celebrated but 'conflicted': dtes indigenous, women activists to receive national honour
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gladys radek, of terrace, campaigned relentlessly to win justice for murdered and missing indigenous women and girls following the disappearance of her niece, tamara chipman, in september 2005.
kj millar
several indigenous and women’s advocates from vancouver will receive one of canada’s highest civilian honours next month for their decades-long work supporting community well-being and advancing reconciliation — although some say they feel conflicted about the recognition.
on nov. 10, the king charles iii coronation medal will be awarded to nine local advocates. among them are gladys radek, known for her cross-country walks raising awareness of canada’s missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, and chris livingstone, a veteran leader in harm reduction and homeless outreach.
the coronation medal, created to mark the accession of king charles iii, honours canadians who have made significant contributions to their communities and the country.
“i was pretty conflicted when they offered me this award,” said radek.
the wet’suwet’en nation-born advocate began raising awareness of canada’s missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in 2008, leading the 4,000-kilometre walk4justice from vancouver to parliament hill to push for a national inquest. a year later, she walked 1,500 kilometres to prince rupert to highlight the unsolved killings of mostly indigenous women along b.c.’s highway 16, the “highway of tears”. radek’s last cross-country walk was in 2013.
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“we walked across canada seven times to push for a national inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women and girls, but only six of the hundreds of recommendations from the federal commission have been implemented,” the advocate said.
“it feels like we did all of this work, us volunteers, almost for nothing.”
radek’s niece, tamara lynn chipman, remains missing after two decades. chipman disappeared from prince rupert on sept. 21, 2005, at 22 years old.
“i’m a family member first, so this work has meant a lot of heartbreak for me,” radek added. “this award won’t be enough until we can look at this issue seriously and end the violence against women in our country.”
other recipients include angella macdougall, a longtime leader of battered women’s support services in vancouver; nicole bird, the indigenous programs coordinator at the carnegie community centre in the downtown eastside; and garry jobin, who founded the bladerunners employment program to support indigenous youth in the neighbourhood.
for livingstone, executive-director of a non-profit offering homeless residents in the downtown eastside a warm place to go during the day and a safe spot to store their belongings, the recognition feels hollow.
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“when they told me i was going to get a medal, i said: ‘i’d trade it in for funding,’” said livingstone, who was formerly homeless himself.
the non-profit aboriginal front door society has provincial funding to operate at 390 main st. until march 21. after that, its survival after three years of operations is uncertain.
“my only hope with this award is that i will be able to use this to justify more funding for people who need it,” added livingstone, who is also a founding member of the western aboriginal harm reduction society, providing harm-reduction services and cultural support to indigenous people living in tent cities in vancouver’s downtown eastside.
other recipients of the award include maureen lagroix brown, haida language teacher; mary point, musqueam elder and leader of efforts to link first nations communities with local business networks; bernie williams poitras, a long-time advocate for missing and murdered indigenous women; and ellen woodsworth, founder of women transforming cities and a former vancouver city councillor.
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