In June 2018, six people at the Justice For Our Stolen Children Camp were arrested by Regina police.
Videos showed police officers physically carrying non-violent protesters by their arms and legs out of the tipis that had been set up in Wascana Centre. The camp was established by Indigenous protesters demanding justice for the deaths of Colten Boushie and Tina Fontaine, as well as shedding light on systemic racism in the child welfare and criminal justice systems.
At the camp’s height, 15 tipis stared defiantly up at the Saskatchewan legislature. The camp hosted powwows, feasts, soccer games, book launches, and vigils. And while the camp lay on Treaty 4 territory – the homeland of the Métis Nation and the original lands of the Cree, Ojibwe, Saulteaux, Dakota, Nakota, and Lakota – it also sat on Wascana Centre, an urban park operated by the Saskatchewan provincial government in conjunction with the City of Regina and the University of Regina. The Provincial Capital Commission and Regina police said they were concerned about park visitor safety, and that the camp violated park bylaws that banned overnight encampment, fires, and unofficial signage. In July, radio talk show host John Gormley called the protest an excuse for “free camping” – an accusation that played to racist stereotypes of freeloading Indigenous people.
This story is from the March/April 2019 edition of Briarpatch.
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This story is from the March/April 2019 edition of Briarpatch.
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