THUNDER BAY – Walking With Our Sisters is moving along from Thunder Bay today. The closing ceremonies start at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery at 12:00 noon on Sunday, October 12th.
The showing of the 1700 pairs of vamps, the top part of a pair of moccasins has been extremely emotional to many of the people who have attended the exhibition at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery.
Each pair of vamps (or “uppers” as they are also called) represents one missing or murdered Indigenous woman. The unfinished moccasins represent the unfinished lives of the women whose lives were cut short. The children’s vamps are dedicated to children who never returned home from residential schools. Together the installation represents all these women; paying respect to their lives and existence on this earth. They are not forgotten. They are sisters, mothers, aunties, daughters, cousins, grandmothers, wives and partners. They have been cared for, they have been loved, they are missing and they are not forgotten.
Today the closing ceremonies will wind down the display. There will be ceremonies, and a feast.
