An honorary street name is helping a family find closure and raising awareness.
More than a hundred people stood in the rain to watch the unveiling of Bernadette Sutherland Way today (May 3).
The street sign sits atop the official street names at the corner of Vipond and Moneta roads in Timmins. The stop sign is across the road from where Bernadette's body was found in July 1986.
"My hope for the sign is when you see it to remind yourself in terms of creating the awareness, educating yourself. It's a reminder and it's also a foundation in terms of more initiatives going forward and for all levels of government support to continue to fund these initiatives because it's a long journey to healing and it's ongoing," said Virginia Sutherland, one of Bernadette's 11 children.
Work to honorarily rename the intersection went public back in September at the city's Indigenous Advisory Committee. Virgina and Melanie Verreault talked to council about the plans in October and Timmins adopted a street naming policy in January.
Bernadette was a humble, beautiful woman who had a lot of dreams, recalled Virginia.
Originally from Fort Albany, a remote community on the James Bay coast, she moved to Timmins to reunite with her children and escape domestic violence.
"She was very beautiful, very humble, lot of love. She had a lot of compassion," said Virginia, "Having this ... it brought a lot of memories of who he was."
Lilian Sutherland's heart is lighter today.
Though it's been nearly four decades since Bernadette died, Lilian says it still feels like it didn't happen too long ago.
"I still remember the impact that it had on me, her family, her friends and the community of Fort Albany. Everyone knew my mother was very supportive, caring, worked very hard for her children," she said.
Every time she's in Timmins, she visits the site where her mother's body was found. In recent years, the property has been developed, though.
“I talk to her of my accomplishments, my four children and my grandchildren that my mom has never gotten to experience. I know in spirit she knows because I also carry the wisdom, knowledge, generosity of being a mother and a grandmother today. I really enjoy her friends when they share her life with me. My mom was a person to help support and have compassion to anyone in her path,” she said.
It's important to have Bernadette's name on the road, said Lilian, to acknowledge that she is one of the many murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls. The intersection that now bears Bernadette's name was also the site of a ceremony just six months ago to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the disappearance of Pamela Holopainen, who would have walked along Vipond to get to her Schumacher home from a house party in 2003.
The timing of the honorary street name unveiling isn't a coincidence.
Sunday, May 5 is the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls and 2SLGBTQI+, also known as Red Dress Day.
Addressing the national issue is going to take a comprehensive, collaborative approach with long-term commitments from all stakeholders, Virginia told today's crowd.
"This issue is utmost important and demands, community organizations and all levels of government to bring about meaningful change and put an end to the violence and injustice. faced by our indigenous women," she said.
