Seizing an opportunity to view historic darkness through hopeful, multicoloured glasses

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 12/06/2024 (493 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Wab Kinew wore a red and blue plaid traditional shirt featuring an appliqué with a red, yellow and blue design Tuesday at the legislature.

It was a far cry from his usual attire, appropriate for conducting the business of the province. This was appropriate for the importance and sensitivity of the day.

The premier delivered a progress report on preparations to begin a long-awaited search for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran at Prairie Green Landfill.

It was a moment of vindication for the families of the Indigenous women — two of an admitted serial killer’s four victims — their supporters, and the many activists and others who spent blood, sweat and tears in a relentless effort to make the search happen.

The day was also important to those who rejected the cynical politicization of searching — or not — during last summer’s provincial election campaign, and was loud and clear recognition that the search for Indigenous female remains is, in fact, a search for Manitobans, for our relations. For human beings.

In other words, it was a remarkable day; a ceremonial day.

In honour of its importance, nearly all members of the Harris and Myran families and their supporters wore traditional and colourful ribbon skirts, shirts or medallions. So did others in attendance, such as Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Cathy Merrick and Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine.

It was a striking scene in what should have been a dreary and dark moment.

And that is precisely the point.

The colours on our traditional clothing tell a story for every Indigenous person.

Often, they represent our totem identities, or the beings in the natural world that connect us to the earth, water and sky. Black, for example, often represents bears and the medicine they carry. White usually represents deer and their teachings of love and peace.

Colours sometimes represent moments in our lives, such as when we witnessed a sunrise, received a dream or experienced the visit of an eagle.

Certain colours can point to stages in our lives. Purple — representing wisdom and wealth, such as the wampum (beads) found in shells — is among the most important.

Colourful designs and images often identify nations, families, cultures and even individual designers from the places we love and admire. Traditional clothing is always changing — there are now ribbon skirts made of newspapers and ribbon pants, for example — adding to the meanings.

So, as the premier — who had briefed the families privately earlier in the day — publicly revealed details of the progress made and steps to come, there was a sense of something more taking place.

That feeling grew as the delegation of politicians, staff, the Harris and Myran families and their supporters travelled to the very dark, very grey, very dead landfill just north of the city in the RM of Rosser.

A dark moment in a dark place at a dark time in Manitoba history.

And then… a rainbow of dynamic, colourful ribbon skirts, richly appliquéd shirts and red tobacco ties. People posed for photos; some even smiled. The premier wore his headdress and shared his pipe.

Geraldine “Gramma” Shingoose — one of the elders supporting the families — led a tobacco offering ceremony honouring a tree that will witness the search.

Simply put, a place devoid of colour, movement and life was suddenly transformed.

No one knows whether the search will be successful. There are lots of hopes and wishes, but so many variables exist and much time has passed.

I’ve written before how police and political incompetence — not to mention racism — are to blame for the length of time it has taken to get to this moment. But we are here now, in a place where those in power, alongside the families and supporters of the victims, are picking up the pieces.

The $40 million in provincial and federal funding might not be sufficient to find Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran, but now is not the time to focus on that.

Now is the time to acknowledge that something, anything, is being done to bring some semblance of peace and justice to every relation of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran.

And now is the time to hope all Manitobans gain some understanding from this unspeakable tragedy.

Colour met the darkness Tuesday.

Let the search begin.

niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca