Faceless Doll Project Teaches Powerful Lesson To Students About Missing Indigenous Women

Standing side-by-side, in a seemingly endless row that stretched the length of more than five tables, the image of hundreds of Faceless Dolls painted a powerful and haunting image.

It took several hours and the work of 80 students from Grade 7 to 12 in Peterborough to produce the end effect.

Students from St. Catherine Catholic Elementary School and St. Peter and Holy Cross Catholic secondary schools took part in an outreach Thursday (April 28th) to learn about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

The event took place in partnership with the Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwewag Services Circle and the Curve Lake Cultural Centre.

The students heard first-hand accounts about the issues from members of Curve Lake First Nation before taking part in the Faceless Doll Project, crafting hundreds of felt dolls to represent those voiceless missing and murdered women. The dolls will be attached to banners that can travel from school to school.

“We’re getting a first hand experience, so we’re a part of the project— we’re not just hearing about it,” says Brenna Roblin, a Grade 10 St. Peter CSS student. “As you’re making it, you can just see each and every woman or girl that has been affected as you put together each dress or each piece of hair. You just care about the person as you’re thinking who has been affected and who that doll is.”

Liz Stone, Executive Director of the Niijkiwendidaa Anishnaabekwewag Services Circle in Peterborough, helped lead the discussion.

“I’m hoping that the students and the faculty that are involved will start to see that this is a Canadian issue, not an Aboriginal issue," Stone says. "It affects everybody. If individuals at a grassroots level starting at a young age have the knowledge, then they can create change at a large scale.”

Bringing the issue into the curriculum can be challenging for any teacher, says Amanda McInnes, the St. Catherine CES teacher who helped organize the outreach. That’s why having a tangible activity such as the Faceless Doll Project can bring home the lesson as an experiential exercise, she said.

“It makes it real," McInnes says. "Hearing about it is a powerful teaching tool, but putting these dolls together and being mindful that these are women in our community that have faced extreme violence and they are voiceless right now… it’s really important to teach.”

Phillip McQuade, a Grade 12 Holy Cross CSS student, has a new appreciation for the issue:

“I think I’m going to have a lot more awareness about what is going on, the unfairness that is going on in the Aboriginal community—especially towards women. And I think one thing that I will take from it is that it actually impacts me as a community member."

—guest post by Galen Eagle

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