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At a park in Ottawa\u2019s Vanier neighbourhood, four boys helped tear away wrapping paper and red ribbons to unveil a new \u201cMary Papatsie Park\u201d sign. <\/p>\n
The boys are the children of Papatsie, an Inuk woman whose remains were found at a nearby construction site in September 2022.<\/p>\n
The sign unveiling on Tuesday was well attended by members of Papatsie\u2019s family, who travelled from across the country for the ceremony. Papatsie’s sister, Sheepa, spoke at the ceremony, remembering her younger sister fondly as an outgoing young woman.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe would make people laugh. She also made sure her loved ones are being taken care of,\u201d Sheepa told CBC News. \u201cThat\u2019s why I wonder how this happened to her when she was very tough, but very lovable. Like she showed her love to the people she loved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mary Papatsie was 39 years old when she disappeared in Ottawa\u2019s east end in April 2017, with the Ottawa Police Service\u2019s (OPS) major crime unit taking over the case two and a half months later<\/a>. By September 2017, police had deemed Papatsie’s disappearance suspicious<\/a>.<\/p>\n After her remains were found and identified, Papatsie was buried in 2023 in Pangnirtung, Nunavut,<\/a> the Baffin Island community where she was born and raised. <\/p>\n Shortly after Papatsie’s funeral, Rideau-Vanier Coun. St\u00e9phanie Plante introduced the idea of renaming Ottawa’s Emond Park to Papatsie’s family.<\/p>\n \u201cAnytime you go into this kind of commemoration, you want to make sure you have the family on board, and especially the children,\u201d Plante said. \u201cI want the children especially to see their mom with a sense of pride.\u201d<\/p>\n Fabric of the community<\/p>\n Papatsie was the mother of 10 children, and the youngest of eight siblings. She\u2019d previously worked in the North, assisting doctors and nurses, her sister July Papatsie told CBC in 2019. However, after being sexually assaulted two decades ago, Mary moved to Ottawa.<\/p>\n Mary is remembered fondly by members of the local community in Ottawa, who recalled memories of going for walks with her and stopping to talk whenever they saw her in the neighbourhood. Speaking at Tuesday’s ceremony, Sheepa said Mary would be honoured to know her name is now attached to a place where family and members of her community can gather.<\/p>\n \u201cShe will not be forgotten,\u201d Sheepa said. \u201cMary Papatsie Park will still probably be here by the time I\u2019m gone. And that way she will be remembered.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Wrapping paper, ribbons and a red dress cover the newly unveiled ‘Mary Papatsie Park’ sign. The unveiling of the sign on Tuesday coincided with Red Dress Day, which draws attention and awareness to Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit+ People (MMIWG2S+). (Liam Baker\/CBC)<\/p>\n