Family and friends of Ashley Morin walked for the third year to honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. 

Walkers set off from the Saskatoon Police Srvice for a three day walk to North Battleford to raise awareness of their loved on Ashley Morin, who went missing three years ago. Photo by Kaszy Tootoosis

Supporters gathered at the Saskatoon police station on the hot morning of July 9 to begin their three-day journey along highway 16 to North Battleford.

This year the family of Meghan Gallagher, who’s been missing since September 20, 2020, also took part.

Morin was last seen on July 10, 2018 in North Battleford. She has three children and was thirty-one when she went missing. 

Chief Mark Arcand of the Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) and a close family member of Morin’s described her as, “a family person. She was loving, caring, committed to her work. She was a sports minded person, never put herself in front of other people, was always there to support people, and to listen.”

“(It’s) what we remember about Ashley, but we never forget, and we never give up hope. We just keep praying that she’s okay wherever she is and hopefully she’ll be coming home soon,” he said. 

People walk to heal from the hurt, raise awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and to make others aware that this problem affects all people, not just Indigenous communities.

Arcand said it’s also to educate others about how to stop this from happening to other families and young girls.

“It’s to show solidarity as people come together to walk in support of those missing and murdered,” he said.

“We’re all hurting, we’re all having pain but it takes a community to come together so we don’t hurt… it shouldn’t be happening to any people, and we’ve got to stop it,” he said.

“We’ve got to really invest in opportunities for people. So none of our people should be living in poverty, being homeless, not getting an education. So people don’t prey on our women and our children and our people. So that’s how people can help. They can step up and we all work together to solve those problems.”

People can help by being part of the solution. By continuing to raise awareness and to educate ourselves and others, whether we personally knew someone on the list or not. This can be done by participating in walks, like this walk for Ashley, and other commemorative gatherings.