Jackie Thomas woke up on Oct. 20 excited about what the future holds given the commitment from the newly elected Liberal government to hold a public inquiry into murdered and missing indigenous women.
But she doesn't expect that inquiry to produce some previously unforeseen revelation.
"I'm optimistic," said Thomas, former chief of the Saik'uz First Nation. "I don't think an inquiry is going to tell me anything I don't know already - and that's what we need to work on, this racism issue in our country."
Thomas was one of the speakers Thursday evening addressing a full Gathering Place at UNBC as part of the 10th annual Sisters in Spirit Vigil of remembrance for missing and murdered First Nations women and girls.
The event was one of more than 100 held across the country, typically held around Oct. 4, featuring speeches, a potluck dinner and musical tributes from a variety of local artists, including Kym Gouchie.
In the decade since the vigils began, Thomas said there has been incremental change - which is positive - but that there's more to be done.
"I'm hoping the next 20 years will bring a shift, a major shift and a change in our attitude in this country," she said. "Our kids and our grandchildren are going to take up the workload."
Alongside the remembrance for those gone, the vigil also focused on providing support for the people left behind.
In her role as Highway of Tears Initiative co-ordinator for Carrier Sekani Family Services, Brenda Wilson has spent months putting on workshops in communities along Highway 16 for service providers and first responders.
It's the first time she's getting paid for the type of work she's been doing for years, ever since her 16-year-old sister Ramona was found dead after a 10-month disappearance in Smithers in 1994.
Wilson said she tells these workshop participants that they need to pay attention to the family members because they're not going to be reaching out for assistance.
"Our mind is too full to be able to think about eating today. Our mind is too full to think about sleeping. So we need you, our community, to assist us and to help us when you notice we've fallen," Wilson said. "Because our minds are too full with the thoughts of our loved ones that have been murdered or that are missing still."
Over the past year, Wilson was also providing support for the families of Cody Legebokoff victims Loren Donn Leslie, Jill Stacey Stuchenko, Cynthia Frances Maas and Natasha Lynn Montgomery.
It was the first time she had ever gone through the process of seeing someone convicted for the murder of someone's loved one, Wilson said. And while difficult to sit on the sidelines and watch others go through it, Wilson said she couldn't help but wish for her turn.
"Even though I really don't want to go through that process, a part of me still wants to because I want answers for my sister's death," said Wilson. "I want accountability for what happened to her."
Though the community pulls together in its time of grief, it also needs to keep an eye on each other the rest of the time, said Lheidli T'enneh Chief Dominic Frederick.
"We have to keep an eye on our young ladies. Sometimes it's hard, but we have to continue to keep in touch with them and love them and just support them even though they have hard times," Frederick said, pointing to his own misspent youth. "One day, they will find their way."
.png;w=120;h=80;mode=crop)