Wanda’s experience at a Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and 2 Spirit memorial ceremony that occurred on campus in May of 2020. It was organized by Sorouja Moll and led by Fire Keeper, Elder Fred.

Wrote by Hanna Freitas and Wanda Kidd. Narrative read by Wanda Kidd.

Script

It was just after noon, early in May.
The sky was overcast, and the air felt cool.
I could hear the bubbling of the creek as I passed over the bridge,
and there were people talking in the distance,
as I walked towards the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and Two Spirit Ceremony.

An Elder was building a ceremonial fire.
He added medicines to the mix, creating small puffs of fragrance in the air.
Tobacco and sweet grass smouldered as the fire grew stronger.

We moved to the bridge as a group.
There was a booklet of the names we wished to remember,
and we took turns reading from it as the others tied red ribbons to the rails of the bridge.
They hung heavily in the air around us as we stayed strong for each other until all the ribbons were tied.

We returned to the fire.
The Elder spoke, lifting our heavy spirits with his words.
A few began to drum and sing; the sound was a prayer for us all.
We felt the spirits of those who were absent brought closer to us.
Soon, people began to leave.
There was a feeling of closure, we carried the spirits with us as we left from the ceremony.
The creek continued to bubble beneath me,
as I crossed back over the red-ribbon bridge.

Credit

Soundtrack include effects from Adobe Audition Content collection.
The cover image comes from the University of Waterloo Truth and Reconciliation Response Projects.