“These are families who have suffered losses and who have never achieved closure because these cases remain unsolved and, as a community, we come together to acknowledge their loss and to support them by walking with them as a show of support,” said event organizer and founder Sharon Johnson, noting that the walk is deliberately held on a full moon in observation of the traditional teaching of Grandmother Moon’s power and her cleansing tears, the rain. “It is with her presence that we walk, to cleanse our spirits and our heavy hearts as we celebrate the lives of our stolen women.”
Full Moon Memory Walk is pleased to be joined by members of Walking With Our Sisters and the City of Thunder Bay’s Crime Prevention Council, who have worked diligently in response to repeated community calls for acknowledgement that these women’s lives matter.
A sacred memorial walk is held annually on the full moon in September and includes a sacred fire that is lit at sunrise by the event’s fire-keeper, and joined by speakers and a flag-raising ceremony at City Hall, followed by a 45 minute walk to our destination near the water at the Neebing-McIntyre Floodway. This is followed by a drum ceremony and a potluck feast for all to share with the families for our women who lost their lives to violence or have gone missing.
