Indigenous groups call for federal government to fund searches of Winnipeg-area landfills for remains
Letter signatories say inaction from police, police board have left them to advocate for search alone
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
Manitoba First Nations leaders and Indigenous groups have sent a letter calling on the federal government to fund their search of two Winnipeg-area landfills for the remains of homicide victims and call in the United Nations for support.
The signatories say inaction from the Winnipeg Police Service and the city's police board has forced them to advocate for the families of Marcedes Myran and Morgan Harris, women whose remains are believed to be in the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg.
Police have said they are unsure where the remains of the unidentified woman whom community members have named Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, are located.
Police allege all three women — as well as Rebecca Contois, whose partial remains were located in June at the Brady Road landfill in south Winnipeg — were killed by the same man over a two-month period earlier this year.
"Trust has been broken by this decision not to search," said the letter, which was dated Tuesday.
It was signed by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, the Southern Chiefs' Organization, the Assembly of First Nations, Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak, the non-profit Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre and the MMIWG2S+ Implementation Committee — a Manitoba organization made up of survivors, family members, knowledge keepers, Indigenous organizations and governments.
It was also signed by Kyra Wilson, the chief of Long Plain First Nation. Both Harris and Myran were members of Long Plain.
Wilson says it's important for all levels of government to be involved in a search.
"It's very important that we're sending a message to everyone that we will be there to support you," she told CBC News on Tuesday.
"We will be there to search for your loved ones if they go missing and we know where they are and how to locate them."
Police believe both Harris and Myran were killed in May, but did not determine until June that their remains were likely at the Prairie Green landfill.
WATCH | Prairie Green landfill, north of Winnipeg, seen from above:
They have said that it would be too difficult to search that landfill, just north of Winnipeg, for the remains because of the length of time that has passed, the presence of tonnes of animal remains and the fact that the trash there has been pressed down by heavy construction clay.
Meanwhile, at the Brady Road landfill, protesters hung up red dresses — a symbol of Indigenous women who have been murdered or is missing — on a fence Tuesday.
They also blocked traffic and forced several waste-hauling trucks to turn around.
Taylor Orpin was among the protesters. She is not Indigenous, but said she was there to "demand a better world" for Indigenous people.
"We need to rise up together and it is going to take all of us to take hard looks at ourselves, and hard looks at the systems in place — these systems of oppression," she said.
Police board chair's comments 'disheartening': advocate
Tuesday's letter comes after Winnipeg Police Board chair Coun. Markus Chambers was quoted in other media outlets as saying that the police board would not be involved in decisions about a possible search of the landfill.
"It was decided the Winnipeg Police Board is not the arbiter in terms of the next decision or decision-making process," he was quoted as saying after the police board meeting on Monday.
"We know the Indigenous community is not satisfied with [the police decision not to search], so it's up to them to reach out to the levels of government … so that it can be determined what those next steps are."
Sandra DeLaronde — a longtime advocate for missing and murdered Indigenous people and a signatory on the letter as the project lead for the MMIWG2S+ Implementation Committee — said Chambers's comments did nothing to improve Indigenous people's trust in law enforcement.
The comments made her and others feel like they don't have police support, she said.
"It was particularly disheartening yesterday to hear the chair of the police board telling us, as Indigenous people, again, we are on our own," she told CBC News.
"There is zero trust in the Winnipeg Police Service in the Indigenous community."
CBC News requested an interview with Chambers. He instead sent a statement by text message, saying that all levels of government have engaged with First Nations leaders and Indigenous groups on this issue.
"As a result of the levels of government having these conversations, the [police] board has no further comments on next steps other than to continue to ask for the public's assistance in providing information on the jacket belonging to the unidentified woman known as 'Buffalo Woman,'" he said.
Police shared a photo of a jacket earlier this month, and said tips about it may help them identify Buffalo Woman.
The signatories are calling on the federal government to invite a United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous peoples to oversee a search, provide resources needed to conduct a feasibility study, provide resources and supports to the impacted families and cover the costs of the search.
Cathy Merrick, grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, said a special rapporteur would provide an extra layer of support.
"A lot of times what we face is people that we do interact with and that we do talk with ... don't seem to want to come to the table in good faith and to be able to talk about the issues," she said.
"So that's one of the avenues that we have as Aboriginal people, to be able to go to that table and request for somebody from [the United Nations] to be there, to be able to support us."
The letter sent Tuesday also says the federal government should agree to be prepared to call in the RCMP if the Winnipeg Police Service refuses to conduct a search.
CBC News has requested comment from Indigenous Services Canada, but didn't immediately receive a response.
Support is available for anyone affected by details of this case. If you require support, you can contact Ka Ni Kanichihk's Medicine Bear Counselling, Support and Elder Services at 204-594-6500, ext. 102 or 104, (within Winnipeg) or 1-888-953-5264 (outside Winnipeg).
Support is also available via Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak's Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Liaison unit at 1-800-442-0488 or 204-677-1648.
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With files from Holly Caruk and Karen Pauls