Families invited to share testimonies
Quebec Native Women (QNW) and the Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal (NWSM) are teaming up to create a new province-wide map that’ll compile the stories of those affected by the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people.
A two-day long event will be hosted at the Golden Age Club in town next week to encourage families in Kahnawake to participate in particular.
“The goal is to offer a space for the families to come and speak about their stories, if they want to, and to discuss this mapping project together so that they can use it as a tool to commemorate their loved ones,” said Chléo Pelletier, who was hired by QNW as a consultant on the project.
The two-day event is being hosted with the help of the Family Violence Action Group in town. The event will run Thursday, from noon to 5 p.m., and the following day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. One-on-one discussions with those leading the project can also be arranged outside of those times.
The testimonies, photos, videos, or any other mementos provided by families that agree to take part will all feature in the commemorative online map once it’s complete.
It’ll be similar in nature to the Canada-wide “Safe Passage” map created in 2022 by the Native Women’s Association of Canada, Pelletier said, noting the number of disappearances per community. That map had gaps in its mapping of the crisis in the province, she said, which is why creating a Quebec specific mapping project is so important.
“I’m here to collect data, and also to explain the consent and confidentiality agreements involved to the participants,” said Pelletier, who is also pursuing a PhD at Laval University in Indigenous cultural heritage, with an interest in Innu culture, in particular. “Nothing will be shared without the consent of the families involved.”
The Université du Québec en Outaouais is also a partner in the mapping project. Testimonies first began being compiled by the two organizations leading the project in 2020, Pelletier said.
There will be lunch available for participants over the course of the two-day event, as well as counselling on site for anyone that needs it.
Rocks will also be available for participants to paint, with a walk planned down to the river afterwards each day. Tobacco will be burned, and participants can either leave their rocks there or bring them home.
