Protesters blockading the Brady Road dump site in south Winnipeg say their resolve is even stronger after a man dumped a truckload of dirt and debris onto an MMIWG mural near the blockade on Sunday.
The blockade increased last week after the province refused to fund a search of the Prairie Green landfill north of Winnipeg for the remains of two indigenous women. The city ordered those blocking the highway to vacate by noon Monday.
“Fuck it. Who cares what they have to say? Who cares what they want? I won’t take no for an answer anymore,” said Cambria Harris, whose mother is believed to be in another dump outside the city. city.
She said Camp Morgan, which has been at the Brady Road landfill since December, originally erected the blockade to “send a message,” not to block the landfill entirely, as it has two entrances.
But after the man’s rally on Sunday, she and others put out a call on social media for more “warriors” to join those on the ground, who said they are ready to keep fighting for change.
Harris said she was not at the blockade Sunday when the man in a black pickup truck dumped dirt on the mural, but she saw video of what happened, which she posted on social media.
In the video, the man is seen shoveling dirt and debris from the back of his truck onto the mural, while telling protesters to “take care of your own people.” After someone answers, he asks, ‘then why are they dead?’
Harris asks how he got past security at the location.
“Why are you so angry to feel like you have to take that extreme of a hate crime measure?” she asked.
“You don’t realize you’re talking to a whole group of people who have been pulverized their entire lives by systemic oppression.”
The members of Camp Morgan, who have been stationed at the Brady Road dump for more than seven months, want to bring home the women buried in the dumps and say they do not plan to leave after the city ordered them to tear down their barricade for Monday at noon.
“I am outraged. I am enraged. I am enraged,” said Melissa Morrisseau, a supporter who said she was at the dump on Sunday to help give a voice to missing and murdered indigenous women and girls and their families.
“I’m here until the end,” he said.
Florence Smith was also there to take a stand with the families.
“They need to dig for our women,” Smith said. “They just think we belong in the trash.”
Harris said she believes the province’s decision not to support a landfill search shows the government doesn’t care, and now feels she has been “disrespected” by all three levels of government. She said she shouldn’t have gone to measures like the letter sent by the city, telling the protesters to lift the blockade.
“I never understood why this type of trauma is our fault,” Harris said.
The mural, a red dress with the words “for our sisters” written on the skirt, was painted in the driveway of the landfill, Ethan Boyer Way.
Diane Bousquet, one of 12 people who helped paint it over the weekend, said she was devastated when she heard what happened to him on Sunday.
“I was really hurt and angry. I just screamed and cried,” she said.
But after they realized the dirt the man dumped contained cedar wood chips, supporters decided to use them by sweeping the wood chips in a circle around the mural, he said.
“Cedar is our protective medicine, and we decided that we would include it in our artwork and surround it to protect it,” Bousquet said. “We turn ugly into beautiful here.”
“That’s what our people are known for doing.”
For Bousquet, it shows how resilient his community is.
“No matter what you throw at us… we’re always going to create something beautiful,” he said.
As of Sunday afternoon, the public information officer Const. Claude Chancy said that such an incident had not been reported to the police.
Standing behind the families
Joseph Munro, who has been involved in the protest, told the CBC on Saturday that the blockade would be lifted before the city’s deadline. On Sunday, after the man’s act and the arrival of more people, the blockade said they were not sure what would happen on Monday.
“I can’t see the lock coming down,” Bousquet said. “I’m a little curious to see what tomorrow looks like.”
The city announced the landfill was closed Friday morning. In the order sent to protesters the same day, Winnipeg’s managing director wrote: “The lockdown is a violation of both city charter and provisions of provincial law, and puts the city at risk of violating environmental license requirements.
Morrisseau said he will follow the example of the families.
“Whatever the families choose, I am 1000 percent behind them,” he said.
