Canadian government officials and police are pursuing legal action to clear two Indigenous encampments filled with public art around the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg. Eviction notices distributed on Wednesday, August 17, claim that the encampments, which are protesting the “cultural genocide” perpetrated by Catholic missionaries in residential schools, violate recent legislation passed specifically to prohibit them.
The notices claim that peaceful protest is still legal on the premises but raised fire safety concerns for staff, tourists, and other protestors, demanding that all First Nations activists vacate by noon on Tuesday, August 23. Yet the encampments remained in place past the initial deadline, and activists said they would stay until all bodies are recovered from school grounds across Canada.
“This is something that they took away from my ancestors, and they’re going to do it again to me,” said residential school survivor Danko Makwa Kaypeytashete, who also goes by Mary Starr, in an interview last week. “We come here when we want to say our prayers to those little ones that didn’t make it home.”
Went for a walk to the Manitoba Legislative building and found this. The Queen Victoria statue remains down. The red handprints are still on the pedestal and orange flags align in front of the building.
Officials then extended the eviction deadline to noon on Friday, August 26, after the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs intervened. That deadline has now passed, and the encampments claim they will remain indefinitely. In a statement to Hyperallergic, Deputy Grand Chief Cornell McLean urged the Manitoba provincial government to establish a permanent site for the sacred fire.
“The province serving eviction notices to protesters and forcing them to dismantle the sacred fire without consultation is patronizing and oppressive,” McLean said. “All Canadians have a right to peaceful protest and ceremony, and First Nations have that right too. The eviction of any peaceful camp does not support reconciliation between the province and First Nations.”
Located on the east and north sides of the Manitoba legislature, the two sites have served a dual function for collective healing and preserving their cultural memory over the last year. The encampment along the east side first formed after the discovery of the unmarked graves in May 2021, shortly before activists toppled Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II statues. Flags, tents, gardens, and a sacred fire can be seen with the word “Genocide” emblazoned on banners and Ojibwe artist Isaac Murdoch’s print, “Water Is Life” (2018).
