Sayisi Dene: A forced relocation, government apology reveals another dark chapter in Canadian history
The Sayisi Dene were forcibly relocated from their natural hunting ground in central Manitoba to a piece of tundra, 200 kilometres east, next to Hudson Bay. It was a catastrophic event in Indigenous history. It destroyed almost half the Sayisi Dene population but a lot of Canadians know nothing about it.
CBC Radio ·
The Sayisi Dene built makeshift shacks with items found in Churchill's dump. They ate scraps of food and scavenged from the dump. They had no heat, electricity or protection from the elements. This image was taken between 1959 and 1961. (Carl MacKenzie)
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Unreserved42:58Sayisi Dene: A forced relocation, government apology reveals another dark chapter in Canadian history
On August 16, the federal government offered an apology and compensation for a human rights tragedy they committed exactly 60 years ago.
Donna Carreiro, Producer, CBC Radio. (CBC)The Sayisi Dene were forcibly relocated from their natural hunting ground in central Manitoba to a piece of tundra, 200 kilometres east, next to Hudson Bay. It was a catastrophic event in Indigenous history. It destroyed almost half the SayisiDene population but a lot of Canadians know nothing about it.
The CBC's Donna Carreiro wanted to change that. So, armed with a digital camera and a tape recorder, she headed north to Churchill and met some survivors.
Very quickly, she learned this is a past that still haunts the present.
The case of Ila Oman remains unsolved. In 1971, the 43-year-old wife and stepmother was raped and fatally beaten in the notoriously tragic Dene Village.
Ila Oman's name appears on a memorial marker in Tadoule Lake, Man. (Donna Carreiro/CBC)Fast-forward to the present day. Oman's death is still widely unknown. No obituary was filed, there is no gravestone with her name on it. And no one has ever been convicted for the crime.
Bernice Thorassie wants to change that. Ila Oman was her great aunt. Bernice is her only living relative. Jeannie Tom will never forget the hell that was Camp 10 and Dene Village, or the tragedies that came from the forced relocation. Her own father was killed when he was struck by a car filled with youths from town. He was Dene, they were white — no one was charged.
Shannon Perez (left) will help oversee the investments of the trust. Her aunt, Jeannie Tom (centre) and mother Alice Tom (right) survived Dene Village. (Donna Carreiro/CBC)
Tom not only survived those years, she later thrived. In part, she says, because she went on to get a formal education. That's why she hopes the pending compensation from the federal government will go towards educating the Dene youth today, to help secure their own future.
Shannon Perez is Jeannie Tom's niece. She's one of the people tasked with making sure that happens.
Carolyn Bennett apologizes to Manitoba's Sayisi Dene
8 years ago
Duration 1:05
Canada's Indigenous and northern affairs minister wept as she apologized to Manitoba's Sayisi Dene people for the government's role in forcibly relocating them 60 years ago.
Leela Gilday (Nadya Kwandibens, Red Works )This week's playlist:
Canada's Indigenous and northern affairs minister wept as she apologized to Manitoba's Sayisi Dene people for the government's role in forcibly relocating them 60 years ago.