In a Vancouver community centre, beat-filled music blares from a multi-purpose room where a group of women is dancing.
They are rehearsing for an upcoming performance in which every choreographed step is meant to make a statement.
"We are called Butterflies in Spirit, and we use dance as a way to raise awareness about murdered, missing Indigenous women and girls," said Palexelsiya Lorelei Williams.
Williams is a well-known advocate from the Skatin and Sts'Ailes First Nations. She founded the dance troupe, which uses traditional and modern choreography, 10 years ago.
"I do a lot of work to end violence against women and girls," said the 42 year old. "When creating the group, I just thought of butterflies because like so many women they are transformative, strong and resilient."
Williams is not a professional dancer and never intended to mix advocacy with art, but that's exactly what happened.
'A STRANGER GAVE ME A POSTER TO CARRY'
"While I was attending a rally, a stranger gave me a poster to carry, and on it there were little newspaper clippings of those who were murdered and missing."
At the time, Williams was struck by how small the font was and how no one was focusing on the important message written on the paper she was holding.
With that, she decided to do more to draw attention to those who were lost and forgotten.
"I put pictures of the missing and murdered on T-shirts," she said. “I could keep walking in rallies, but I knew I needed to get more attention, so that is when I thought of dancing at events."
Williams first tested her idea back in April 2012, when she organized an impromptu performance at a busy downtown Vancouver intersection.
"Family members of women and girls who were missing and murdered wanted to join me. They not only wanted to dance, but raise awareness for their loved one."
'MY AUNT WENT MISSING'
While that first performance was memorable and formed the foundation for Butterflies in Spirit, it was also extremely personal for Williams.
"My aunt went missing two years before I was even born. I grew up in that and I always saw my family hurting and crying for her."
Belinda Williams was last seen in B.C's Lower Mainland in the late 1970s. There's very little police or public information about her disappearance.
"Belinda isn't my only missing relative," said Williams. "My cousin Tanya Holyk went missing and then her DNA was later found on serial killer Robert Pickton's farm."
It's estimated there are thousands of Indigenous women and girls who have been murdered or who have disappeared in recent decades.
According to the Native Women's Association of Canada, "only 53 per cent of murder cases in NWAC’s Sisters In Spirit database have been solved, compared to 84 per cent of all murder cases across the country."
While the dancers move to the rhythm, a woman known as JB the First Lady counts to the beat and shouts words of encouragement.
She's a songwriter, hip-hop artist and long-standing member of the Butterflies.
"To bring awareness to MMIWG is so important," she said. "These are not just a headline in the news. These are daughters, mothers, aunties, grandmothers, and we need to remember them."
Every member of Butterflies in Spirit has had a loved one impacted by violence. Many in the group have also had relatives traumatized by Canada's residential school system.
"I did not like being Indigenous, I was so ashamed of myself for years before joining the group," said Maranda Johnson.
Johnson has been with the Butterflies since the group first formed. She credits her fellow dancers with helping her reconnect to her culture and traditions.
"I have become so proud of my Indigenous heritage," she said. "This group is so supportive and we stand beside each other in real sisterhood."
There is a power in that pride and it is something Williams also possesses.
In Italy recently, she joined other Indigenous leaders who were in Vatican City for historic meetings with Pope Francis.
While there, she called on the Catholic Church to acknowledge its role in the legacy of trauma that has led to so many missing and murdered women, girls and two-spirit people.
"When I look at reconciliation, the genocide has to stop." she said. "Not a lot of people know this or want to believe this, but it's still happening."
With that, Williams and her Butterflies are determined to keep going.
At the end of April, they will mark a milestone anniversary, one in which they'll celebrate a decade of using dance to advocate and honour the missing and murdered.
