TORONTO – Outside of Toronto Police Headquarters, hundreds of people gathered for the eleventh Annual Strawberry Ceremony last Sunday to honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIW).
A vigil began at noon, followed by songs, sharing of personal experiences, a strawberry ceremony, and moments of silence. After that people marched through downtown Toronto and came together for a community feast held at the YMCA.
The ceremony for Indigenous women, girls, trans, and Two Spirits is the result of a vigil started more than 20 years ago in Vancouver. The No More Silence group began holding the ceremony on Valentine’s Day.
Event organizers have recognized that February is out of season for a ceremony involving strawberries, but said during the event “the violence we are experiencing is also a disruption in our traditional ways of life. We stand in defence of our lives and to demonstrate against the complicity of the state in the ongoing genocide of Indigenous women and the impunity of state institutions and actors (police, RCMP, coroners offices, the courts and an indifferent federal government) that prevents justice for all Indigenous peoples.”
Audrey Huntley, one of the organizers said, “We were honoured this year to welcome Bella Laboucan-Mclean’s family who attended for the first time travelling to Toronto from their home territory in Northern Alberta as they continue to see justice for Bella.”
In the past the event has been endorsed by hundreds of groups, ranging from large organizations to small grassroots bodies. This year countless more organizations of people engaged with these efforts and the need to acknowledge MMIW.
