Family undertakes 100-km 'healing' walk to bring their late mother home to Birch Island

The family of Linda Mae Toulouse is bringing the Whitefish River First Nation woman home. Toulouse was a victim of a violent crime and her family is walking from Sudbury to Birch Island in honour of her and all MMIWG2S+. (Ian Campbell/CTV News)

Nina Toulouse is on one of the biggest missions she's ever undertaken: she and other members of her family are bringing her mother home. They're making the more than 100-kilometre trek from Sudbury to Whitefish River First Nation on foot.

It's been two years since Linda Mae Toulouse was found dead inside Sudbury's Ledo Hotel. Her loved ones say they still aren't any closer to the answers they seek.

On Wednesday morning at dawn, they left Junction Creek to mark the spot where Toulouse had been beaten.

"We're not only walking for our loved one, but we're walking for other families as well," said Nina.

"It's to spread awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and so we walk for those ones that are lost."

The group has split the trek into three and they're hoping to arrive in Birch Island by June 3, to commemorate the release of the final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

"This isn't a protest," said Nina. "We're here for healing and awareness and to just get those stories out there."

Greater Sudbury Police Service told CTV News that detectives had determined Linda Mae's death was not a homicide or the result of foul play.

"Since the incident was initially reported, detectives from the criminal investigation division have conducted a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding her death while awaiting the results of the post-mortem ordered by the coroner," police spokesperson Kaitlyn Dunn said in a statement.

"Through the coroner's office, a post-mortem was conducted and the results revealed that the cause of death was not due to criminality ... We acknowledge that Linda sustained injuries prior to her death, however through the coroner's investigation it was determined that those injuries were not the cause of death and were not a contributing factor to her death."

But that determination didn't explain the injuries she sustained. It's something that haunts the Toulouse family to this day.

"It's still ongoing and we still have yet to meet with the officers for a case conference," said Nina.

She describes her mother as a fun-loving, caring woman who had some struggles in her later years, but had worked to turn herself around for her family.

Linda Mae had relocated to be closer to her daughter in Sudbury.

"She had a good spirit, a kindred spirit, she helped the community, she really voiced her opinion when it came to her people and our native issues and she had a hard go, but she still lived her life as a survivor -- she was a survivor," said Nina.

"More needs to be done. I'm a mother, my daughters, my girls, we need to make sure this doesn't happen to them," said Nala Toulouse, Linda Mae's niece and Nina's cousin.

'She had to go big'

Toulouse said she was a little taken aback when approached by her cousin, but after having a dream about her aunt, she was ready to go.

"I thought we were just going to go around Whitefish River, but she had to go big," she laughed.

They're hoping to arrive in Birch Island by Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. Linda's sister and other family members and friends are joining them for the first day.

While the family still hopes they'll get the answers they seek, Nina said she wants to ensure no other family has to deal with what they've experienced.

"We need this to be an eye-opener," she said.

"To protect our women, protect our girls and not just for non-Indigenous people but our own people. Maybe if you see one of our sisters or brothers that's hitchhiking, pick them up. It's part of that protection piece, prevention."

As part of the walk, the family is raising funds for several partner agencies that helped them get it off the ground or supported them through their personal tragedy, including Family Information Liaison Units (FILU), Noojmowin Teg Health Centre in Aundeck Omni Kaning and 'We Dance for Life.'

"Our people are at risk of racism, systemic racism and the rates for our people going missing are high. I don't like to take down numbers or statistics because they continue to rise to this day. It's just really great right now because a lot of our voices are being heard and we want to keep up that momentum," she added.