Missing and Murdered Women: Jennifer Leigh Catcheway

Posted By Marc Zienkiewicz

LAC DU BONNET LEADER

January 8, 2010.

The Olympic torch entered the North Eastman region on Tuesday, and two First Nations used the occasion to send a strong message concerning slain and missing indigenous women in Canada.

The protest, organized by Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation and attended by members of Sagkeeng First Nation, was held in Treaty One territory at the junction of Hwy. 11 and the Trans Canada Highway, at the southern end of the Whiteshell Provincial Park.

Roseau River Chief Terry Nelson addressed a large contingent of Sagkeeng students as the Olympic torch quickly passed by on the highway. The torch re-entered Manitoba just an hour or so earlier, passing through Falcon Lake on its way to Steinbach before it went through Dugald and Oakbank.

"We're here to remember the women who've died and we want to make sure that the young people here today don't end up on that list of victims," Nelson said.

That list of victims currently includes 500 murdered or missing Canadian indigenous women, many killed by white men, Nelson said. He noted that public reaction to a white woman being killed or going missing is much different than when the same thing happens to an indigenous woman.

The chief made reference to the Robert Pickton murders in B.C. where the Olympics are set to be held. Pickton was given a life sentence in 2007 for murdering numerous women, many of them prostitutes and drug users who happened to be of Aboriginal heritage.

Nelson said police failed to take the murders seriously because the victims were considered the "lowest of the low."

Criticism

Choosing the Olympic torch relay as an occasion for protesting the issue has drawn criticism, but Nelson said he won't be deterred. He wants Olympic athletes to know that when it comes to treatment of indigenous women, Canada is anything but a bastion of human rights.

"The media asked me why we're doing this right now, why we're bringing this up (during the torch relay). I told them if there were 500 killed or missing Jewish women, would they ask the Jewish community to apologize? Of course not," Nelson said. "But when it's Indians, we're supposed to feel bad and say we're sorry."

An apology will not happen, he insisted. Nelson has made a point of confronting the Canadian government over its policies concerning Aboriginal people — he was recently in Ottawa for a chief's assembly, where Nelson demanded Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl provide more money toward native education.

Although he said he's not against the torch relay, he made reference to its rarely-mentioned origins — the relay was actually started at the controversial 1936 Summer Olympics held in Nazi Germany.

"We're not against the Olympics. We're not against the athletes. This is about protesting the policies of our government, and we won't say sorry for that," he said.

Portage la Prairie's Bernice Catcheway and her husband Wilfred know all too well the pain of having a missing relative. Their daughter Jennifer went missing during the summer of 2008 and has not been heard from since.

It was her 18th birthday when she vanished.

"It's a parent's worst nightmare," Bernice said. "That's why we're here today. We just have to do what we can to put Jennifer in the public eye. There are so many missing women in Canada, but I'm here for my Jennifer."

Article ID# 2253082

http://www.lacdubonnetleader.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2253082

Missing and Murdered Women

Friday, January 8

A ‘parent’s worst nightmare