By Brady Ratzlaff

Walking with our Sisters moccasin tops made a stop in Wembley on Thursday

Sep 21, 2018 | 12:30 PM

The commemorative art installation Walking with our Sisters began its journey across the country yesterday. It made a stop at the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, where it was greeted with a surprise flash pow wow.

The piece is for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women of Canada and the U.S.

Omarla Cooke, Media Relations with Walking with our Sisters Grande Prairie and Area, says this is very significant to the Indigenous community as it is a way to bring awareness to the topic.

“So, it has travelled for the last bit throughout communities just to bring that awareness, that communication, and that conversation about having this not be part of our society anymore.”

Cooke says the handful of dancers in the pow wow wanted to celebrate the bundle on its travels as it is a very spiritual task.

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“There’s a lot of grief and loss, but also we’re just wanting to celebrate the lives of these beautiful women because their lives were cut so short. They are still very important and still very beautiful to our society and to our communities, and our families.”

 Cooke adds the art installation is embarking on a journey that won’t conclude until 2019.

“It’s on it’s journey to [Espanola] Ontario. It’s going to rest there for the winter and the spring. Then in May or June of next year, will be the lay down of all the vamps and that is scheduled in Batoche, Saskatchewan.”

 All 1,800 of the memorial moccasin tops (vamps) included in the installation will be laid to rest or given to their families next year.