PROTEST GROWS
Second teepee put up at Legislature
A second teepee has risen at the Justice for Our Stolen Children camp, and one protester says there may soon be more.
Prescott Demas, who has become the face of the protest camp near the Saskatchewan Legislature, said two people from File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council put up the new teepee on Saturday. He said they came in response to “a call for teepees” organizers sent out.
“I’m very appreciative and grateful for how things are going,” said Demas.
“It’s that domino effect.”
Demas said that he has received word from others who want to erect teepees at the camp, which went up more than 115 days ago in the wake of the acquittals for men charged in the deaths of Indigenous youths Colten Boushie in Saskatchewan and Tina Fontaine in Manitoba. The camp was cleared away on June 15, though the original teepee survived a few days longer.
Government officials have said the camp could interfere with Canada Day festivities. But the campers have refused to vacate the site. They returned days after police forcibly removed several protesters on June 18. They are calling for a meeting to discuss their grievances, and Demas hopes the new teepee could put more pressure on the government.
“My mind is still on that meeting and getting that meeting,” he said. “All this is the support to push them to come out to meet with us.”
Demas said the plan is for a group of teepees with delegates staying inside. He would not comment on how many he is expecting in total.
Eighteen-year-old Miles McCallum has already thrown herself into that task as a keeper for the File Hills Qu’Appelle Tribal Council teepee. She arrived Saturday afternoon to stay inside.
“I wanted to do something to help contribute,” the Cowessess First Nation member said. “So when I got the call if I wanted to be the keeper for the teepee, I was here right away.”
McCallum said the inspiration for her activism is her cousin, Tamra Keepness, who went missing in Regina in 2004. Only five years old at the time of her disappearance, Keepness has never been found.
“That’s what keeps me motivated,” McCallum said.
The camp has taken on the issue of missing Indigenous youth, as well as the disproportionate number of Indigenous children in care.
McCallum said people at the camp have been welcoming and have taught her important cultural knowledge, like how to put up a teepee or keep a sacred fire going.
She said she’s not afraid of a possible police response. Justice Minister Don Morgan said Friday that the camp is still illegal, and that he expects the Regina Police Service to enforce the law. But McCallum said she’s in it for the long haul and is committed to her work as keeper for the teepee.
“The teepee is such a sacred thing,” she said. “Being the keeper for it is one of the most important jobs in our culture.”