Memorial held for missing and murdered women

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A group of close to 60 people gathered together at the Oak Street Housing Co-op in Toronto on March 12 to remember and honor the hundreds of Aboriginal women and children that have gone missing or have been murdered in Canada over the past four decades. The families and friends of those being honored were among those gathered, and the names of each of the missing and murdered-more than 300 in total, some whose disappearances date as far back as 1965-were read aloud by those taking part in the memorial.

"We had a whole diversity of people who read the names, so it does affect all of us," said activist Amber O'Hara, who has been hosting the annual memorial and feast for five years. "Seeing the families' faces at the memorial was just heart-breaking. I don't think that there was a person in attendance who wasn't crying. Even some reporters had tears in their eyes."

When O'Hara hosted the first memorial in a Toronto park five years ago, only five people were in attendance. She said each of the memorials has been filled with touching moments, but this year's was especially powerful.

"This year was especially touching because the families made it what it was. Three of them courageously came forward and shared their stories and these were the ones that are unsolved cases."

Everyone who attended was asked to bring a pair of shoes- baby shoes, or the type that would be worn by a young girl, a grown woman or a grandmother-in honor of the missing women and children. About 50 pairs of shoes were collected and pointed toward the western door, which in the Ojibwe tradition is the doorway to death.

"This was to represent with their deaths and disappearances that many shoes are left unfilled and many families are left wondering where their loved ones have gone."

O'Hara knows all too well about how unjust the system can be in the worst of times. Almost 16 years ago, she was raped, stabbed and left for dead.

"It was a definite racist attack on me, it was a planned attack on me," she said.

Eight months later, she called the police to tell them that whoever raped her had infected her with HIV. The police response, O'Hara said, was to say that they couldn't find her file.

"I lived the life of prostituting, drug addictions and being an alcoholic for 13 years but somebody had faith in me and told me that I could make a change in my life and that's what I did," O'Hara said. "When I was infected with HIV, that's really when my life changed."

O'Hara's dedication to creating awareness about the many cases that remain unsolved or that have never been investigated is clearly evident through her work with the memorials. For the last four years she's hosted and supported the memorial and feast on her own. This year the women of the No More Silence Network (NMSN), as well as other organizations, assisted O'Hara in providing food for the feast. The NMSN also provided tobacco ties that everyone received and also ensured that media attended the event.

"It was nice to see other groups getting involved and saying this affects me to," said O'Hara.

The NMSN was formed about a year ago. According to a press release, the coalition is made up of individuals and organizations "seeking to restore justice to Indigenous communities."

"These women involved in the NMSN are all very committed to see that justice is done for the Aboriginal people here in Canada surrounding these cases," said O'Hara.

Through her travels into many First Nations communities across Canada as an AIDS educator, O'Hara said she has heard many stories and seen countless posters of missing women and children. That, she said, is the reason for her efforts to ensure these people are not forgotten.

"Whenever I would see one of those posters, I would remember Betty Osborne and I would get really angry," said O'Hara.

Helen Betty Osborne was only 19 years old when she was brutally beaten, stabbed, raped and left for dead near The Pas in northern Manioba in November 1971. Sixteen years after her death, four men were implicated in the murder, but only one, Dwayne Archie Johnston, was ever convicted. In 1997, Johnston was granted full parole.

After many years of research and countless hours in a reference library, Amber O'Hara said she found very little information about these women that went missing, "which was very sad."

For the last decade, O'Hara has dedicated much of her time to constructing a Web site (wwwmissingnativewomen.org) to honor the Aboriginal women who are missing or have been murdered.

"This is what I've been really focusing on pretty much 24 hours a day for the last 10 years. I didn't want them to be forgotten women, so I started building this Web site."

According to O'Hara, any time a case comes up that deals with a missing Aboriginal mother, teen or child or where there are unidentified remains, she is notified by police. She then does research to confirm that the missing individual is of Aboriginal ancestry before posting the information online.

"Everyone on my Web site is of Aboriginal ancestry and that's one thing I insist on," O'Hara said. "Because every other woman has been covered in the media and our women haven't been."