What happens to the bodies of Indigenous women dumped in Canadian landfills?

About 1,200 First Nations (Aboriginal) women were murdered or disappeared in Canada between 1980 and 2012.

Canadian authorities found the body of a 33-year-old Aboriginal woman, Linda Marie Birdie, on Monday, April 3, in a garbage dump in Winnipeg, which caused a huge reaction because it is not the first incident involving Aboriginal people. peoples.

The remains of the original 24-year-old Rebecca Contois were found at the same location on May 16, 2022, with police believing the deaths were unrelated. Kontoa was one of four Aboriginal women believed to have been murdered by an alleged serial killer in Winnipeg who has since been arrested. The bodies of the other three have not been found.

As for Linda Marie Birdie, police said there was no evidence to suggest she was the victim of the same alleged killer. “At this time we have no information to indicate there are any other victims or that this investigation is related to any previous incidents,” Inspector Sean Pike told reporters.

Birdie was from Lake St. Martin and lived in Winnipeg and was not reported missing. Police believe her body was taken to the landfill in a garbage truck, possibly hours before it was found. Her death, which the police are treating as suspicious, is now being investigated by the homicide unit.

Exciting rates

However, it is noted that according to the 2019 report “The Missing and Murdered Indigenous People of Canada,” Aboriginal women are 12 times more likely to be killed or ignored than other women in Canada. The recovery of Birdie’s body comes amid ongoing pressure on Winnipeg police to search the city’s dumps for the remains of other missing women.

The bodies of Morgan Beatrice Harris, Marsdis Meyran and a third unidentified victim – dubbed the “Buffalo Woman” by Aboriginal elders – have yet to be found. All three, along with Contois, are believed to have been murdered by Jeremy Skibicki, who is charged with four counts of first degree murder.

An investigation is underway, funded in part by the Canadian government, to see if a search can be made at Prairie Green Landfill, where the bodies of Harris and Myran are believed to be. The Association of Indigenous Chiefs in the area called on the authorities to close down the area’s landfills and investigate them. “It’s a dumping ground for those who murder the women of our nation’s first,” Cathy Merrick, on behalf of the association, told the Canadian news agency CTV.

After Mrs. Birdy’s body was found, red dresses were hung outside Brady Landfill in honor of the missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls of Canada.

According to the Canadian National Survey of Killed and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls, about 1,200 First Nations (Aboriginal) women were killed or disappeared in Canada between 1980 and 2012, but those numbers are conservative, according to activists.

with information from BBC