Native girl is one of six murdered from same reserve in Manitoba


Tina Fontaine was found dead in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in August 2014. Photo from Missing People

A 15-year-old Native girl whose death in 2014 drew widespread attention is just one of six women or girls from the same reserve who have been murdered since 1991.

The tally means the Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba has the largest number of outstanding cases, according to CBC News. In addition to Tina Fontaine, the teen whose body was found in a bag in a river in Winnipeg last August, the murders of Fonessa Bruyere, Glenda Morrisseau, Moira Erb, Kelly Morrisseau and Crystal Saunders have gone unsolved.

"The pain is still there. It will never go away, and it still hurts me," Janet Bruyere, Fonessa's grandmother, told CBC. Fonessa was found dead on the outskirts of Winnipeg in 2007.

Three of Tina's young cousins currently live in Winnipeg and they fear for their safety. The reserve is about 75 miles from the province's capital and largest city.

"I don't usually go out by myself. I am too scared," Katie Fontaine, 18, told CBC.

CBC is running a series about missing and murdered Native women and so far has documented about 230 cases. Families and relatives are being interviewed and their stories are being published.

A May 2014 report from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police counted nearly 1,200 cases from 1980 through 2013. CBC is documenting older cases, including one going back to 1951 and another from 1975.

Get the Story:
Sagkeeng First Nation has most unsolved cases of missing or murdered indigenous women (CBC 4/9)
Tina Fontaine's cousins lived parallel lives, don't feel safe in Winnipeg (CBC 4/9)
How CBC investigated unsolved cases of missing and murdered indigenous women (CBC 4/8)
Police have failed missing, murdered Manitoba women, families say (CBC 4/8)
Families of missing and murdered indigenous women give police a failing grade (CBC 4/8)

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Report:
Missing and Murdered Aboriginal Women: A National Operational Overvie (May 2014)

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