TakingITGlobal

33 # R I S I N G Y O U T H C O M M U N I T Y I M P A C T V O L . 2 T ayrn Hachey is a mixed-race student who has been on a journey to find her way back to her culture as part of the Mi'kmaq First Nations after years of disconnection. As part of this journey, Tayrn created a project aimed at educating her high school and broader community in Miramichi, New Brunswick about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). Her project involved a multifaceted and dynamic approach that included painting a mural to honour MMIWG, creating and putting up educational posters around her school, engaging students through a booth in the school cafeteria, and organizing a candlelight vigil. Her educational campaign sparked many Shedding Light on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls critical conversations around the rights of Indigenous women and girls, while also challenging students to ask difficult and uncomfortable conversations around Canada's colonial history and present-day reality. While the project was emotionally difficult, Tayrn knew that this was a crucial conversation her classmates and community needed to have. As she explains, "The only thing that kept me going through any problems was the fact that my people have been abused for centuries, so I owe it to them to defend who we are as people." Tayrn Hachey I was tired of being forced to listen to ignorant and racist opinions about something I love dearly. Something that is a part of me and my family. A special thank you to Dialogue Nouveau-Brunswick for sharing the #RisingYouth grant opportunity with Tayrn to make this project possible. Tayrn's Instagram page in which she further sheds light on missing and murdured Indigenous Women.

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