NORTH BATTLEFORD — Indigenous author and artist Vanessa Lee Brousseau, also known as Resilient Inuk, is in the Battlefords this week as part of her cross-country RV tour to raise awareness about Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.
Brousseau gave a talk on July 11 at Atoskewin Success Centre in North Battleford about her work, followed by a community luncheon.
Brousseau's sister Pamela Holopainen went missing from Timmins, Ont., on Dec. 14, 2003, so the issue is close to her heart.
“It’s going to be 22 years in December that she’s missing,” Brousseau said. “It’s extremely hard not having closure, and not having any justice. And to continue to see it happen to other families. That’s what hurts the most. I know that she is gone, but when I see it happen to other families I know exactly how they are feeling at that time and what they are about to go through in that journey.
"The same with Ashley Morin’s family, it’s seven years for them [since Morin went missing]. I’m three times past that now. I remember how fresh it feels that seven years, and how you have hope that you’ll have closure.”
Brousseau currently lives in North Bay, Ont., but she is from Timmins.
“My aim is to spread awareness … to go into communities and meet with families to build community within our communities and create more support and spaces like this,” she said.
“Not many people could understand what it’s like to have someone missing,” Brousseau added.
Brousseau took part in the awareness walk for Ashley Morin on July 10 while in the Battlefords.
Her cross-country trip started in North Bay and will conclude in Prince Rupert, B.C., on the Highway of Tears. Then she will return to Ontario and travel to the East Coast.
“I plan to do this as long as my motorhome works, every year as long as I can,” she said. “It’s to raise awareness of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People that is still happening today. I don’t want people to feel shame or guilt. It’s just about letting them be aware of what’s still happening today.”
Brousseau is also an accomplished author and has two books released — Becoming Resilient Inuk, which came out in May, and Because We Care. Both books are available through Amazon.
Becoming Resilient Inuk is about Brousseau’s family history, her own experiences and includes a little about her sister as well.
Her book Because We Care is for children under 12 to help them understand the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People “in a kind way.”
“That was inspired by teachers,” she said. “Teachers always said to me: ‘I don’t know how to tell the kids. I don’t know how to say it to them.’ So I came out with that [book] about a month ago.”
Brousseau is also an artist and makes jewellery.
“I love to make crafts,” she said. “I feel I can heal through my crafting.”
On July 11 in the afternoon, she gave a Red Dress workshop at the Battlefords Indian and Métis Friendship Centre, teaching people how to make little sealskin pins of the symbolic red dress design.
Brousseau said she is always looking for more opportunities to increase awareness of the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People.
