Wendy
The memorial garden for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls that’s at Cottonwood was created by the family members of victims that were found the remains in the Port Coquitlam farm.
The families used to hold vigils outside that farm while the forensics teams were doing the work of recovering the remains of the missing and murdered women and to kind of, feel a little bit better and hold the space in a good way, they planted these flowers like the peonies that are here, the fern that is here at the garden. The family members brought that over to the vigils as a way to do something positive, to kind of, keep in mind and in heart the memory of the, their family members and not only focus on the violence that had just happened
Olga
I am one of the keepers of the memorial garden.
We have tried to keep the garden in shape and preserve some of the benches and the boxes that were originally used for family members and supporters of the families outside the farm,
Wendy
Cottonwood decided to open up the space and give the family members an area where they could continue to have that meditation or that prayer, or to continue to honour and remember their missing and murdered relatives.
All these like the flowers that are here, like the peonies and the ferns that are here that were brought by the families, have a lot of cultural and spiritual meaning for the families. So it’s also a way to learn about, Indigenous cultures and their traditions and their protocols when it comes to remembering and honouring the missing people.
