After 196 days it appears the Justice for Our Stolen Children camp is preparing to leave the west lawn of Wascana Park near the Saskatchewan legislative building.
A court order was issued for the 15 teepees to leave the sight on Friday. Five teepees were removed on Monday. Camp organizers are holding a potluck and round dance Tuesday evening, starting at 5 p.m. A Facebook event for the potluck describes it as a sendoff.
Prescott Demas has been one of the main faces at the camp, and one of the people taking care of the camp’s sacred fire since February. He said that the “support” teepees will be coming down throughout the day.
“All I’m saying is the support teepees are coming down. The last teepee to come down is going to be that main teepee if anything,” Demas said.
“We aren’t clear exactly on the timeline at this point. There is dialogue between our lawyer and the provincial government’s lawyer and we are still working out some of those details,” fellow protestor Robyn Pitawanakwat said.
Pitawanakwat added that the main teepee will be up for “a little while longer”.
In a statement, Central Services Minister Ken Cheveldayoff said the following:
“We are pleased to hear that the protest camp has signaled that they will voluntarily dismantle the camp this evening and are hopeful that they will fully abide with the court order. Our government has met with the protest group on multiple occasions. We continue to work with First Nations leadership on important issues facing Indigenous people in Saskatchewan.”
The court order came after a case involving the camp, the province and Regina Police Service. The camp argued that Charter rights were violated when six protestors were arrested on June 18, and the main teepee was taken down.
The province argued that the camp was violating park bylaws, and police should have abided written requests to remove the camp from the Provincial Capital Commission.
The Regina Police Service said that the court ordered eviction will be enforced. They are pleased that details on how it will be enforced were not specified, as this leaves room for communication.
Demas said he wasn’t surprised about the court order to leave, but surprised it took as long as it did.
“This government really sort of ignores everything about this whole thing. It overshadows the issues as to why we’re really here. The whole court case stuff is really what caught media attention,” Demas said.
Camp aims to continue advocacy work
Members of the camp met with five cabinet ministers on July 2, calling on major changes to the social services and justice systems. The province told the camp the status quo would remain.
Demas said he believes the government knows they are trying to address systemic issues, and not just individual cases.
“When they snuck out here and came out here when Colten Boushie’s mother was here they wanted individual case files. What does that do? That points to the knowledge that you can fix a case here and fix a case here, but it perpetuates that system. That’s not the change we’re looking for,” Demas said.
“It’s a systemic issue and that’s what needs to be looked at.”
Demas said that the camp will continue to try to get back to the table with government.
After being at the camp for nearly 200 days, Demas said it has grown to be a gathering and healing place in addition to a way to raise awareness. Pitawanakwat said the camp has helped hundreds of people who have stopped by to talk.
They are also assisting around 20 families navigate the social services and family court systems with the goal of reunification. However, once the teepees are gone she does not know what will come next.
“A lot of these families don’t have phones, they don’t have internet. All they have is a bus pass and the ability to get around the city. Being here, having a 24 hour a day prescience allowed for families to come forward at anytime,” she said.
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