Helen Betty Osborne: The Cree woman whose brutal murder helped expose racism in the justice system
CTV
A Manitoba community is remembering the life and legacy of Helen Betty Osborne, a Cree woman who was abducted and brutally murdered 50 years ago by four non-Indigenous men while walking home after a night out with friends.
On Nov. 13, 1971, Helen Betty Osborne was abducted near The Pas, Man. The 19-year-old had moved to the community from her home of Norway House Cree Nation to continue her education and become a teacher.
It took RCMP months to discover the names of the four men implicated in Osborne's abduction and killing, and it was not until 1987 – more than 16 years later – that one of the four men was convicted.
Experts say Osborne's murder and the flawed investigation that followed was part of what led to the historic Aboriginal Justice Inquiry (AJI). The provincial inquiry, which was commissioned in 1988, was one of the first to examine the racism experienced by Indigenous people in Manitoba's justice system.
At the time of the inquiry, Manitoba had the highest proportion of Indigenous people in its population in Canada.
