Families of missing people were honoured in Prince Albert on Thursday during a Missing Persons Week gathering focused on remembrance, support and connection.
The event was hosted by the Prince Albert Service Victim Services Unit at Plaza 88, and brought families, police, support workers, elders, artists, and community members together for a morning of ceremony and reflection. A Table in the room held photos of missing loved ones arranged with candles and tribute displays.
Kelly Clark, coordinator of the Vicitim Services Unit with Prince Albert police, said the gathering was meant to support families who continue living with uncertainty.
“The purpose of today’s gathering is to honour the families that we work closely with in supporting them through their ambiguous loss,” Clark said.
Clark said Victim Services works closely with families throughout the year, not just during Missing Persons Week. She said families often need empathy, follow-up, information and support while they wait for answers.
Arjun Pillai/Daily Herald
Inspector Lisa Simonson of the Prince Albert Police Service speaks during a Missing Persons Week family gathering hosted by the PAPS Victim Services Unit at Plaza 88 on Thursday.
“They need connection to resources. They need connection to referrals. They need connection to maybe elders, connection to their culture, to their community, and to their families,” Clark said.
The gathering began with smudging, followed by an opening prayer from Elder Liz Settee, who serves as an elder with the Prince Albert Police Service. A Drum group then performed an honour song before remarks from police and other speakers.
Settee said opening the gathering with prayer and smudge was important because ceremony gives families a safe place to carry grief.
“For so many years, we weren’t allowed to do those things, or we weren’t invited to do those things,” Settee said. “It really resonates with our spirits to be able to just have an open smudge here and prayers.”
Sette said many families carry their emotions quietly. She said gatherings like Thursday’s allow families to release some of that pain without having to explain it.
“Families are in a safe place, and if they just need to let go and cry or share a tear, shed a tear or 1000 tears, they can,” she said.
Inspector Lisa Simonson of the Prince Albert Police Service also addressed the gathering. She said the police service’s Historical Crimes and Missing Persons Unit remains committed to supporting families, following investigative avenues and making sure missing people are not forgotten.
“Events like this matter because they create space for remembrance, for connection and for support,” Simonson said. “They remind families that they are not alone.”
Simonson also appealed to the public to come forward with any information they may have about a missing person or unsolved case, even if the detail seems small. She said one piece of information can help move an investigation forward or bring answers to a family.
Artist Cheryl Ring spoke about her Sprirts project, a collection of 1,200 handmade clay hearts created with help from students, families, and community members in Prince Albert. Ring said the project was created to support awareness around missing persons and missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
Ring said she wanted the work to push back against the way people can become reduced to acronyms in public discussion.
“These women and other missing people, they are missed, loved, and we can’t forget that,” Ring said.
Settee said the community can support families by first acknowledging their loved ones as people with names, families, and stories.
“They have names. They have mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunties, nieces. There’s people that love them,” Settee said.
Settee said Missing Person Week is important, but families live with the loss and uncertainty every day.
“The families live with this every day of the year,” she said. “I think for some of the families, that’s like, just get me through the next minute. Get me through the next hour.”
arjun.pillai@paherald.sk.ca
