They came to Downtown Guelph Saturday to remember Colten Boushie and to express outrage at his death and what it represents for indigenous people in Canada.
Roughly 150 people gathered in a chilly Market Square for the Justice For Colten Boushie rally, an event put together via Facebook in less than a week by 16-year-old John F. Ross high school student Xicotencatl Lopez.
“Today we gather to mourn the death of Colten Boushie, to honour his memory and to protest the injustice of his murderer walking free,” said Lopez.
“United, we are a force to be reckoned with. We have nothing to lose but our colonial chains,” he said.
Speakers, a drum circle and moment of silence were all part of Saturday’s event in memory of Boushie, the 22-year-old Cree man shot and killed in August of 2016, and whose killer was acquitted of his murder earlier this month in Saskatchewan.
Many continue to express outrage after the man that killed him, Gerald Stanley, was acquitted of second-degree murder last week and rallies have been held across the country.
“The message that goes out into the world is that this will not be tolerated in our society any longer,” said Anishnabe elder and culture keeper Jan Sherman.
“It’s good that we come together as one heart and one mind to stand in solidarity with the loved ones of Colten Boushie and to let those family members know that we will take responsibility for speaking out about change that needs to happen in this country,” Sherman said.
She spoke of historical broken promises over the years between First Nation people and the European settlers.
Brad Evoy of the Guelph Chapter of the Ontario Public Institute Research Group, issued the harshest condemnation during his turn on the megaphone at the hour-long event.
“How many more will be missing and murdered? How many more, until we reject the colonial death machine that is Canada? How many more will we accept? How many more will we have rallies for? How many more will suffer under what is Canada?” Evoy said.
“Every inch of this land is the land of our peoples and nothing more than the complete return of that land and the restoration of traditional governments will solve it.
“If I sound angry, it’s because I am. This is enough!” Evoy said.
Amber Holmes, co-founder of Indigenous Learning Circle Guelph, said it is important to remember that Colten Boushie’s death is connected to colonialism in the broader sense.
“The only word for it iis ‘genocide,’ and one of the problems is that people are so hesitant to use a word that harsh,” Holmes said. “But that is the only word for it, and until we get comfortable with the idea of uncomfortable, nothing’s going to change.
“What happened to Colten is genocide. It’s just another form of genocide,” Holmes said.
Organizer Lopez is an indigenous person from Mexico, who spoke of the similarity between indigenous people in Mexico and Canada and how they were mistreated by settlers and continue to be mistreated by government.
“We face similar struggles. We share common histories,” he said.
“When I first heard the story of Colten Boushie I was unsurprised. Horrified, but unsurprised,” Lopez said. “I’ve heard similar stories before, time and time again … the too often heard story of the death of our people.”
He said every time it is just as horrifying and just as sad.
