Families of Murdered Indigenous Women Demand Landfill Be Searched

By Kaniehtonkie

WINNIPEG – Police in the city of Winnipeg, Alberta is under increasing pressure to search for the bodies of murdered Indigenous women in a city landfill. Bodies of three of four women killed earlier this year by an alleged serial killer, Jeremy Skibicki of Winnipeg, Alberta.

Skibicki was arrested in May for the death of 24-year-old Rebecca Contois a member of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation in the province of Manitoba. Ms. Cantois' remains were discovered on May 16 in the Brady Road landfill on the northside of Winnipeg.

On December 1, Skibicki was charged with three additional counts of first-degree murder. In a press conference, investigators said they believe Skibicki is responsible for the deaths of Morgan Beatrice Harris, 39, who was killed on or around 1 May and Marcedes Myran, 26, was killed on or around 4 May. Both women are members of the Long Plain First Nation but lived in Winnipeg. The third, a previously unnamed woman now has a name given to her by the community: Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman. The Winnipeg police have appealed to the public for information on the fourth unidentified victim and released photos of a reversible winter jacket that belonged to her.

The bodies of Ms. Harris, Ms. Myran and Buffalo Woman have yet to be recovered.

Winnipeg police said they believe the remains of the women are in a landfill called Prairie Green, saying logistical challenges would make the search extremely difficult – too much time has passed and too much garbage has been dumped since then.

On Friday, December 9, the daughters of Morgan Harris, Cambria and Kera Harris made an impassioned plea for the search of their mother and asked for the resignation of the Winnipeg chief of police. The Prairie Green landfill has since been shut down.

In an interview with CBC News, Morgan Harris's daughters said their mother was a very selfless and amazing woman.

"Regardless of whether she was sober or not, she was always there to give kindness to people in need it of it. What had happened to her is unjust and the way it's being handled is horrific. She did not deserve the life that was bestowed upon her. She did her hardest to try and improve herself to get better for her own schlieren. The reality was that the governments did not have enough resources to help her out. No matter how much she tried and cried. She fought very hard until the very end," Kera Harris said.

The decision not to search the landfill has been met by protests from Indigenous advocates and the families of the women, who travelled to Ottawa last week to call for renewed attention to the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in Canada.

"What had happened to her is unjust and the way it's being handled is absolutely horrific, they do not belong in the landfill. They need a place to honor them, to give closure," Harris continued.

More unmarked graves.

"The Systemic oppression of Indigenous people has been going on for hundreds of years. The government has repeatedly failed our people in numerous ways, and we saw with residential schools. We are still digging up unmarked graves today. When I want to go visit my mother, they expect me to visit the landfill? And pay my respects? That's wrong. That's absolutely wrong. So once again, they are creating unmarked graves," said Cambria Harris.

They want the landfill shut down. They deserve to be honored. Knowing they have not been left behind in a landfill

"It's a crime scene," said Manitoba NDP MP Leah Gazan, "They deserve justice, and they deserve closure. We are human beings, and we need to start being treated as human beings."

The Manitoba First Nations, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC), alongside Long Plain First Nation Chief Kyra Wilson, also called for Smyth to step down.

In a press release, Smyth stated, "The investigation involving the murders of Rebecca Contois, Marcedes Myran, Morgan Harris, and Buffalo Woman has been one of the most complex and important homicide investigations during my tenure. Difficult decisions were made to advance the investigation so that charges could be brought against Jeremy Skibicki. Evidence was painstakingly gathered and presented to the Crown prosecutor who authorized four 1st degree murder charges. The Deputy Attorney General saw fit to directly indict Skibicki, which will expedite the prosecution. I have extended an offer, through Superintendent Bonnie Emerson, to meet with you and discuss the challenges that were encountered during the investigation. That offer still stands. I have also spoken with the Winnipeg Police Board and Mayor Gillingham. I am supportive of further exploring whether it is possible to recover the remains of Marcedes Myran and Morgan Harris. I will work with whomever the Mayor assigns to this important initiative. I remain committed to actions that prevent victimization and exploitation of women, and I support efforts that provide respect and dignity to women, their families and the larger MMIWG2S+ community.

Smyth continued with, "As the Chief of Police, I am committed to securing a criminal conviction for these heinous crimes. I want justice for Rebecca, Marcedes, Morgan and Buffalo Woman. I will not be resigning."

As of Tuesday, December 13, city and police officials said no search is planned, due in part to the amount of time that has passed and the fact that there's no known starting point for a search. The manager of the site has also said a search would be difficult at the private landfill, due to the constant movement at the site, but said the company is cooperating fully with police and expressed condolences to the victims' families.

Social media profiles linked to Jeremy Skibicki are replete with material containing antisemitism, white supremacy and misogyny. Experts want police and the Crown to investigate how much those views led to the killing of Rebecca Contois.

"How many other women are they not looking for?" said Cambria Harris at a protest in Winnipeg held on December 11.

The Prairie Green landfill has paused its operations as of Thursday, December 8, 2022.

Jeremy Skibicki's lawyer has told Canadian media that he intends to plead not guilty.

The murders have brought renewed attention to Canada's history of disproportionate violence faced by indigenous women, which was called a "genocide" by a national public inquiry in 2019. Gazon said 724.1 million was designated to MMIW and only 12 million has been allocated. She also said of the 50 murders in Winnipeg in 2022, 11 of them were Indigenous women. A report by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in 2016 estimated that around 1,200 First Nations women had been killed or gone missing between 1980 and 2012. But the National Inquiry into Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls concluded that there is "no reliable estimate", and added that the RCMP's figure is narrow in scope.

Federal Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller said all levels of government have failed Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people for centuries.

"I think as we recognize the failure of the federal government to keep these women safe, it's important to realize that there are women today that are in the same vulnerable place that these women were, and that continues," Miller said at the news conference.

Miller was scheduled to meet with Morgan Harris's family on Tuesday, December 13.

Pic. 1. Winnipeg police say Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois and a fourth unidentified woman the community has named Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, were all the victims of an alleged serial killer. Jeremy Skibicki, 35.