Tributes & Family Involvement

Tributes & Family Involvement

The Tribute section of this website is an important addition to the database. The tributes provide a space in which families of the missing and murdered can write about their family members, and instead of focusing on the details of their death or disappearance they can share memories of the person they know and love. We hope this space will humanize the numbers, honouring the fact that Indigenous peoples are so much more than statistics.

One of the family members who organizes with Families of Sisters in Spirit had this to say about why the Tributes section is so important:

We don’t want the media to speak about our family members. They always focus on facts and details about the bodies. We don’t want the media using inaccurate and harsh language about our family members. We should be the ones creating the messages and language. We need to have a place to remember our family members and how we experienced them. Having a tribute section allows people to see who these people were, and that they were loved and valued. We can talk about how beautiful and special our family members were to us, whereas mainstream media can’t, or won’t do that. This is why families need this space to humanize our loved ones in ways that honours their stories and is accessible to families.

For the partners and those involved this work, the leadership of families affected by violence is of utmost importance.

It Starts with us:

If you want your stories told, this is a chance to share how important your loved one was to you, and only you can do that, your contribution to the database is essential. Something that you can share with the world. This can be about witnessing our own history, family stories and creating oral history through story telling even if that means learning about family history through the loss of loved ones. We can building community through the telling of our stories. – Families of Sisters in Spirit

Our Mother – Dorothy Georgina Abel

Date of Birth: December 14th, 1956 Lutselke NWT Our Mother Dorothy Georgina Abel was a beautiful, kind hearted strong Chipewyan woman. Her smile and presence would brighten any room or any dark day. She loved to help anyone in need. She loved her culture, her traditional language and ways. When she spoke, she spoke with

Sonya Nadine Mae: A Written Portrait

Date of Birth: August 19, 1963 Date reported Missing: August 26, 1994 Date of Passing: August 30, 1994 Twenty years have passed and justice for Sonya Nadine Mae Cywink seems like it will arrive anytime now. We hold out hope that out there lies the truth about the person(s) responsible for her premature death. Perhaps

This is Bella’s Story

This page is dedicated to Bella Laboucan-McLean. These words are a celebration of Bella’s life and spirit. For those who didn’t get a chance to know Bella during the 25 years of her life, we want to express to you just how amazing, unique and beautiful she was. RECENT UPDATES: Bella’s sister Melina wrote this

DONATE

Work on this community database has already started, but there is a lot more to be done. As this project seeks to be independent from government and institutional funding, your support is even more critical in making this possible. Honour MMIW (missing and murdered Indigenous women, trans and two-spirited people), and their families by supporting a new way to document their loved ones passing. Make your secure online donation now by clicking on the button below. 

We thank the Crossroads United Church (Kingston, Ontario) for their donation to help us purchase a computer that is used for the purposes of maintaining this website/database. 

Get Involved

We are currently working locally to contact people and/or forming teams with people who have been documenting missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, Two Spirit and Trans people in their regions. 

If you would like to post your list or get involved regionally please contact ItStartsWithUs at email: itstartswithusmmiw@gmail.com

Error: Contact form not found.