Reflection on the Families of Sisters in Spirit Vigil

On Friday, October 4 th 2024, the Families of Sisters in Spirit Vigil marked a 20th anniversary to honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and 2SpiritLGBTQQIA+. This somber day has always been for families and friends, in and around Ottawa, to flood Parliament Hill holding enlarged photos of loved ones with their names.

This movement began with a seemingly small action to show the outside world that we have not forgotten our missing and murdered. When Bridget Tolley’s mother Gladys was murdered, her search for truth and justice led her to Parliament Hill, photo in hand.

Sadly, the necessity of this day has not diminished, but amplified. To commemorate a 23 rd year of her search for accountability, Bridget cut and burned her hair in a ceremony, with help from her great grandchildren and supporters.

Nations across Turtle Island have different teachings about the sacredness of hair. The ceremony of cutting hair represents the significance of a loss. Whether you cut your hair to honour someone in death, or to honour the grief you carry for the loss of your safety, the practice of growing and braiding hair to cut off is a ceremony of reflection and release.

Each day Indigenous women and girls grow up knowing they are overrepresented in correctional and child welfare institutions, missing and murdered statistics. This day is a protest of no more stolen sisters. This day is a necessary movement to shout, in the first world country that is Canada, we are not expendable or invisible. Indigenous women matter.

Like most First Nations, Inuit and Metis people I carry my own stories of grief and loss and have attended many, many Sisters in Spirit Vigils over the years to honor people who impacted my life and were taken away in tragedy. On this day, I was accompanied by loved ones to the Hill and this was a form of safety planning. This was one way that I could try to offer myself care and harm reduction, during and after what I knew would be an emotionally difficult afternoon. Even though we ended in ceremony with the day’s vigil, I began to formulate a plan for more self-care and wellness.

As a tattoo revivalist, ink sessions are one way to practice my ancestral spirituality. I chose to end this solemn day of mourning in a good way, by receiving clan marking with my family. This healing way we have with lots of laughter helped to carry us from the bittersweet reunions with others in this movement, all the way home that night.

#NoMoreStolenSisters #SistersInSpirit

About the Author: Chrystal Toop is a member of the Algonquins of Pikwakanagan First Nation, knowledge keeper, matriarch and Gladue Caseworker, working from her ancestral, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishnaabeg, also known as Ottawa, Ontario.