Elisapee Pootoogook’s community is heartbroken. Her friends experiencing homelessness gathered Monday afternoon to mourn the loss of the 61-year-old Innu elder.
“This memorial is for the community to give them the opportunity to, to grieve because they don’t have that kind of opportunity,” said the Native Women’s Shelter Executive Director, Nakuset.
Dozens of community members attended the memorial in Cabot Square, just across the street from the construction site where Pootoogook’s body was found.
“I heard the news and I was devastated once again. I think we’ve heard these stories. Once is too often and we just keep hearing them. So I want to show my support to the community,” said attendee Jennifer Dorner.
Pootoogook’s cause of death is still under investigation. Homeless community advocates suspect she froze to death, just like Raphaël André, the Inuk man who died in Montreal last winter.
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“Sadly, we need reminders like this to say, well, maybe we haven’t spent enough time on this issue in order to find lasting solutions,” said Ghislain Picard, Assembly of First Nations Quebec-Labrador Chief.
The warming tent named after André is a temporary resource in the area. But Indigenous leaders say it’s time the City of Montreal to create a permanent shelter nearby.
“She basically had no place to go. That’s what we’re trying to fix,” said Makivik corporate secretary Rita Novalinga.
A spokesperson for the City of Montreal wrote in an email to Global News “we continue to work on finding a sustainable solution as an alternative to the tent. The City of Montreal is actively looking for available indoor locations….as part of the winter measures.”
The memorial ended with attendees decorating the sidewalk near where Pootoogook died. “It also sends a message that someone who’s homeless died in this place where you are asking for millionaires to come and live,” said Nakuset.
Advocates hope more permanent measures are introduced soon, so another person experiencing homelessness doesn’t die in the cold.
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