MMIWG families retie red ribbons province removed from Selkirk bridge - Action News
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Manitoba

MMIWG families retie red ribbons province removed from Selkirk bridge

A Selkirk woman hurt by the removal of red ribbons from two bridges in Selkirk has put them back on. Jeannie Red Eagle originally put the ribbons up on May 5 to commemorate missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Ribbons naming missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls were taken down 4 days after they were put up

Red ribbons to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls were tied to a bridge in Selkirk, Man. Monday. (Jules Runne/CBC)

A Selkirk woman upset by the removal of red ribbons from two bridges in Selkirk, Man., put them back up Monday afternoon.

Jeannie Red Eaglesaid the ribbons were originally tied to the Selkirk Bridge and a bridge on Highway 4 commonly referred to as the bridge to nowhereon May 5 to commemorate missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

The province took them down on May 9, after a complaint was made.

"Someone along the bureaucratic chain took that as a reason to dictate the removal," Red Eagle said.

Red Eaglecontacted Selkirk MLA Alan Lagimodiere who told her there are no bylaws that would call for the removal of the ribbons.

He looked into the matter further and discovered they had been removed because of a complaint, but advised Red Eagle she could put them back up if she wanted to.

"He felt that that didn't warrant the future removal of any ribbons that we would want to tie on any bridges across the province, so he said just go ahead, since now they are officially aware of the meaning and the significance of the red ribbons to the Aboriginal people and to theMMIWchief families," said Red Eagle.

Red ribbons tied to the Selkirk bridge to commemorate missing and murdered Indigenous women. (Jules Runne/CBC)

On Monday, Red Eagle tied three dozen red ribbons to the Highway 4 bridge.

"These ones,the ones that were taken down by the province, had the names of the missing and murdered. They had the names and the dates and I was given permission to write those names and dates by family members, so specifically those were personal, so we want to give the commemoration back and to speak for the families," said Red Eagle.

Wants to join national inquiry

Red Eagle believes her mother should be part of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.MaryAlvinaSt. CyrWhitebird,who died in 1972, to date has not been included.

Jeannie Red Eagle says her mother, Mary Alvina St. Cyr Whitebird, should be included in the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Whitebird died on Jan. 1, 1972. Red Eagle says this photo was taken in Rolling River First Nation a few years before Whitebird died on Jan. 1, 1972. (Jeannie Red Eagle)
"She predates the inquiry, the date of the inquiry, but it doesn't matter; her life was significant and I want to commemorate that," Red Eagle said."I have not been contacted back by the national inquiry, however, I have made a few phone calls."

Red Eagle didn't want to discuss the details of her mother's death but said tying red ribbons to the bridge will help in her healing process.

"So in a way, this is me taking control of the narrative of my form of healing that I need to do," said Red Eagle.

"I'm gathering other family members and we are helping heal one another and in doing that, it's also created awareness in the community of their own missing and murdered non-aboriginal members. So by extending this awareness, these things that we're doing, to the non-Aboriginal community, we're helping heal ourselves and our community."