her," McNeil said.
On the longest day of the year, McNeil joined dozens of other families under a clear, sunny sky in ceremony to connect with their moms, sisters, daughters, cousins and aunties, and ensure they're never forgotten.
The first monument for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG) east of Winnipeg was unveiled last Wednesday on National Indigenous Peoples Day in Whitefish River First Nation, an Anishinaabe community of about 1,500 people located approximately 102 kilometres southwest of Sudbury, Ont.
WATCH | The story behind the new monument for MMIWG
It's a monument designed by families for families by Indigenous artists from Signature Memorials based in Orillia, Ont.
"It's somewhere I can attend to and visit and honour my mom," McNeil said.
When the green tarp was lifted, cheers rang out among the audience, which included First Nations leaders, members of the Ontario Provincial Police and other dignitaries.
The applause was quickly followed by a heavy wave of emotion that fell over the crowd.
For several minutes, no one spoke, as some family members wept and every one took in the monument's symbolism.
Its round shape represents the continuation of life, while its base looks like a drum to mark the beating heart.
A gap — a separation in the rock — runs down the monument's centre, signifying the missing.