What the multi-coloured lights on the Sudbury police's Tree of Hope mean

Sudbury -

It was a solemn but also celebratory moment at times outside the Greater Sudbury Police Service Sunday night as a "Tree of Hope" was lit at the corner of Brady and Minto Streets.

The tree was lit at exactly 7 p.m., in solidarity with four other police services -- UCCM Anishnaabe, Timmins, Barrie, and Thunder Bay -- as a way to honour missing, murdered, Indigenous women and girls along with two-spirited individuals.

"This is really a special evening and it's an evening about hope," Sudbury Police Chief Paul Pedersen said. "It certainly acknowledges the tragedy that exists currently but is also a real commitment to moving together and really acting on those recommendations from the truth and Reconciliation report."

The Tree of Hope initiative first started with the Thunder Bay Police Service three years ago.

Pedersen said he's hopeful this will serve as a reminder to Sudburians who see it.

"It's not lost on me that this is a time where we celebrate the festival of lights," he said. "This is a time where we put Christmas lights up and this tree is up so maybe we can check our privileges and understand not everyone gets to enjoy what we get to enjoy but we can move forward and have a better future."

The tree will be lit up with three colours. Orange to honour the thousands of victims lost as a result of residential schools, red to honour the thousands of MMIWG2S, and then a line of blue to represent the role police played in furthering systemic racism and oppression.

"We're in this together. We want to work collaboratively to come up with solutions and we want to learn from terrible tragedy and move forward and we're committed to that," Pedersen said.

"It's important to acknowledge that this is a start and there's much more work to be done," said Craig Nootchtai, chief of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek. "I just want to say that we need to continue our support for our friends in the MMIWG2S community."

Nootchtai praised the Greater Sudbury Police Service for some of the collaborative work its been doing to carry on the conversation.

He talked to the crowd about how the system has failed Indigenous women and two-spirited individuals, saying much of that has to do with some of the inter-generational trauma they suffered as a result of residential schools.

"It's not just the adults but also our children that have been affected, so we need to make sure we're addressing that as well," Nootchtai said.

"It's heartbreaking for me because four years ago I was in Regina and they brought in families who have gone through a missing family member," said Wahnapitae First Nation Chief Larry Roque. "They brought family after family. It's frustrating and it's maddening but at least now we're getting it out there more."

Roque is hopeful this will get recognized as the serious problem that it is, adding women, children and grandchildren are sacred to Indigenous culture.

"They're the future," he said.

The evening also saw a sacred fire with ashes from the original fire in Thunder Bay, drumming and smudging.

The lights will remain up for the entire holiday season.