Police say teen’s death consistent with drowning
There is no “evidence to indicate criminality” in the death of a 17-yearold First Nations girl who was found in a Thunder Bay waterway on Sunday, Thunder Bay police say.
Tammy Keeash is the sixth First Nations student to be found dead in the waters surrounding Thunder Bay since 2000.
Keeash, who is remembered as an artist from North Caribou First Nation, was living in a Thunder Bay group home when she missed her curfew last Saturday evening. Her body was discovered in the Neebing McIntyre Floodway on Sunday and Thunder Bay Police Services say post mortem results indicated that her death is consistent with drowning.
A high-profile inquest into the deaths of seven indigenous high school students living in Thunder Bay from 2000 to 2011concluded last June. Five of the students were found dead in the water while two, Robyn Harper and Paul Panacheese, died at their respective residences. The inquest made 145 recommendations, including the development of an improved missing persons’ protocol, especially when dealing with indigenous youth, and improving safety down by the rivers.
Four of the deaths were ruled “undetermined” by a coroner’s jury.
Aprovincial watchdog, the Office of the Independent Police Review Director, has been investigating the Thunder Bay Police Service for the past several months concerning allegations of “systemic racism” when dealing with the deaths and disappearance of indigenous people. Their report is forthcoming.
Keeash was the fourth indigenous girl to die while under provincial care in the past six months. Amy Owen,13, took her life on April 17 while in an Ottawa group home, and Courtney Scott, 16, died on April 21 in a suspicious fire in an Orleans group home that is now under investigation. On Oct. 29, 2016, Kanina Sue Turtle, 15, died in Sioux Lookout and her family is still waiting for answers.
All four girls belonged to First Nations that are a part of Nishnawbe Aski Nation (NAN), a political organization of 49 northern First Nations covering a territory the size of France. NAN is calling for an inquest into the girls deaths. Due to a lack of mental health and child protection services in northern Ontario, many youth are placed in group homes hundreds of kilometres away from their families. But when the children are removed, NAN has no idea where they go, if they have been assessed or have treatment plans.