1. Neil Stonechild: the Boy in the Snow

2. In Nov. 1990, a 17-year-old Cree man named Neil Stonechild disappeared blocks from his mother’s home and was found frozen to death the next day in a field on the outskirts of Saskatoon
A friend had last seen Stonechild handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser
The police investigated briefly, concluded that Stonechild had died of exposure, and closed the case

3. In Jan. 2000, another Native man, Darrell Night, was picked up by Saskatoon police officers, driven out of town, and dropped at the side of the road
He almost froze to death, but was able to walk to a power plant where a shift worker let him in out of the cold

4. The next day, the body of 25-year-old Native Rodney Naistus (from the Onion Lake reserve) was found frozen to death about a kilometre from where Night had been dropped off
Days later, in early Feb., Lawrence Wegner from Saulteaux First Nation was discovered frozen to death in the same area
Besides being Native, the common element that three of these young men shared was they had all last been seen in the back of a Saskatoon Police cruiser

5. As it turned out, for decades the Saskatoon police had been driving young Native men to the outskirts of town and dropping them off
These were known as “starlight tours”
Out on the prairies, in the dead of winter, these were essentially executions

6. There was an inquiry and the two officers responsible for Darrell Night’s ordeal were convicted and sentenced to eight months in jail (then released early)
The two officers seen with Lawrence Wegner in their squad car were fired
The two officers who had detained Neil Stonechild were also dismissed from the police force
No one was formally accused or convicted of any of the deaths

7. The Saskatoon police initially insisted these were isolated incidents
In 2003, the police chief admitted that there was a possibility that the force had been dumping First Nations people outside the city for years
He revealed that in 1976 an officer was disciplined for taking a Native woman to the outskirts of the city and abandoning her there

8. ARTICLE – “Who was Neil Stonechild?”
VIDEO – Neil Stonechild: The Boy in the Snow”

9. The Stonechild Inquiry Recommendations:
Introduce a program for Aboriginal candidates to join Municipal Police Services in Saskatchewan
Designate an Aboriginal peace officer with the rank of Sergeant in large urban centres, to act as a liaison for First Nation persons
Review and improve procedures to deal with complaints from members of the public about inappropriate police conduct
Have each police force provide the Minister of Justice with an annual report on complaints about police officers and how they were handled
Provide in-depth training for police officers in race-relations, with specific emphasis on Aboriginal culture and history
Review the courses that police officers take in anger management and dispute resolution

10. Native Crime Statistics and Facts:
Native people in Canada make up 4% of the population and 23% of the federal prison population
In , Canada’s overall incarceration rate was 140 per 100,000 adults; the incarceration rate for Native adults is estimated to be 10 times higher
Since , there has been a 43.5% increase in the federal Native inmate population, compared to a 9.6% increase in non-Native inmates
Native women represent 33% of all federally sentenced women in Canada

11. Native Crime Statistics and Facts:
In Saskatchewan, 70% of the inmates were Native compared to 8% in the provincial population
Native people accused of crimes are more likely to be denied bail
Crime rates on reserves are three times higher than in the rest of Canada
A Native person is 10 times more likely to be accused of a homicide
Lawyers spend less time with Native clients than non-Native clients, particularly in isolated communities

12. Factors Contributing to High Native Crime Rates
Effects of the residential school system
Experience in the child welfare or adoption system
Effects of the dislocation of Native peoples
Family or community history of suicide, substance abuse and/or victimization
Loss of, or struggle with, cultural/spiritual identity
Level or lack of formal education
Poverty and poor living conditions
Exposure to/membership in, Native street gangs

13. Violence Against Native Women
24% of Native women in Canada reported having been assaulted by a current or former spouse, compared to 7% of non-Native women
In 2002, the rate of sexual assault in Nunavut was 96 for every 10,000 people compared to the overall rate in Canada of 7.8 in every 10,000 people
Native women have also been found to be greatly over-represented as sex trade workers compared to non-Native women

14. In the 2015 election, the Liberal Party promised to “immediately launch a national public inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada”
Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett said the issue is “way bigger” than the nearly 1,200 cases of missing and murdered women and girls in Canada counted by the RCMP