When Pauline Muskego shared her story about the disappearance and murder of her daughter tears began to flow in a Saskatoon church.
Muskego told a crowd of about 200 people how her daughter Daleen Bosse went missing and the pain her family went through during the murder investigation and trial.
Carol Zubiak says she came to listen and could not believe women could be treated like this.
She wiped away tears during Muskego’s story “Oh gosh, what to say, to not be interested in this is just a sin against society,” says an emotional Zubiak. “That she’s (Bosse) not a number. I guess as I speak about Aboriginal missing women to people, that these missing women are people. They’re people like me. And by the Grace of God, go I. ”
One of the other presenters, the University of Saskatchewan’s Dr. Winona Wheeler told the audience the effects Canada’s colonial history has had on First Nation women.
Wheeler’s lecture caught the attention of Saskatoon’s Roman Catholic Church.
Bishop Donald Bolan says the missing and murdered Indigenous women crisis is a problem for all of society.
“At the time of the Indian Act, Indigenous people were seen as a problem,” says Bolan. “And now we look at challenges that are faced by Indigenous people. There’s a temptation to say Indigenous people have problems but its Canada that has problems.”
Seven church groups organized the Voices of Our Sisters event – an ecumenical response to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
The groups will take the information back to their congregations to educate and inspire others to get involved.