Search the Landfills?

 

Those of you who follow this Lion Lamb blog know that I have no shortage of opinions on a variety of subjects and I express them willingly. 

There are times, though, that I ponder subjects and situations which seem above my pay grade and one is unfolding now. There is an Indigenous-led blockade at the Brady Road landfill site in Winnipeg where the partial remains of Rebecca Contois were found last year.The bodies of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran are believed to have been dumped in Prairie Green Landfill, an unmarked grave for these two women who were killed by a man who has been charged with their murders. 

These deaths are yet another example of the long, shameful history of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in what we know as Canada. The MMIWG inquiry report revealed what Indigenous peoples already knew, that women and girls were treated as disposable, justice has been irregular and indifferent, and that hundreds and probably thousands have died over the decades. Their displacement from their home communities left them vulnerable and the legacy of the Residential School System meant there was simply no safe place for them to be. https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/

I can't begin to understand the sorrow felt by the loved ones of the women who were murdered, nor the indignation and outrage felt by the broader Indigenous community. I listen to the voices of Indigenous leaders and journalists I respect who insist that this must happen 

My dilemma is that I'm not sure whether extensive searches for remains in these huge landfills would be effective or safe for those involved. We're told that it would be dangerous because of toxins and other hazards, that police aren't equipped to undertake them, and that the cost could be in the tens of millions. I wonder if there could be more meaningful uses of this money to address the issues around Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

 Are the cautions just another example of governments minimizing the losses of Indigenous peoples?  Marc Miller, Canada’s Crown-Indigenous relations minister has criticized the Manitoba government for its decision to not search the landfill for the bodies of those two murdered Indigenous women, describing it as heartless. Perhaps it is. 

We know that the role of different Christian denominations in the Residential Schools has contributed to inter-generational trauma for which the United Church has repented. But the injustices and trauma didn't end with our apologies. What should our stance be in regard to this very specific moment? I wish I knew, and I do hope the United Church issues some sort of response, one marked by humility. 

A judge has issued an injunction to remove the blockade but no steps were taken over the weekend.There is talk of shifting the protest to the Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg which might be a more effective locationm but who is listening? 

 May the Creator guide us toward justice and wisdom. 

Red dresses hung up in honour of missing and killed indigenous women at the Brady landfill