The High Prairie Native Friendship Centre hosted the 15th annual Sisters in Spirit Walk Oct. 4. Well over 100 attended the walk to lend support to the cause. Friendship Centre executive director Carol Hanlon read a statement before the walk. “Oct. 4 is a day we honour the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, men, boys, and gender diverse people by showing our support for grieving families and creating a safe space to share and come together. The day reminds us all that we must continue to stand up in solidarity to prevent violence and create safer communities. Today we participate in a nationwide endeavour to raise awareness and ends this national tragedy. By having the conversations Sisters in Spirit creates, together we can make a difference by putting an end to violence against Indigenous women, girls, men, boys and gender diverse.” The statistics from 2015 do not lie and tell a solemn tale. Indigenous women account for four per cent of the female population but 24 per cent of female homicides in Canada. Indigenous women report rates of violence 3.5 times per cent times higher than non-Indigenous women and girls, and incidents of violence and death from violence occurs at rates five times higher than the national average.
