Memorial tree is lit for a fifth year in honour of MMIWG – TBNewsWatch.com

Nov. 13, 2023

For a fifth year, a tree has been lit to recognize the hundreds of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

THUNDER BAY — This is the fifth year that a tree has been lit to recognize missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

At the front doors of the Thunder Bay Police Station, the Tree of Hope is wrapped in red lights and will remain lit until the end of January.

Const. Sharlene Bourdeau started this project five years ago with four trees that had thousands of lights on them, each one a representation of an Indigenous woman reported missing.

“Each light represents the name of every missing and murdered Indigenous woman and girl in the country. [The] RCMP says there’s approximately 1,200, but however, there’s four to 5,000 Indigenous people in this country believed [to be missing],” Bourdeau said during the lighting ceremony on Sunday.