By Kaiya Leonard, “La Couvee”
“Footprints – An Art Project: Remembering the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls of Canada
The Project
Two Indigenous teenage sisters – inspired in part by the recent murder of their birth mother, as well as learning that the number of reported Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) across Canada is now estimated at 1,200 sisters – are collecting 1,200 pairs of shoes as part of an art-and-awareness project that will be displayed at the Awo Taan Healing Lodge’s Sisters in Spirit event on October 4, 2016 at Olympic Plaza.
Project Goals
- Collect 1,200 pairs of good conditioned girls (including baby/toddler) and women’s shoes, each pair to represent a missing and murdered Indigenous woman or girl in Canada
- Create awareness about the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada
- Generate discussions among non-native Canadians about this important issue
- Create commemorative public art to be displayed during the Awo Taan Healing Lodge annual Sisters in Spirit march on October 4, 2016
- Support domestic shelters and other non-profit organizations by donating all the shoes collected after the Sisters in Spirit event
- Engage Indigenous youth, elders and local agencies
Where can you donate shoes?
You can donate shoes by contacting the organizers (who will arrange to pick them up) or drop them off at the University of Calgary’s Native Center. You can also request a donation box and relevant information for your place of work to encourage your co-workers to donate to this important project.
For more information, or to support the project by donating or volunteering, please contact:
Jenlen Leonard
Social Workers for Indigenous Social Justice (SWISJ)
T: 403 998 3950
E: jmleonar@ucalgary.ca
Facebook page | Website”
-from SWISJ news release
