Music and light warmed the night on Sunday.
About 70 people gathered at the Timmins Police Service station for the third annual Tree of Hope lighting.
The tree is covered in red lights signifying the thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls across Canada. It also has blue lights to symbolize the police service’s commitment to work with Indigenous communities.
“Everybody is a human being, and we all need to find that connection, and kindness is what is going to help," said Brenda Beaven, Timmins Police community liaison co-ordinator.
Many community leaders attended, with Mattagami First Nation Chief Jennifer Constant saying it's time for allies to step up.
“In order to address any of the issues Indigenous people face, we need partners in the community, but we also need other people in our society to recognize that they have a pivotal role to play,” she said.
Recognizing MMIWG2S is an important step for systems like the police, said Constant.
“The work that’s needed to address the issues with missing and murdered Indigenous women, a lot of it is systemic issues, taking calls seriously, understanding the socio-economic issues facing Indigenous women and how they’re exposed to a greater risk because of the marginalization they face,” she said. “All of that is a systemic issue, so the systems that we have in place to police need to address that they’ve inherited those systemic issues as well.”
Mushkegowuk Deputy Grand Chief Natasha Martin said it was good to see so many people attending the event.
“It means that there’s more awareness and education out there,” she said. “I’m very hopeful.”
She said it’s good to see non-Indigenous people showing up to support the Indigenous community.
“How I see it, they’re our allies, and we always need allies, so the more the merrier,” she said. “I don’t think it’s only an Indigenous issue, so having allies here gets our message across louder and clearer.”
The City of Timmins has installed a hydro line to light up the tree in front of the police stations and a sign has been added to explain the meaning of the tree.
Many speakers shared their personal connections to missing and murdered Indigenous women, including the case of Pamela Holopainen.
This December will mark 20 years since Holopainen went missing from Timmins. A walk is being planned for Dec. 14 to mark the day of her disappearance.
Representatives from the Mushkego Firekeepers, Living Space outreach, and the TPS attended the ceremony.
The tree was lit by Constant, Martin, and Timmins Police Services board chair Kraymr Grenke.
Attendees were invited to tie red ribbons to the tree to represent MMIWG2S as well, so that they are represented even when the lights aren’t on.
The Tree of Hope campaign was started in 2019 by the Thunder Bay Police.
It has grown to include 33 communities lighting trees across Ontario to honour MMIWG2S and raise awareness of the issues Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit people face.
“We, as Indigenous people, know what the issues are. We’ve been saying it for many many years,” said Constant. “Now it’s time for our friends in different cultures and races to pick up some of that weight from us and help us carry that forward.”
