Nickel Belt News Volume 61 • Issue 44
Friday, November 19, 2021
Thompson, Manitoba
Serving the Norman Region since 1961
Land-based issue of student journal a voyage of self-discovery for contributors BY IAN GRAHAM
EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
The theme of the eighth edition of University College of the North’s (UCN) student journal Muses from the North was connection to the land, but for many of the writers whose work was published, a secondary theme was discovery. The issue, which came out a couple of months ago, features works by many students who either thought they weren’t strong writers or never showed their work to anyone but now have a publishing credit to their name. “I’ve always hidden my writing,” said Kayla Wall, whose contribution is entitled ‘Losing land is losing life.’ “I didn’t let anybody read my writing before. This is a huge accomplishment for me.” Kelly Laybolt, whose writing also appeared in an earlier issue, recalls that when he came to UCN he had been out of school for more than five years and working in the mine. Getting published was not one of his priorities, because just taking English classes made him nervous. “It made me feel good to know that even though I had been gone so long that
my writing was still good enough to be seen by a lot of people,” said Laybolt, whose piece ‘Remembering Our Teaching’ looks back on his days with the Scouts. Exhilarating as it can be to have a piece of writing published, it also brings about apprehension, either when you sign off on the final version or when it is printed and people have the chance to read it. “I immediately started thinking, ‘Oh, I could have added that, I could have changed this,’” says Ian Sinclair, the title of whose contribution comes from something that his grandfather often told him – ‘You must respect the land.’ “Once it’s sent I can’t really do anything, I can’t really say, ‘Send it back to me, I need to add more,” so I was nervous.” “I felt happy but at the same time I had a mixed feeling of, ‘Oh boy, people are going to start critiquing my work now,” says Sandreka Kaczoroski. She wrote about her home country of Jamaica in one of her published pieces. “You write about your own country thinking, ‘Oh, there’s a little negativity in there.’” A published article not
Thompson Citizen image courtesy of University College of the North The cover page of the spring 2021 edition of University College of the North’s student journal Muses from the North. only reflects all the work and many rounds of edits it went through to get to its final form, but also serves as a snapshot in time, says Nicole MacKenzie, who wrote ‘COVID-19: Is this really happening?’ about the coronavirus pandemic
in the seventh issue of Muses. “It just gave me an opportunity to reflect on the pandemic,” she said. “I don’t know if I would have done that if we had not been assigned that assignment so that was kind of neat to
be able to put my feelings and thoughts on a piece of paper and be able to get it recorded.” Though thoughts of receiving negative feedback can be daunting, being praised for your work is the more agreeable flip side, even if it comes from possibly biased sources. “I shared it with my family after it came out and then I was really nervous, my heart was pounding,” said Nateshia Personious-Constant, who contributed a poem called ‘The Sorrow for Our Future Generations.’ “They gave me their feedback and they told me they liked it.” Darlene Wilson, a “quiet writer” since she was a teenager, wasn’t surprised by her mother’s reaction to her story ‘Blueberries and White Skin.’ “She was on the phone to relatives all over Canada,” Wilson says. Hearing from her former high school English teacher that he enjoyed her contribution was a bonus, especially since he deserves some of the credit for inspiring Wilson to express herself. “He was one of the encouragers for my own writing,” she said.
Learning something about yourself is nearly as rewarding as seeing an article in print, says Catherine Ross, whose academic work on Indigenous literature was published. “It was very challenging, especially writing for so long,” she said. “It’s been a challenge, coming from a reserve and whatnot.” UCN professor Dr. Jospeh Atoyebi, who co-edits Muses along with Dr. Ying Kong, says no one could replicate what the student contributors have done, regardless of perceived writing ability. “No one was going to tell your story better than you,” he said. UCN student Paul Matczuk, whose graphic short story appeared in an earlier edition, says people often underestimate or are unaware of their own abilities. “There’s so much creativity in the north, so much incredible untapped creativity,” he said. “I did not know that I was a capable writer until I was discovered.” The eighth issue of Muse from The North can be read online at https://www. ucn.ca/sites/mftn/Pages/ Issue-8.aspx.
Indigenous women still live in fear 50 years after murder of Helen Betty Osborne BY SHARI NARINE
LOCAL JOURNALISM INITIATIVE REPORTER, WINDSPEAKER.COM
The murder of Helen Betty Osborne on Nov. 13, 1971 was “embedded” in the lives of Breanne Lavallee-Heckert’s mother and aunties. “I remember watching the way my mom would react to that story. It’s the intergenerational effect of this for Indigenous women, this sort of knowing that we are killed with impunity,” said Lavallee-Heckert, a Red River Métis woman from Treaty 1 territory. “That changed how I was raised.” In 1974, Lavallee-Heckert’s mother and aunties moved from the small Métis community of St. Ambrose, Man. to Winnipeg. “I think I was 13. My aunties had a very serious conversation with my cousins and I about violence. Violence was always at the forefront, just living in that way. I don’t think it’s normal for most Canadian young people to grow
up thinking about themselves living in a violent context, but growing up as an Indigenous girl, especially in the prairies, that is reality,” said Lavallee-Heckert. In 1971, Osborne, 19, was abducted and brutally murdered near The Pas, Man. She had moved to the community from her home of Norway House Cree Nation to continue her education. She wanted to become a teacher. It took RCMP several months to discover the names of the four men implicated in Osborne’s abduction and killing. However, it would take more than 16 years for justice – as limited as it was – to be carried out. Dwayne Johnston was convicted in December 1987 and sentenced to life in prison. His conviction was upheld by the Manitoba Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear his appeal. James Houghton was acquitted. Lee Colgan received immunity from prosecution to testify against Houghton and Johnston. Norman Manger
Nickel Belt News photo courtesy of Alan Mason/Manitoba Historical Society A monument in The Pas commemorating Helen Betty Osborne, a Norway House Cree Nation woman murdered in 1971. It wasn’t until 1987 that someone was convicted for the crime. was never charged. The crime was brutal. Osborne was picked up in the common town practice of targeting Indigenous women “to party.” She was forced into the vehicle. In the vehicle, and at two different locations, she was repeatedly raped, beaten and burned.
At the final location she was stabbed multiple times and her body dumped in the bushes. Horrifyingly, there was silence from those who lived in The Pas and knew directly and indirectly who had committed the crime. The Osborne trial and outcome led to Manitoba form-
ing the Aboriginal Justice Inquiry (AJI), headed by then associate chief justice Alvin Hamilton and judge Murray Sinclair. The AJI was tasked with looking at whether racial prejudice played a role in the police investigation. Months of testimony in 1989 made it clear that racism was an encompassing factor. Although stating there were “several aspects of the case which the RCMP should have handled better,” the report concluded, “It has been suggested that the delay in bringing the case to court indicated racism and that the police would have exerted more effort if the deceased had been non-Aboriginal. It also has been suggested that residents of The Pas were in possession of valuable information and kept that information from the police because the victim was Aboriginal. After hearing all the testimony and reviewing the evidence, we have concluded that racism played a significant role in this case, but it did not cause any delay in
the investigation of the killing or in the prosecution of those responsible.” Osborne’s story remains relevant in the legal field even today. In 2017, the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) and the Institute for the Advancement of Aboriginal Women (IAAW) referenced the Osborne case when making a submission to the Alberta Justice system on the “systemic issues framing the inhumane treatment” of Cree woman Angela Cardinal. Not only was Cardinal, a sexual abuse victim, incarcerated for five nights to ensure she would appear in court as a witness, but she was transported to court in the same vehicle with the man who would ultimately be convicted of sexually assaulting her. The Osborne case was cited as an example of a “system in crisis” and specifically having “far too many parallels between the criminal justice system’s treatment of OsContinued on Page B3