March 4 & 7, 2015
I am excited to share that the Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies has teamed up with the Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library and the We Care Campaign to initiate a community-made quilt honouring missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit.
We are holding two drop-in craft workshops for anyone interested in making a We Care Square that will eventually be sewn into the collective quilt.
The We Care Quilt is being made in recognition of Leah Gazan’s We Care Campaign MMIW, a campaign to engage Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians to take a united and firm stance to ensure that the safety of Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit is realized in Canada. Individuals will be able to create a We Care Square as a physical representation of their care and commitment to this nation
al crisis which will then be sewn into the collective quilt. The quilter, Tracy Popp, who is assembling the quilt will be on site on Saturday March 7th and working on the quilt so that the public can see it come together.
There will also be kits available at the Manitoba Crafts Museum and Library from March 7 through to March 25 and there will be a table set aside for anyone to drop by to create a square at any time during the museum’s opening hours!
About the #WeCare Campaign:
The #WeCare campaign was established to engage Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians to take a united and firm stance to ensure the safety of Indigenous women and girls is realized in Canada. In 2013 James Anaya, former Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Issues for the United Nations, called the state of violence and the number of murdered and missing Indigenous women in Canada a national crisis. This has been noted in a recent report completed about violence against Indigenous women and girls by the RCMP in 2014. This is not just an Indigenous issue. This is an issue for all Canadians who value the safety of all children and women in our society.
The #WeCare campaign aims to educate the broader public about the serious crisis relating the violence against Indigenous women. It is an opportunity for all Canadians to demonstrate compassion, love and hope while putting pressure on all levels of government to support a national inquiry and immediate action to address this serious issue impacting families and communities across Canada.
The #WeCare Campaign is a firm statement of solidarity to let all levels of government in Canada know that #WeCare, and we will not stop until Indigenous women and girls can enjoy safety in cities, towns, and communities throughout Turtle Island.
