Camp Marcedes brings call for action to CMHR grounds

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This article was published 19/07/2023 (781 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jorden Myran had a heavy heart when she made her first visit to a new camp that amplifies calls to search a Winnipeg-area landfill for the remains of her sister and a second woman.

Located on the east side of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the site has been named Camp Marcedes, to honour Marcedes Myran, while raising further awareness about missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people.

“A big part of having the camp here is to keep my sister’s spirit alive and her name alive,” Jorden Myran said Wednesday. “The fact that we have to open up another location and do more to get the landfill searched is insane to me.

“We shouldn’t have to be fighting to get our women home. It’s a big problem, and people need to start opening their eyes and wake up to the real problem here.”

For the Myran family, the CMHR is a fitting location to call for action and educate passersby about the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls and two-spirit people.

“This is a human rights issue,” said Myran. “We’re still people. We’re not garbage. That’s our big message. We’re going to stay here and protest until the search of the landfill is done.”

Camp Marcedes was set up close to the Esplanade Riel footbridge Tuesday afternoon, shortly after the peaceful end of a protest that had blocked the main road to the city-run Brady Road landfill since July 6.

Protesters put up barricades in response to the Manitoba government’s decision not to support a search of the privately-owned Prairie Green Landfill, located just north of Winnipeg in the Rural Municipality of Rosser.

City police believe the remains of Marcedes Myran, 26, and Morgan Harris, 39, were deposited at Prairie Green after they and two other Indigenous women were slain by an alleged serial killer last year.

Partial remains belonging to Rebecca Contois, 24, were recovered from a North Kildonan garbage bin and the Brady Road landfill. A fourth as-of-yet unidentified woman (temporarily named Buffalo Woman by elders) has not been found.

Jeremy Anthony Micheal Skibicki, 36, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder.

Premier Heather Stefanson informed the Myran and Harris families of her decision July 5. She said she would not risk the health and safety of landfill searchers when there is no guarantee of finding remains.

Specialists who contributed to an Indigenous-led committee’s feasibility study said risks can be mitigated to protect searchers, and there is a good chance of finding remains.

The committee has called on Stefanson to meet with the experts and reverse her decision, while it awaits the federal government’s decision on a request for funding.

It has identified a potential search timeline of one to three years and cost of $84 million to $184 million.

On Wednesday, the Canadian Labour Congress announced its support for a search for Marcedes Myran and Harris.

CUPE Local 500, which represents Brady Road staff, has backed calls for a search of the city-run landfill.

Harris family members have had a camp, named Camp Morgan, outside the Brady Road site, located on the city’s southern limits, since mid-December.

A judge said that camp could stay in place, when he granted an interim injunction July 14 to authorize the removal of the barricades to restore regular access to the landfill.

At Camp Marcedes, at noon Wednesday, members of the Myran family and supporters sat around a sacred fire, while a woman sang and gently banged a handheld drum.

Signs had messages stating “Human rights? Not for the Indigenous” and “No more stolen sisters.”

MMIWG2S+ advocates placed red ribbons on Esplanade Riel railings. Each ribbon had the name of a missing or murdered woman.

“I hope it encourages people to read about these women and let them know they’re not going to be forgotten,” said Diane Bousquet.

She said 231 names were written to reflect the 231 calls for justice that were in the 2019 final report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls.

Only two of the calls have been completed.

At Camp Marcedes, there are plans to set up a teepee and tents for people to sleep in overnight.

Organizers worked with CMHR staff to select a location on the grounds and identify the camp’s needs.

“We’ve had several good conversations with camp leaders to understand how to support them logistically,” CMHR spokesman Rorie McLeod wrote in an email. “That support includes items like portable toilets, garbage and recycling collection, and access to the museum during the hours we are open.

“The camp is very new and we continue to build our relationships and stay in regular contact to ensure we can support them as requested.”

Museum visitors will be educated about the reasons for the camp.

“Led by our elder in residence and our Indigenous relations team, our priority is to make space for the voices of MMIWG2S+ families to be heard, to put community at the centre and to help amplify their personal stories,” McLeod wrote.

“We will continue to take guidance from camp leaders on the best ways we can work together to those ends.”

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @chriskitching

Chris Kitching
Reporter

Chris Kitching is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He began his newspaper career in 2001, with stops in Winnipeg, Toronto and London, England, along the way. After returning to Winnipeg, he joined the Free Press in 2021, and now covers a little bit of everything for the newspaper. Read more about Chris.

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