These are the stories behind Greater Sudbury's 'Tree of Hope'
'There's a story there, there's a history there and there's a trauma there.'
It was a colourful start to the festive season on Sunday evening in Sudbury, but the occasion also took on a sombre tone as it was held to mark some tragic experiences.
The Greater Sudbury Police Service lit up the Tree of Hope, adorned with hundreds of orange lights and topped with a large orange star.
Sudbury's fourth annual Tree of Hope lighting ceremony at Tom Davies Square was an event staged to honour and remember Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit people.
"The orange lights of the tree represent the thousands of Indigenous children who never returned home from residential schools," said Greater Sudbury Police Chief Sara Cunningham. She acknowledged the systemic racism and intergenerational trauma that many Indigenous people continue to experience as a result of residential schools.
The ceremony included opening remarks and a drumming circle inside the foyer of city hall. Outside the police headquarters, the service's Indigenous liaison officer orchestrated the lighting of the tree, and guests were also invited to make an offering at the sacred fire.
Lisa Osawamick, from the Wikwemikong Unceded Territory on Manitoulin Island, attended the event in remembrance of her aunt and cousin, both of whom she lost.
"Having been impacted by missing and murdered Indigenous women, we walk with that, and we continue to do our best to advocate, to be the voice and to create awareness," Osawamick said.
"They're always in our prayers. We carry them in our hearts."
The annual Tree of Hope event is designed to serve as both a remembrance and a call to action, raising awareness about the need for justice, safety and healing in Indigenous communities.
"It was really a lot of grief, a lot of heaviness, not knowing the answers that we were looking for, the justice that we would have wanted," said Osawamick.
But she explains, "That's the reality of not only our family but a lot of Indigenous families."
According to the Assembly of First Nations, Indigenous women make up about 16 per cent of all female homicide victims and 11 per cent of missing women. Yet, Indigenous people represent less than five per cent of Canada's population.
Local Indigenous artist and educator, Will Morin, says he was 14 when he lost his older sister. .
"She was a wonderful big sister. Her voice still echoes in my mind… a lot of what I still do today is to honour her," said Morin.
"For Indigenous peoples in Canada, we are displaced within our own space, within our own land. That is a reality for any Indigenous person out there, like any immigrant that comes to Canada. There's a story there, there's a history there and there's a trauma there. And we need to embrace that fact and begin to work together for healing," Morin said.
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