KEHEWIN – In a show of solidarity, five women from Kehewin Cree Nation are driving east to add their voices to demonstrators’ calls for the Manitoba government to search a privately owned landfill north of Winnipeg.
Wendy Watchmaker and her daughter, along with Melissa John, Lewanna Watchmaker and Donna Ladouceur, began the long journey last Thursday morning.
The group made their first stop in Lloydminster to meet up with another group also making the trip to camps in Winnipeg constructed to show the public they are not stopping their calls to have Prairie Green Landfill and Brady Landfill searched for the remains of four women believed to be the victims of an alleged serial killer.
Protesters are gathering at two camps, Camp Morgan located next to the road to Prairie Green Landfill, and Camp Marcedes, which is located next to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, also in Winnipeg.
The camps are named after the victims of the alleged killer Jeremy Skibicki.
Skibicki's lawyer, Leonard Tailleur, has stated his client intends to plead not guilty to all four counts of first-degree murder. A trial is scheduled to begin in April 2024.
Winnipeg police believe Skibicki is responsible for murdering Morgan Harris, 39, Marcedes Myran, 26, Rebecca Contois, 24, and an unidentified woman known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, at the beginning of 2022.
In June of 2022, police found partial human remains at the Brady Road Landfill during a two-week search connected with the killing of Contois. Investigators also believe the remains of Harris and Myran are at the Prairie Green Landfill but stated it would not be feasible to search for the women’s remains there.
In December, the federal government announced it will cover the cost of a study on whether remains could be recovered through a search of the Prairie Green Landfill. At that time, Manitoba's premier Heather Stefanson pledged her support for a feasibility study for a search of the landfill.
Months later, a dollar amount of $500,000 was announced by the federal government for the study.
With search efforts on hold at the landfills, protesters started blocking access to the Brady Landfill reaffirming their calls to have the landfills searched. These blockades would eventually be removed, but officials announced that the areas where the remains were believed to be located were not being used.
On May 12, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs announced that the study revealed that a successful search of the Prairie Green Landfill could take up to three years and cost as much as $184 million.
Another blockade was formed by protesters on July 6, this time on the road to Prairie Green Landfill, after Manitoba’s premier said her government would not pay for a search of the landfill.
A court ordered injunction had police work with demonstrators to remove the blockade on July 18. Protesters have cleared the road, but Camp Morgan remains nearby.
Solidarity in sisterhood
By Friday afternoon, the local group had arrived in Winnipeg ready to show support and add their voices to the calls for the government to take action and search the landfills.
Along the way, the women met up with others wanting to show their support and contribute to the cause. They met with business owner Lenore Janvier in Saskatoon, who donated her own Indigi-Merch for those stationed at the Camps.
Prior to starting the trip, Wendy and her daughter set up on the corner of 49th Street and Main Street in Bonnyville on Wednesday afternoon to collect red dresses, funds and supplies to take to demonstrators in Winnipeg.
Earlier this year, Wendy walked from Hotel Dene to Papaschase First Nation to raise awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous People (MMIP).
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