This past Saturday marked the third annual Remembering Kendara Memorial Walk in the tri-community. Kendara’s family started this walk to raise awareness of her case, with hopes to make it inclusive to all those who have missing and murdered Indigenous loved ones.

“This year’s walk we decided to start transitioning towards as this being a walk for missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP),” said Gloria Ballantyne-Packo. “It’s still going to be about Kendara, but we also have invited families of missing and murdered Indigenous men and boys. We had families participated for different loved ones. That was one of our biggest goals to transition the walk to include others and this year we were able to achieve it.

“It was really great because we were able to support these other families by giving them a platform to be able to have that opportunity to speak about what they’ve been going through and to know they have this community of people who understand this very kind of specific loss.”

Welcoming other families of MMIP to participate in the walk is a way for them to connect with others who have experienced the same kind of loss. It’s a different type of loss that often leaves families feeling isolated due to the fact that not everyone can related what they are experiencing and going through.