THUNDER BAY – Everyone is welcome to take part in this community prayer walk that will be held in memory of Tammy Keeash, who was seventeen years old when her body was found in the Neebing McIntyre Floodway in Thunder Bay.
Tammy, and the late Josiah Begg, a fourteen year old from Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug, both went missing on the same evening (May 6, 2017) and their bodies were found in the same river.
The parents, communities, families, and friends are looking for answers to what circumstances led to their disappearance and their deaths in the McIntyre River.
These questions need to be addressed.
The walk will start at the Thunder Bay City Hall and end at the Thunder Bay Police Service Balmoral Street Station arrive at City Hall for 1:00PM.
The purpose of this walk is to celebrate the late Tammy Keeash’s life, and to raise awareness to begin the healing process, by bringing the community together.
The central theme for this· walk is Love, Compassion, Empathy, Accountability and Empowerment.
Along the walk, we will stop to lay white roses in the McIntyre River at the Hope and Memory Garden in her honour.
Her life was just beginning when it tragically ended. Although she faced many challenges she found the courage and strength to turn her life around. She started to make the right decisions and was looking forward to a future full of potential. We are completely disheartened of the news of her death, and we now begin to ask ourselves why. Why do such things happen? Why was her life so short?
In addressing these questions, we need to come together and work in protecting our youth and creating an environment that will nurture, support and enable them to reach for their dreams.
Her death and the death of others before her should not be in vain. Their lives mattered.
We cannot solve issues through hate and discontentment.
Through a grassroots approach we can bring people together to build bridges and encourage community to contribute by taking affirmative action with shared responsibility.
We have launched a Facebook page called Mamow-Wetun Keem Towin (Working Together) to raise awareness on the issues and implement solutions for reconciliation. This Facebook page will also spotlight and share positive, encouraging and good news about our youth.
It takes a community and parents to support and raise a child and by working together we can provide opportunities to create pathways to success that will enable all our youth to realize their full potential.
We like to extend our support and offer our deepest condolences to the parents, families, friends and Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug of Josiah Begg as we are thinking of you all during this difficult time.
