[ad_1]
Two days after Daniel Ewenin learned that his 23-year-old sister was found frozen in a farmer’s field in the suburbs. Calgary, AlbertaShe said she sat with a police officer to understand how such a tragedy happened, a city in southwestern Canada.
It was February 1982, when 22-year-old Daniel and her parents were in Regina’s family home. Saskatchewan, CanadaWhen a local officer she said she was briefed by Calgary police explained that her sister Eleanor “Rainy” Ewenin was last seen leaving a bar in downtown Calgary. Two days later, police reportedly found Daniel at a scene estimated to be about 20 miles from the town center at the time.
“They said it had snowed, so I could see the tire trucks pulled in and pulled out, and I could see her moving across the field.” , The police last for about an hour. “There was a building with lights on, so they felt it was where she was going.”
But she never did it. According to Daniel, the truck in the snow showed that she had knocked down three times and never stood up again in the third fall.
The mothers of two boys, ages 5 and 3, were found dead in the snow after dropping to -15F the night before.
According to an autopsy provided by her family, Rainey’s cause of death was hypothermia, and alcoholism was listed as a “preceding cause.” That same year, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Alberta, her death was determined to be unquestionable.
But in the decades that followed, the family became convinced of a very different version of the event. They say she was a victim of the so-called “Starlight Tour”.
In a shocking practice that has been documented many times in Canada, law enforcement officers usually drive indigenous peoples to remote areas and keep them below freezing. Some have not survived these tours. Human Rights Watch reports that this practice dates back to at least 1976.
This practice became more widely known only when the indigenous people Darrell Knight survived one such attack in 2000 and the police officers involved were convicted. According to Human Rights Watch, “Indigenous leaders reported receiving more than 250 calls reporting the” Starlight Tour “incident across Saskatchewan.”
This is primarily documented in Saskatchewan, but additional cases involving police show that this practice goes beyond this single state.
About a week before her body was found, the family said city police had appeared with Rainey at Calgary’s mother’s house.
According to Debbie Green, another of Laney’s sisters, who was 12 at the time, this was a fairly common occurrence.
Rainey, a Plains Cree, began in the early 1950s and was taken away from her family as a young child as part of a series of policies to drive thousands of indigenous children out of their homes. She suffered horrific abuse in foster homes, including the loss of her left ring finger, and later developed alcoholism. Shortly before she died, she investigated alcohol treatment and was in custody of her sons.
Lillian Piapot, Chief Commissioner of MMIWG National Inquiry Marion Buller, Debbie, Mona Woodward, Danielle
Lillian Piapot, Chief Commissioner of MMIWG National Inquiry Marion Buller, Debbie, Mona Woodward, Danielle
Daily Beast / Getty / Photographed Illustrations: Family Handouts
According to Debbie, she didn’t have her own home, so when Rainey drank too much in Calgary, city police often brought her back to her mother’s home. Calgary police say there is no record of this.
The last time police brought her home, it was different, Debbie said. You should do something, right? Or she’s not going home someday. “
A few days later, Laney Ewenin died.
The family believes she was another victim of the “Starlight Tour”.
The remoteness of where she was discovered, her history in law enforcement, and the fact that the family reported that Rainey was arrested by police before she disappeared made them. He inevitably led to that conclusion.
They also say there were some obvious contradictions with police investigations. The paperwork was submitted under the wrong name, and her body was immediately buried after the mysterious benefactor sent it home.
Daniel told The Daily Beast that Calgary police believed she had taken her sister to a “starlight tour” and dropped her off. That was the cause of her death.
Debbie where Rainey was found.
Debbie where Rainey was found.
Daily Beast / Getty / Photographed Illustrations: Family Handouts
Today, families are seeking answers and justice for Rainey, who said the family was fun and fierce. They also want to raise awareness so that this does not happen to indigenous people anymore.
“When the family says something happened, despite what the police and the press say, I want people to know what happened and hold the police accountable,” Debbie said. ..
Rainey was found in jeans, leather snow boots, down vests, and bomber jackets in a field near a country road, according to the censor’s certificate and mortality report. Her only injury was minor and appeared to be the result of crawling in the snow, the document said.
The report does not mention vehicles, but instead describes “some distance” roadside sidewalks. “They then went into the field and finished with a wide curve at the point where the body was found,” he added.
According to the traditional protocol for burial, the family had to bury Laney within four days of her death. However, she first had to be transported about 500 miles from Calgary to Regina. According to the family, this was a heavy burden for the financially struggling family, and other organizations that could have helped had rules about transporting across states at the time. Daniel said he remembers facing major barriers in the past when he tried to bring the body of his loved one home.
Debbie where Rainey was found.
Debbie where Rainey was found.
Daily Beast / Getty / Photographed Illustrations: Family Handouts
“But when we met [police], They told her she had already arrived, they needed a funeral hall to know where to send her, “she said.
According to Daniel, the family did not know who paid for the transportation and how fast it was done.
A Calgary police spokesperson said authorities were not involved in investigating her death. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Strathmore, is listed as a police officer in the report of the Inspector, but explained that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Alberta is responsible for the investigation.
According to Mr Green, the brother who died later told one of the other sisters that he was out with Rainey the night she disappeared and saw “a policeman take her away.”
Daniel said a particular Calgary police officer harassed her sister and picked her up on a regular basis. But she said she didn’t know the name of the officer.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Alberta said there were no more investigation files related to Rainey’s death. Since her death was determined to be unquestionable, a spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Alberta said in an email, “According to the Canadian Federal Government’s information retention policy, the file was subject to purging eight years later. Due to policy, there is no record confirming that the file existed in 1982. “
For years, Rainey’s brothers tried to move away from the tragedy. They sometimes talked about the difficulty of not knowing what happened with it. But according to Daniel, they didn’t really expect justice.
She states: “That is, I knew how the police were looking at the indigenous people, the Indians, at the time.”
She added, “Pulling, stopping, and police coming to your house has never been a good experience.”
In 2017, families, including Daniel and Debbie, testified about Rainey’s death as part of Canada’s national survey of indigenous women and girls who were missing and murdered. As part of the process, they requested Laney’s case files and autopsy. The family said officials repeatedly told them they couldn’t find it.
Daily Beast / Getty / Photographed Illustrations: Family Handouts
A few months later, they finally found it after the coroner said he had agreed to conduct a similar death search around the time of Rainey’s death. It was submitted under a different name, Daniel said, she didn’t know her sister was passing by.
“I know honest mistakes will happen. But they knew who she was, so that raises suspicions. They knew who her family was. “Daniel said.
This is especially apparent given that the final page of the 14-page autopsy report and the accompanying documents include her official name.
Daniel said the family had filed complaints with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Calgary Police regarding Rainey’s death within the last few years. A spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Alberta said there were no other files related to Rainey’s death.
A spokesperson for Calgary Police Services said in an email: “Unfortunately, there is no record of CPS’s interaction with Mr. EWENIN, and no record of complaints from her family. Without these details and important supporting facts, we cannot comment on these claims. . “
In part of a national hearing that was not broadcast publicly, Debbie said her family had the opportunity to speak directly with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and local police officers. According to her, the family told them they knew that law enforcement was responsible for Rainey’s death.
Debbie said he remembers the official answer. “Unfortunately we never know.”
For more information, see The Daily Beast.
Put your top stories in your inbox every day. Sign up now!
Daily Beast Membership: Beast Inside digs deeper into the stories that matter to you. learn more.
[ad_2]