NEWS RELEASE
RAMA POLICE SERVICE
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On Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, Rama Police Service is honoured to be hosting its second annual Tree of Hope lighting ceremony, which is an ongoing project to raise awareness for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG2S).
Although the exact number of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls remains unknown, reports from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (2019) and Urban Indian Health Institute (2018) report over 5,000 cases across Turtle Island. This year’s event will see more than 5,000 red LED lights lit to signify those Indigenous women and girls who are believed to still be missing.
Tree of Hope is an initiative first established in 2019 by Const. Sharlene Bourdeau, a member of the Pays Plett First Nation and also a 29-year veteran of the Thunder Bay Police Service. Her vision started out as a way to change the way her service looked at cases of missing and murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and two Spirits to help bridge the gap between First Nation communities and the police.
With every passing year, the event becomes larger as more and more police services across Ontario are joining together to bring awareness and justice to MMIWG2S with the Tree of Hope Project.
There is hope that this project will catch on in other provinces and eventually become recognized Canada-wide. This year’s Tree of Hope is in partnership with Thunder Bay Police, Greater Sudbury Police, Wikwemikong Tribal Police, Barrie Police Service, United Chiefs and Council of Manitoulin Police (UCCM), Nishnawbe-Aski Police, Anishinabek Police Service, Timmins Police and the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP).
This year Rama Police will be hosting a sacred fire that will be lit upon the commencing of the Tree of Hope ceremony. Tobacco ties will also be made available to those in attendance for prayer and remembrance that will be offered to the sacred fire at the conclusion of the lighting ceremony.
Statistics show that about 61 per cent of all Indigenous women and girls experience either physical and/or sexual abuse in their lifetime. Indigenous women and girls are 12 times more likely to be murdered than any other woman in Canada. This is significant as Indigenous women and girls only make up about 4 per cent of the population of women in Canada.
There is a multitude of factors that affect the increased vulnerability of Indigenous women, for example, the high percentage of girls in foster care that are absent of strong family support.
This can cause a lowered sense of identity, self-esteem and self-worth. This, coupled with things such as the over-sexualization of Indigenous women, can create an environment where women and girls within our communities have a higher probability of someone taking advantage of those circumstances.
There is a strong need to come together as a community to strengthen one another and protect our most vulnerable from domestic violence, sexual assaults and human trafficking.
Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend Rama Police Service located at 7450 Williams Rd. in the Rama First Nation to show support in raising awareness of MMIWG2S. The ceremony will commence at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, with an opening prayer and conclude at 7 p.m. with simultaneous lighting of all trees at the participating police services.
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