Medicine Hat Joins Valentine’s Day Walk Honouring MMIWG2S

By Chevi Rabbit, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter 

(ANNews) – On Valentine’s Day, while many Canadians celebrated with flowers and chocolates, Medicine Hat residents took to the streets for a different purpose — to honour Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit people (MMIWG2S) and demand justice, safety, and awareness.

The Valentine’s Memorial March began more than 30 years ago in Vancouver and has since become a nationwide movement. What started as a local act of remembrance has grown into an annual day of action across Canada, with families, survivors, and allies walking in solidarity.

This year, Medicine Hat joined that call, with Janice Randhile participating in the walk. Naa’toh’kiayo’aakii is Randhile’s  Blackfoot name given by her adopted father, Piitonistaa Charlie Fox of the Blood Tribe. She is a registered member of Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation and currently lives in Medicine Hat. Randhile is a proud Indigenous woman, mother, wife, survivor, and community advocate whose work is rooted in love, truth, and action.

“With this walk starting in Vancouver over 30 years ago, and spreading across Canada, I felt that Medicine Hat needed to be a part of the movement as well,” Randhile said. “With the city being on Highway 1, it was important to bring awareness to the greater public, as it has been used to transport our women.”

National statistics show why these gatherings remain urgent. Indigenous women and girls make up roughly five per cent of Canada’s female population but represent a disproportionately high number of homicide victims. Indigenous women are killed at a rate six times higher than non-Indigenous women, and about one in five victims of gender-related homicide in recent years has been Indigenous. They also face significantly higher rates of physical and sexual violence.

For Randhile, the walk is personal. “As a survivor of MMIWG2S, a family member, advocate, and in my previous role with the Government of Alberta as a Family Information Liaison, I felt it was important to bring this to the people of Medicine Hat,” she said. She shared that she survived two attempted murders — one by a former partner and one by a stranger — and lost family members to violence. “My kokum was murdered by a man who couldn’t be with her, so he took her life and disposed of her like she didn’t matter. My brother was murdered by someone who took his life over an argument and killed him,” she said. “Our communities, our women, men, girls and boys have become targets. This is something that is not just personal, but something that affects all of us.”

Randhile brings lived experience, compassion, and courage into every space she enters, whether organizing walks, collaborating with community partners, or speaking in workplaces and schools. She ensures culture is actively honoured, coordinating memorial gatherings and uplifting Elders, knowledge keepers, and Indigenous artists.

Participants at the walk wore red — a symbol of love, remembrance, and resistance. “Red is a powerful colour, one that stands out above all colours. Red is believed to be the only colour spirits can see,” Randhile explained. Many wore red handprints across their mouths, representing the silencing of Indigenous women and the refusal to remain unheard.

“When we gather together for MMIWG2S, it’s not just an event. It’s ceremony. It’s resistance. It’s love in action,” she said. “Song, prayer, smudge, language — these aren’t symbolic extras. They are medicine.” She emphasized the importance of Indigenous women leading the movement: “When Indigenous women lead MMIWG2S, it is not just organizational structure — it is reclamation.”

Grounded in family, Randhile draws strength from her husband, children, extended family, and the relatives she walks alongside. Reflecting on the day, she described a range of emotions: “I felt sadness for the families that are still waiting for answers. Anger for families who didn’t receive justice. Disappointment and concern in our governments, as our safety is still threatened. But I also felt grateful for the people who showed their support and for the media covering the stories so our voices are still being heard.”

As communities across Canada continue to gather each February 14, the message remains clear: remembrance must be paired with action. Janice Randhile does not simply advocate for change — she embodies it. “Grief becomes movement. Silence becomes voice. Isolation becomes community,” she said.