The assembled protesters repeatedly shouted We Are Not Trash! or Search the landfill!. Jessica Courchene attended the demonstration, a gesture she feels is important.
[Une décharge] is not a place for native people. It shows that people think we’re garbage, that we don’t deserve dignity, she says.
On Monday, Linda Beardy was found dead at the Brady Road landfill in what were initially considered suspicious circumstances.
However, the Winnipeg Police Service later determined that “there is no evidence” that she was a victim of murder. Police believe she would have climbed into a trash can of her own accord, from which she would never have gotten before she was found at the landfill.
In addition to several protesters, Indigenous activists and organizations are calling for a full search of the Brady Road landfill or for the site to be closed completely to find more missing people.
This dump was closed for several weeks in December 2022 and January 2023 during demonstrations and calls to search for the bodies of indigenous women victims of an alleged serial killer.
Hundreds of protesters turned up at the intersection of Portage Avenue and Main Street on Friday night.
Photo: Radio Canada / Travis Golby
On Friday, protesters including Alexis Tachnak called for concrete action and denounced the disproportionate violence that tribal women are subjected to.
We are losing many of these women. Nobody does anything. We feel disposable and insignificant […]. Our culture is devalued and our women live with too many risks. This has to stop, she says.
Despite the tragic circumstances of the demonstration, Alexis Tachnak is heartened by the number of people who took to the streets.
I feel the love from all these people. This is how we mourn.
With information from Bryce Hoye and Bartley Kives