Photo Essay: 9th Annual Strawberry Ceremony: To Honour Indigenous Women, Trans and Two Spirited People (s)

On February 14, 2014, the 9th Annual Strawberry Ceremony was held in downtown Toronto at Toronto Police Headquarters. It was organized by Toronto's February 14th Organizing Committee comprised of No More Silence, The Native Youth Sexual Health Network and other Indigenous and feminist organizations  who are working together to raise awareness about the disappearances of Indigenous women and girls on what we (Indigenous peoples) call 'Turtle Island."

Below is a photo essay of the event, but first a beaded four directions piece that I did that can be in honour of our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

Beaded Four Directions By: Christine Smith (McFarlane)

(All photos were taken by Christine Smith (McFarlane)


The first women's memorial march was held in 1991 in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside in response to the murder of a Coast Salish woman on Powell Street. Her name is not spoken out of respect for the wishes of her family. Out of this sense of hopelessness and anger came an annual march on Valentine's Day to expression compassion, community, and caring for all women in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, Unceded Coast Salish Territories. Twenty three years later, the women's memorial march continues to honour the lives of missing and murdered women.