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Saskatoon

Cathedral bells ring for missing and murdered indigenous women

Saskatoon's St. John's Cathedral will ring its chimes more than 1,000 times over the next month, one for every murdered and missing indigenous woman and girl between 1980 and 2012.

Chimes will ring more than 1,000 times over five days

CBC News ·
The bells at St. John's Cathedral will toll for 1,122 missing or murdered indigenous women and girls. (Rachel Bergen/CBC News)

Saskatoon's St. John's Cathedral will ring its chimes more than 1,000 times over the next month, one for every murdered and missing indigenous woman and girl between 1980 and 2012.

The bells will start ringing at 2 p.m. CST Sunday, the date of the final event of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

"There is no them. There's only us," said dean Scott Pittendrigh. "And we are all one, and what happens to our sisters and brothers affects us all." 

Dean of Saskatoon's St. John's Anglican Cathedral Scott Pittendrigh hopes the ringing of the church bells will draw attention to an important issue. (Rachel Bergen/CBC News)
The bells will toll for 1,017 murdered indigenous women and girls. They will also ring 105 times for women and girls classified as missing in suspicious circumstances.

Pittendrigh said he hopes the gesture will bring attention to an important issue.

"Church bells were rung to call them to prayer, but also to pay attention," said Pittendrigh. "To be aware that there's something going on in our community. Well, there is something going on in our communities, in our country and our city with our missing women."

The bells will be rung on five sessions stretching over 22 days. The chimes will be rung for the final time June 21 at 2:30 p.m. CST, combining with a special service on the National Aboriginal Day of Prayer.

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