The conference attracted about two dozen attendees. Here, Karen Sanderson speaks to the crowd. (Derek Cornet/larongeNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

Missing and murdered

Northern Connection Conference linking together missing person agencies and projects

Feb 11, 2020 | 5:09 PM

The Northern Connections Conference in La Ronge this week is bringing together various agencies and missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) projects across Saskatchewan.

“It’s important to get a lot of the people who are working with MMIW together because I think it allows for brainstorming and outcomes to be realized,” Northern Connection Coordinator Shivon Venne said. “We also wanted to do something to bring awareness to the issue of MMIW and also create an awareness of the helping agencies, so highlighting local capacity and options for assistance [for] mental health, family and medical options available to vulnerable people.”

The four-day event began Tuesday with speeches from Lac La Ronge Indian Band Chief Tammy Cook-Searson and Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nation Chief Bobby Cameron. Discussions were also held by Honey Dwyer of the Indigenous Policing Services and keynote speaker Dr. Bev Jacobs.

In the coming days, there will also be talks by the Saskatoon missing persons liaison, Idle No More, Prince Albert Grand Council Women’s Council, Kids First North, Roots of Hope and more.

“My role is just to research different organizations that are working with families of MMIW,” Venne said. “I’m going to be creating a resource for families in La Ronge in the unfortunate event that someone goes missing. [I’m] creating something families can look at that will give them a map or some kind of guide to help them in their search if it happens to someone from here.”

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Shivon Venne is the Northern Connection coordinator. (submitted photo/Shivon Venne)

Piwapan Women’s Centre Executive Director Karen Sanderson noted another goal of the conference is to bring agencies from northern and southern Saskatchewan together for networking. She said Venne, who is working on a two-year contract via a grant from the Ministry of Women and Gender Equality, is in charge of compiling the resources families of those who go missing might need.

“Right now, it’s about making those connections,” Sanderson said. “This first year is about making the connections with the agencies that help people. The next phase would be getting the input from the families who have gone through this [about] where are the gaps, what happened to them and what would have helped to process things a little faster for someone who went missing down South.”

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno