A local Indigenous woman and her family are making pleas online after a vehicle break in downtown last night.
Her traditional Indigenous regalia was stolen and she is doing anything she can to get it back.
A local Indigenous woman and her family are making pleas online after a vehicle break in downtown last night and her traditional Indigenous regalia was stolen.
Courtesy: MLT photography
“It’s a part of who I am. It’s part of my culture,” said Graycen Thomas.
She is desperate to find the suitcase.
An image of the suitcase that was stolen.
Courtesy: MLT Photography
Thomas and her mother are even offering a $200 reward to whomever can return the suitcase — no questions asked.
“It just breaks my heart to think that someone would steal those things, not knowing how important they were to me,” said Thomas.
Thomas said she went to a movie around 9 p.m. and locked her doors five times before heading to the theatre. When she got back, she found her vehicle is disarray and immediately began looking for her regalia.
Graycen Thomas in one of her traditional dresses that is missing.
Courtesy: MLT photography
“I was still going through a lot. My emotions were all over the place. I didn’t know how to feel. I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know where my regalia was. And, you know, I was really overwhelmed, and I was just I didn’t know what to think,” said Thomas.
The suitcase contained five dresses of traditional regalia but that was not the only thing stolen. Her wallet and the first beadwork her mom ever made her was stolen as well.
“That was the first thing that she made me for my regalia. So, it holds a lot of sentimental value because, you know, my mom made that for me. And, you know, that’s not replaceable,” said Thomas.
Thomas and her mother went around Saskatoon for hours Wednesday hoping someone had left it in a dumpster or an alley, not realizing how much the regalia was worth.
“They were probably looking for something to sell or something to wear and they realized that they couldn’t. Or they didn’t know how much they were worth. And so, they just kind of dumped it out because it wasn’t worth anything to them if they didn’t have any use for it,” said Thomas.
Thomas filed a report with Saskatoon police and hopes that her regalia can be returned as soon as possible.