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Quilt honours missing and murdered Indigenous women

NNSL Media

For Kathy Meyer working on an intricate beaded quilt honouring missing and murdered Indigenous women has been both a labour of love and part of the healing process.

Meyer is the mother of Angela Meyer who has been missing since Nov. 27, 2010. The then-22-year-old disappeared from her parent's residence with barely a trace. She went outside for a cigarette has and not been seen or heard from by her family since.

Janaki Balakrishian, left, Mary Carr, Kathy Meyer, Jenny Tucker, Marie Speakman, Emalda King, Gail Cyr, Mary Ann Williams and Minnie Joldersma hold up an exquisite beaded quilt that they have been making for the last several months to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women. The beaded hearts quilt is the initiative of the NWT Native Women's Society and will be displayed at the MMIW inquiry when it comes to Yellowknife in the New Year.
John McFadden/NNSL photo

Residents reported seeing Angela walking in the Con Mine area on the day of her disappearance. Meyer had been receiving treatment and was on a weekend pass from Stanton Territorial Hospital at the time she went missing

It is disappearances such as Meyer's that prompted the federal government to launch an inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous woman.

Kathy Meyer is one of a group of volunteers who have put in more than a thousand hours working on a quilt that will be brought to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Inquiry when it comes to Yellowknife, now scheduled for January.

“This has been very emotional and just to feel the love that we've been getting from these special people has been moving,” Meyer said.

The intricate quilt – which features hundreds of beaded hearts – is the initiative of the Native Women's Association of the NWT.

Work on it began in September. The hearts were sent to the association from all across the territory and beyond – some are from Indigenous families who have lost a loved one.

Each heart took about an hour to bead and sew into the quilt. It has a distinctive Northern touch to it with smoked moose hide, seal skin, fish gills, porcupine quills and a Metis sash. Some of the beads have come from the communities and Yukon as well.

“The beaded hearts honour the missing and murdered Indigenous females. In the North we do really good bead work,” said Marie Speakman, executive director of the association. “Each heart represents a missing or murdered aboriginal women. The quilt is about them and their families who miss them. It's very emotional. It's done with love.”

The Native Women's Association was established in 1977 with a mandate to empower and support Indigenous women and their families.