Sacred fire

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A St. Catharines man is spending 30 days living in a park to guard a sacred fire burning in honour of missing and murdered Aboriginal women.

Fred Bowering has already spent 12 days camping in front of the sacred fire. The Mohawk man is guarding the fire for his cousin Ashley Simpson who was last seen in B.C. in 2007.

“She just disappeared. She was reported missing and she still is missing and that’s why I’m keeping the fire here.”

Fred keeps the fire burning 24-7, sleeping beside it to make sure it never goes out. But he’s not just doing it for Ashley, hanging by the fire is a photo of 24-year-old Ben Trommels. The Niagara Falls man vanished with out a trace this past February. Fred says his mother has been down to the fire daily.

“I’m doing this for the whole community. It’s to honour all of our murdered all of our missing and all of the ones we’ve lost to mental health and addiction.”

Something Fred has struggled with himself. He welcomes anyone to come by and when they do, he helps them if they need it. He is gifting anyone who comes by his sacred fire with a turkey feather. He says he hopes it serves as a reminder to be kind to one another.