Manitoba town remembers Helen Osborne

A memorial was dedicated in Northern Manitoba on Sunday to the life of a young woman raped and murdered almost 30 years ago.

Helen Betty Osborne was killed in November, 1971, while attending a residential school in The Pas. She had been stabbed more than 50 times with a screwdriver.

Sixteen years later, four men were charged with the killing that had divided the white and aboriginal communities.

Only one man was convicted. He was released on parole in 1996. Although an inquiry was eventually ordered, its conclusions were largely ignored.

"We have learned many things about justice, except how to heal ourselves," Helen's sister Cecilia Osborne said at the ceremony Sunday.

A few days ago, the province offered a formal apology to the family for not doing more to pursue the case.

The town decided to raise money so a memorial could be placed not far from where Osborne's body was found. Members of both the white and aboriginal communities contributed.

"I believe it brought a lot of people together," said Curtis Cook, who helped organize the tribute.

"It has brought us peace and healing that the justice system couldn't," agreed Cecilia Osborne.

The Province of Manitoba has set up a $50,000 scholarship in Helen Betty Osborne's name to help aboriginal women hoping to start a career in education the field she dreamed of working in before being murdered.