The annual Memorial Women’s March carried on through downtown Prince George this afternoon.
Hundreds turned out to the event, many dressed in red to show their support for missing and murdered Indigenous women and people.
The walkers started at the Native Friendship Centre at noon and proceeded to the Courthouse, where there was food, drumming, and speeches until 3:00.
This year’s march was attended by roughly four times as many people as the year prior – warmer temperature likely playing a large part – which Lheidli T’enneh Elder Darlene McIntosh was overwhelmed seeing.
“People are starting to get it,” she said. “People are starting to come and support First Nations people concerning our missing and murdered girls and boys. Words can’t express the gratitude I have for the awareness it is brining and the turnout.”
“Today is about bringing awareness to the spirits who have been lost who had no voice,” she continued. “Now we come together, we have a voice for them. It is overpowering, and I am sure they are here in spirit.”
McIntosh also said awareness for these issues is becoming more widespread and progress is being made.
An example she used was Charity and Cameron West, a Prince George who walked across Canada in 2023 to raise awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous women across the country. They were also present at the march.
“We didn’t have these numbers in years prior. This tells us people are acknowledging it and wanting to do something about it so this doesn’t happen again,” she said. “Something has to be done about it.”
The Women’s Memorial March started in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside in 1992 to honour the memory of an Indigenous woman who was murdered.