tragedy made sharon johnson a powerful community activist

by donna faye

today, sharon johnson (ba, indigenous learning, 2008) is known for her commitment to raising public awareness about missing and murdered anishinaabe women in northwestern ontario.  

she’s no longer the shy person who was intimidated by the thought of speaking to the media after the first full moon memory walk in 2005. “i was afraid,” sharon says. “but i agreed to do it.” 

pictured right:  sharon holding the full moon memory walk flag at the location on the neebing-mcintyre floodway where her late sister was found. (photo credit: red works photography)

since then, sharon, from the seine river first nation, has organized the walk every year with help from other women in memory of her younger sister.

on february 13, 1992, sandra johnson’s body was discovered on the frozen neebing-mcintyre floodway in thunder bay. she was 18 years old. the thunder bay police have still not found the person responsible for sandra’s murder.

“despite only making up 4 per cent of the canadian population, indigenous women and girls represent 28 per cent of homicides perpetrated against women in 2019 and are 12 times more likely to be murdered or missing than non-indigenous women in canada.”

-statistics canada

in the years following her sister’s death, sharon didn’t want her face and name made public out of fear that the person responsible for her sister’s death was still at large.

then in 2005, local activist lynn sharman invited sharon to a meeting with some people from 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 and other organizations to help plan an event to raise awareness about violence against anishinaabe women.

they agreed to organize a memorial walk during the grandmother moon, the full moon in september, which also coincided with sandra’s birthday, september 26.

“i chose to do the memorial during the full moon because that’s when women do ceremonies. it’s a healing time for women. during the full moon ceremony, we honour grandmother moon and ask for guidance to know what we need to do.”

pictured left: participants in the 2010 full moon memory walk came together to raise awareness about the high rates of violence against indigenous women. (photo credit: red works photography)

but the group stopped meeting for the summer. then, the evening before the full moon in september, sharon called sharman.

they decided to go ahead with the walk. that evening sharman made signs. sharon called and emailed friends and relatives.

sharon says about 35 people came out to walk the next day. “i knew most of them, and some others joined on the day.” 

“i had no idea that it was going to grow into something bigger.”

the walk became an annual event and grew to include an annual valentine’s day walk in february and even a memorial concert for a couple of years before the covid-19 pandemic.

sharon started studying indigenous learning that fall at 阿根廷vs墨西哥竞猜 . while at lakehead, she participated in class and campus events to help raise awareness about violence against women, including being a regular guest speaker for the annual take back the night walk.

organizing events like the full moon memory walk have been important for healing, not just for sharon but also for others who have lost loved ones to violence.

“at first, i was doing it in memory of my little sister,” she says. “i thought we need to do this for me, my family, that it would be something healing.”

“then i realized it wasn’t just for me and my family. i started to meet many family members who had experienced the same violence who needed that help and support. because i was touched by this violence, i knew what it was like. so, when someone told me, ‘i lost my niece,’ or, ‘i lost my mom, and this is her name,’ i couldn’t just turn my back.” 

find information about the next full moon memory walk or valentine’s day memorial walk on facebook.