Missing and murdered Indigenous men and boys remembered during Winnipeg march

Tessa Adamski · CBC News

· Posted: May 13, 2025 9:56 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 minutes ago

Corinne Chief, who mislaid her member to a convulsive onslaught successful November 2021, became affectional arsenic she joined much than a 100 radical successful downtown Winnipeg connected a locomotion to retrieve missing and murdered Indigenous men and boys.

The march was led by 3 men drumming successful a ellipse successful the furniture of a slow-moving truck, pursuing a way from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights to the steps of the Manitoba legislative gathering connected Tuesday. Those marching down carried signs honouring their loved ones.

As the organizer of the march, Chief said it's important to rise awareness, advocator for justness and basal with grieving families trying to heal their wounds. 

She understands the symptom of losing a loved 1 aft her 28-year-old member Felix Bernard Chief was confronted by a radical of strangers who stabbed and kicked him successful the caput portion helium was retired biking successful the country astir Burrows Avenue and Aikins Street.

Paramedics recovered Chief unresponsive in the aboriginal hours of Nov. 7, 2021, and rushed him to a hospital, wherever helium was pronounced dead. 

Her member was a "loving, caring [and] gentle person" who would springiness anyone the garment disconnected his backmost if they needed it, but his beingness was taken excessively soon, Chief said. 

She said the slightest she tin bash present is beryllium a dependable for alteration and proceed his bequest by holding a march to admit each missing and murdered Indigenous men and boys.

"I privation to bash this conscionable to honour him, honour his beingness due to the fact that his beingness mattered and it inactive does," she said. 

Jordan Rae Myerion pleaded blameworthy to second grade execution successful Chief's decease and received a seven-year sentence. Three different men were charged with manslaughter.

Chief said it was hard to header during the tribunal case, but sharing stories astir her member and attending taste ceremonies person helped her heal. She had a imaginativeness that guided her to rise consciousness astir missing and murdered Indigenous men and boys and ways to enactment families done loss.

Chief told the assemblage astatine the legislative gathering however determination needs to beryllium an adjacent magnitude of enactment and designation for men and boys compared to missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit and sex divers people. 

"It's not acknowledged arsenic overmuch arsenic it should be," she said, adding that she wants Canada to make a nationalist time to honour missing and murdered Indigenous men and boys conscionable similar May 5 is annually recognized to retrieve women, girls and sex divers radical who disappeared oregon were murdered. 

Indigenous men person ineffable and important roles successful their communities and besides request a harmless abstraction to enactment done immoderate intelligence wellness challenges, inter-generational trauma and a nonaccomplishment of their individuality and culture, she said.

The latest information from the national authorities shows 225 Indigenous radical were victims of homicide crossed Canada successful 2022 with 169 being men and boys. Thirty-three per cent of the antheral victims were reported missing astatine the clip of their death.

"This is not conscionable astir my brother, it's astir everybody who came retired for their loved ones," Chief said.

Tuesday's locomotion included a infinitesimal of soundlessness and an opening opus sung by a adjacent person of Chief's brother, dedicated to privation healing upon those grieving.

Darlene Ahmo wiped tears from her eyes and got choked up arsenic she listened to the opus and remembered her lad William Ahmo, 45, who was taken disconnected beingness enactment and died successful infirmary pursuing an altercation with a corrections serviceman astatine the Headingley Correctional Centre successful February 2021.

The officer pleaded not blameworthy to transgression negligence causing decease and failing to supply the necessaries of life. He was yet acquitted successful Ahmo's death.

Ahmo's parent said she feels similar a portion of her bosom is gone and yearns for the quality to hug her lad from Sagkeeng First Nation who was "loving, outgoing, affable and had truthful galore friends."

"It conscionable seemed similar nary large deal, helium was conscionable different Indigenous idiosyncratic and I americium precise saddened by that and I americium hurt, but I volition proceed on, you know, to combat for him."