One of the co-founders of the Moose Hide Campaign says the movement has officially handed out 4 million pins.
“To see the growth over the years and to see Canadians really taking the pin and wearing it as an everyday commitment is such an honour to be part of a really important change that our country so desperately needs,” Raven Lacerte said.
The campaign began in 2011 after Raven and her father Paul were hunting moose for sustenance and cultural purposes and decided they wanted to do something to draw attention to the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women along northern B.C.’s Highway of Tears.
Since then, the campaign has asked Canadians to wear moose hide pins as a way of showing their awareness of violence against all women and children.
The goal is to give out 10 million pins.
On Wednesday in Ottawa, Lacerte presented Sen. Michele Audette with pin number 4 million in recognition of her work in combatting violence against Indigenous women and girls.
“When I saw your dad (Paul) with this initiative many moons ago, I said, ‘That’s it, men are part of the solution and I will embrace that until my last breath,’” Audette said explaining how she got involved with the campaign.
The senator then called upon all men to play an active role in ending this violence.
“Be an ally, protect us, protect me, protect your daughter, protect your partner,” she said. “Be the one that says we lost our role in our territory.”
Lacerte explained why the campaign has been focused on the moose hide.
“The moose hide represents a little piece of medicine from the land, it’s iconically Canadian and we thought that maybe it was something that could help to honour that healthy warrior spirit,” she said “And particularly in our men but in all of us. And something that people could wear as a community of people that are standing up against violence toward women and children.”
Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller was also on hand at the event and said the campaign plays a major role in sparking important conversations.
“Sometimes those conversations are ones that are very difficult and they present themselves with the certainty and confidence of a closed mind,” he said. “And if those conversations result in even the smallest words like ‘hmm’ or ‘I’m not sure about that but you made me think.’ There’s a measurable success.”
Moose Hide Campaign Day will take place on May 11 this year and organizers are asking Canadians to join a fast from sunrise to sunset on that day.
