Campers arrested following dismantling of “Justice For Our Children” camp
- EFN Staff | June 19, 2018
After 111 days, the “Justice For Our Stolen Children” camp came to an end after officials dismantled the tipi and arrested six campers.
Chelsea Flook, one of the camp supporters, said six people were arrested for obstruction of justice the day after the final deadline to put out the sacred fire that sat inside the tipi.
“It [was] in the hands of the RPS to take down the tipi as the camp decided they did not want to help out with that part,” she said. “That was primarily because it was decided that they wouldn’t participate in their own oppression.”
Regina Police Service (RPS) and officials entered the camp before 5am on Friday, June 15 to dismantle the camp and gave the campers 48 hours to take down the tipi. No action took place on June 17 at noon but the camp was full of supporters who gathered to listen to drummers sing songs throughout the day.
It was on Monday, June 18th that officials showed up at the camp to dismantle the tipi. Protesters gathered inside the tipi and refused to let go of a place they called home for three and a half months.
Richelle Dubois said she was expecting the authorities to show up early in the morning like they did on June 15th but they didn’t show up so she went back to bed. After she woke up, she had seen the RPS and other authorities were present at the camp. She took it upon herself to tie herself up to one of the tipi poles to defend the camp’s purpose.
“They came in and we were yelling that it was our freedom of religion and we had the right to a peaceful protest,” said Dubois. “The [RPS] asked me if I would step out to be arrested and I refused so they cut the rope so I moved closer to the fire and I put my hands out so they came out to get me.”
Dubois was dragged out of the tipi and was handcuffed but refused to walk so RPS members carried her to the cruiser. She along with other protesters were put in the holding cells where they had no clue what was going on back at the camp. They all hoped the fire wouldn’t be put out but that wasn’t the case.
Soolee Papequash, who was with the camp from the beginning and was also one of the arrestees, said it was heartbreaking experience for her and other campers.
“To honour the camp, I decided to walk out to be handcuffed. I was hoping in someway that they would keep that fire going and I didn’t care how long I stayed in jail,” said Papequash from the Piapot First Nation who spoke in tears. “There were no charges but we were actually hostages…within 10 minutes in the police car, they were willing to release me if I went home and I said, ‘I was home and you can take me back to the tipi.’ We proceeded back to the jail.”
Papequash had her personal reason why she fully supported and stayed with the Justice for Our Stolen Children Camp. Three years ago, in Regina, she lost her son to an alleged overdose of OxyContin. She said his friends thought it was okay to put pills in his drink. He went to bed and was found dead. Papequash hopes a further investigation will be conducted on the actual cause of her son’s death as she doesn’t believe the original autopsy report.
“I won’t stop until I get answers about my son,” she said.
Debbie Baptiste, the mother of the late Colten Boushie who was killed by Gerald Stanley on his farm in 2016, has been with the camp for the past few weeks and said the support the camp needed wasn’t there.
“We did not have the support we needed from the First Nations Chiefs…we felt like we were all alone today when they tore down our camp,” said Baptiste. “It’s really sad that we didn’t have that support that we could have used…we felt let down but we’re going to continue to fight. We’re trying to pave the way for the next generation.”
The campers requested a meeting with the provincial government officials at their camp which was situated in the front of the Saskatchewan Legislative Building but the meeting has not happened.