The Moose Hide Campaign Community Walk made its way through Lac La Biche on the morning of May 15, raising awareness toward the prevention of violence against women and children. It was the third consecutive year that Portage College and Lac La Biche County have co-hosted the walk. The procession went from the College to McArthur Place where presentations brought more awareness to the issue.

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Each person involved in the event wore a small patch of moose hide, pinned to jackets and shirts. The symbolic pins were first introduced in 2011 through a grassroots campaign that began when an Indigenous man and his daughter returned from a successful moose hunt in northeastern British Columbia. The pair recognized they had been hunting near a stretch of the Yellowhead Highway known as the Highway of Tears, a notorious 750-kilometre section of the roadway linked to numerous cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The father and daughter used the hide of the harvested moose to create the first awareness pins in their own community.

Since 2011, more than six million Moose Hide Campaign pins have been distributed through the nation-wide campaign.

“Lac La Biche County and Portage College are honoured to support the Moose Hide Campaign by standing in solidarity with individuals against violence towards women and children. The campaign is a practical way for Indigenous and non-Indigenous to come together and take steps towards reconciliation,” said Nicholas Bartlett, a Lac La Biche County employee and member of the municipality’s Focus Indigenous group.

Portage College President Nancy Broadbent was part of this year’s walk. The College has been involved in the Moose Hide Campaign for more than 10 years.  She said the campaign is about shining a light on the issue and making more people aware.

“Not only is it about taking time to remember those who have been affected by violence … to take a moment in your own heart to think about how you can help … but also about being visible,” she said, explaining that the community walk drew responses from passing motorists and community members  – and that indicates the message is getting out. “We heard cars honking and others showing support, and it really warmed my heart to see how many truly care.”

Lac La Biche County Mayor Paul Reutov agrees. He says the walk is more than a symbolic gesture.

“It’s a collective step towards standing up toward violence against women and children,” he said. “The Moose Hide campaign is powerful. It brings Indigenous and non-Indigenous people together to honour, protect and uphold safety and dignity to women and children, today and always.”

The mayor says the moose hide pin is a simple symbol that represents a massive, systemic injustice.

“We must never forget that Canada’s history includes deep harms inflicted on our Indigenous People, harms that continue to effect families and communities across the country,” he said.

Stephanie Harpe was a keynote speaker at the Lac La Biche presentation. The Fort McKay woman describes herself as an advocate for murdered, missing and exploited Indigenous People. Over the last 15 years, she has traveled to 87 First Nation communities across Canada and 23 Métis settlements, giving presentations about the growing issue of exploitation and violence against Indigenous People. Harpe has also presented to schools and provided formal action plans to provincial and federal government boards, advocating for resources to address the issue.

Her presentation to the gathering in Lac La Biche focused on a wide range of issues, ranging from online luring of men, children, and women to child exploitation, druggings, organ harvesting and human trafficking. Acknowledging that many of her examples are hard to listen to, she said the message must still be sent. She said that too many people still don’t realize that these kinds of crimes are taking place in their own communities.

“These things are happening, people are being drugged or taken, killed, and never seen again. We have to talk about these things. We have to talk about them because these things are happening, and it’s happening to children.”

While the efforts of the Moose Hide Campaign and many others across the country are raising awareness, Harpe says more needs to be done. At every presentation, every meeting, and every school visit, she tells her audience to fight for the safety of others.

“We all have a raging fire within us, so share your warmth and watch everything beautiful in the world survive,” she said.

More information about violence prevention awareness can be found at the Moose Hide Campaign website.