Parents raise awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous men, boys at unveiling of MMIWG monument

A monument was unveiled in West St. Paul on Wednesday morning to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people — and among those in attendance were a mother and father who recently finished a 40-day canoe trip to raise awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous men and boys.

Verle and Bradley Bushie arrived in Winnipeg on Friday after paddling to Winnipeg from Poplar River First Nation, on the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg.

It was their second year making the trip in order to raise awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous men and boys like their son Braden Bushie, who went missing on Nov. 16, 2013.

"I just want to find him. I want to bring him home," Verle told CBC on Wednesday.

Her son Braden would call her every evening, she said, but it's been nearly nine years since he went missing.

"It's really hard to get up every morning and not know where your child is."

Bradley said the canoe trip was challenging, as it was difficult to find anywhere to camp on the high western shorelines of Lake Winnipeg. But the river is the best way to travel from Poplar River, he said, since there are no permanent roads out of the remote First Nation.

The couple has also held various walks to draw awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous men and boys since 2016, he said.

Tahl East, wellness manager for Southeast Resource Development Council — which offers services for eight member First Nations in Manitoba, including Poplar River — said Wednesday's event was a chance for everyone to heal after a long and turbulent past few years.

"It was a nice opportunity to just bring everyone together for some healing, both due to the pandemic and also due to the trauma of the history that they've all faced," she told CBC on Wednesday.

"It's been a secret for so long, everything that's happened to Indigenous people. And when I say a secret, I don't mean that we don't talk about it, but the general public doesn't talk about it," she said.

The new monument is adorned with the names of Manitoba First Nations, as well as artwork that was selected through a competition, East said.

The monument is just the beginning of a healing space that her organization is creating, she said, and a permanent structure was important to have because it provides a space for people to reflect and for families to heal.