This HuffPost Canada page is maintained as part of an online archive.

Evan Munday Sends Missing And Murdered Aboriginal Women Portraits To Stephen Harper

How A Toronto Artist Is Putting Aboriginal Women 'Higher' On Canada's Radar

Toronto artist Evan Munday wants to put missing and murdered aboriginal women higher on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's radar.

He wants to put them higher on everyone's radar.

In December, Munday drew portraits of the 14 women who were killed in the 1989 Ecole Polytechnique massacre.

Now, he has started sending pictures of aboriginal women who have been murdered or disappeared to Harper via Twitter.

UPDATE: Jan. 14 -- Munday has stopped sending portraits to Harper, saying in a blog post, "I believe I cannot continue the project in a way that respects these women's autonomy or a way that helps rather than harms the families of these thousands of women."

"Over 1,186 indigenous women have gone missing/been murdered in Canada since 1980. There have been outcries for public inquiry," he tweeted Monday.

"Our PM said an inquiry into the missing women 'isn't really high on our radar.' So I'm trying a small thing to make it higher."

The first portrait that Munday sent to the prime minister was of Elaine Frieda Alook, a 35-year-old mother of four who went missing from Fort McMurray in 2004.

The second portrait, sent Tuesday, was of Danita Faith Bigeagle, a 23-year-old mother of two who went missing from Regina in 2007.

Last year, the RCMP estimated almost 1,200 aboriginal women have gone missing or been murdered in Canada in the last 30 years.

"The grim thing is that I could do this and literally not run out of portraits to do for over three years, which is really kind of a staggering thought," Munday told The Toronto Star.

Follow Us On Twitter

ALSO ON HUFFPOST:

Maisy Odjick

Canada's Missing Aboriginal Women

Close
This HuffPost Canada page is maintained as part of an online archive. If you have questions or concerns, please check our FAQ or contact support@huffpost.com.