Butterflies in Spirit: Advocating for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
By Tin Gamboa
“No matter what, I feel like this is what I’m supposed to do,” said Lorelei Williams, the founder of Butterflies in Spirit, a Vancouver group that works to advocate for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) and their families through the healing power of dance. When we spoke recently, Williams told me she feels born into the work, to which she has a personal connection: her Aunt Belinda Williams went missing in 1977 and is still missing today. Not only was Lorelei the first girl born into the family two years after her aunt’s disappearance, but, as her mother often said in her final days, when Butterflies in Spirit was preparing for their first performance in 2012, “You look like your Aunty Bel.”
Since beginning Butterflies in Spirit, Williams has built on her experiential knowledge with trauma-informed training at the Justice Institute of British Columbia, volunteering at Battered Women’s Support Services, and working at Aboriginal Front Door Society, a peer-designed meeting place that offers culturally safe supports and services in the Downtown Eastside.
Williams has faithfully led Butterflies in Spirit through 11 years of local and international dancing and advocacy for MMIWG. One important working relationship established during this time has been with Aeriosa, a vertical dance company that, as their website puts it, “dances in the air on earth.”
In 2018, Butterflies in Spirit and Aeriosa were each dancing in a mixed bill in Stanley Park, an urban rainforest just outside the city’s downtown area, where lush trees have stood for hundreds of years and can stretch up to 76 meters high. “Aeriosa let us test out going up in the trees and that’s when I was like, oh my god, this is perfect. It was something I really connected to,” Williams said. Presently, Butterflies in Spirit members are artists-in-residence at Aeriosa, where they collaborate with artistic director Julia Taffe.
Aerial training is demanding: rehearsals require setting up the proper rigging, training in safety measures, and mastering the different physical demands of dancing in the air instead of on land. Williams said that training can “feel like a million push-ups,” adding that the physical rigour is “totally worth it.” She feels their collaborations have elevated Butterflies in Spirit’s performances both figuratively, in terms of audience engagement, and literally, taking them high up in the air. At one time, they performed on the side of the seven-story Scotiabank Dance Centre in downtown Vancouver.
Upcoming, Butterflies in Spirit will feature in Aeriosa’s noon-hour show, presented by The Dance Centre as part of their Discover Dance series on May 18.
Before then, May 5 is the National Day of Awareness for MMIWG, also known as Red Dress Day. Butterflies in Spirit will be present to bring attention to a tragedy that the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman and Girls has classified as genocide. Look for them in Vancouver from 4-6 pm around the Stadium-Chinatown Skytrain Station.
