Ottawa renames park for Mary Papatsie
on Red Dress Day

A crowd dressed in red filled Mary Papatsie Park in Ottawa’s Vanier neighbourhood to witness the park’s renaming in honour of the Inuk woman whose death remains under investigation.

The unveiling coincided with Red Dress Day, which honours missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.

Mary Papatsie’s sons join Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante in unwrapping the new Mary Papatsie Park sign in Ottawa on Tuesday. The sign also bears the park’s new name in Inuktitut using the Pangnirtung dialect. (Photo by Nehaa Bimal)

Speaking on behalf of the family, Mary’s sister, Sheepa Papatsie, said the renaming of the park gives the family something it has been missing since Papatsie disappeared — a permanent place to gather, grieve and remember her.

“[This is] a place where her children can come. A place where her family can gather. A place where we can remember her, speak her name and feel close to her,” Papatsie said.

Mary’s sons joined Rideau-Vanier Coun. Stéphanie Plante in unwrapping the new park sign, which also bears her name in the Pangnirtung dialect of Inuktitut.

At the base of the sign, well-wishers placed flowers beside a photograph of Mary.

Among those attending Tuesday’s ceremony were her brother, Tommy Papatsie, niece Tracy Sarazin and other relatives, some of whom travelled from Nunavut for the occasion.

The ceremony also served as a reminder that her family is still waiting for answers, Sheepa said.

“We are still searching for answers and justice,” she said. “There is no closure for us, and that pain does not go away.”

She also made a public appeal for information, urging anyone who may know something about her sister’s death to come forward.

“Information matters. The truth matters. And Mary matters,” Sheepa said.

Mary, originally from Pangnirtung, was 39 when she was reported missing in Ottawa in 2017.

Her remains were discovered in Vanier in 2022.

The Ottawa Police Service has said her death is being investigated as a homicide.

“Naming this park does not bring Mary back. It does not change what happened to her. It does not give us answers,” Plante said at the unveiling.

“But it is a place for reflection, for remembering her, and maybe to be with her in some way,” she said.

Plante added that she would like to work with community members and the federal government to create a national memorial in the capital dedicated to missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.

Following the unveiling, many attendees continued the day’s commemorations at the Vanier Hub in Ottawa, where organizers had planned an evening of Red Dress Day programming.