Actions
Demand Justice for Indigenous Women and
Girls
Thousands Respond to Death of Joyce Echaquan
- Christine Dandenault - 
Montreal, October 3, 2020
In
an outpouring of immense solidarity and social love, more
than 5,000 Quebeckers of all ages from all walks of life gathered
in Montreal on Saturday, October 3 at Émilie-Gamelin Park to
pay
tribute to Joyce Echaquan and to support her husband, her
children and the Atikamekw community. On September 28, Joyce
Echaquan, a young Atikamekw woman from Manawan, a mother of seven
children, the youngest barely seven months old, lost
her life under inhumane circumstances at the Joliette Integrated
Health and Social Services Centre. At
Émilie-Gamelin Park, speaker after speaker demanded justice
for Joyce. They were: Marie-Ève Bordeleau, Commissioner of
Indigenous Affairs for the city of Montreal; Viviane Michel,
President of Quebec Native Women; Ghislain Picard, Chief of the
Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador; Sipi Flamand,
Vice-Chief of the Manawan Atikamekw Council; Jennifer Brazeau,
Executive Director of the Lanaudière Native Friendship
Centre; and Manon
Massé of Québec Solidaire, accompanied by
Jennifer Maccarone, the Quebec Liberal MNA for
Westmount-Saint-Louis. Emotions ran high as the
demonstrators demanded justice for
Joyce. The speakers also demanded justice for missing and
murdered Indigenous women and girls, an end to the indignities
and injustices committed against Indigenous peoples, the
implementation by governments of the 142 calls for action of the
Viens Commission as well as those contained in the Final Report
of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous
Women and Girls. They demanded accountability and that immediate
action be taken to turn those recommendations into reality. They
also recalled the 2019 UN report decrying the abhorrent living
conditions of Canada's Indigenous peoples. The protesters then
marched through downtown Montreal, greeted by passers-by and
encouraged by the honking of car horns. Vigils,
healing marches and rallies also took place on October
3 and 4 across Quebec: in Victoriaville, Quebec City, Roberval,
Rimouski, Sept-Îles, Val-d'Or, Odakan and Shawinigan; as well
as
in Toronto, Vancouver and elsewhere across Canada. In
addition, many health care unions, Indigenous communities, rights
advocacy organizations and student associations issued public
statements. Thousands of individual and collective messages of
support inundated social networks. Numerous Quebec
artists, poets, songwriters and music groups
launched a call for solidarity on Facebook. Messages, poems,
drawings, songs and live performances have been posted there in
support of Joyce Echaquan's family, the Atikamekw community of
Manawan, the First Nations, the Inuit and the Métis.
Expressing
the demand for justice for Indigenous women and peoples,
well-known Quebec songwriter Ariane Moffatt wrote: "As a
non-Native ally, I am marching with you and will continue to do
so for as long as it takes to finally end all the forms of
injustice you have endured for far too long." On
October 4, the 15th annual commemorative Sisters in Spirit
Vigil was held online and in communities across the country to pay
tribute to the more than 4,000
missing and murdered Indigenous women and to demand justice for
them and for Joyce. The vigils included one organized in
Montreal
by Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. The
hundreds of participants reiterated their determination to fight
all forms of discrimination and violence against themselves and
their Aboriginal sisters. Full support for the
family of Joyce Echaquan! Support the Atikamekw
community! All-out to end racism and indignities committed
against Indigenous peoples!  Final tribute
to
Joyce Echaquan by the Atikamekw community of Manawan, Quebec,
October
4, 2020.
Quebec City, QC
Montreal,
QC
  
  
First
Nations Museum, Wendake, QC;
Shakihikan Centre, La Tuque, QC
 
Shawinigan, QC; Senneterre, QC
 
Toronto,
ON
Vancouver, BC
  
Victoria, BC
This article was published in
Volume 50 Number 38 - October 10, 2020
Article Link:
Actions
Demand Justice for Indigenous Women and
Girls: Thousands Respond to Death of Joyce Echaquan - Christine Dandenault
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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