Song and sorrow lead Cathy Merrick, the late AMC grand chief, to lie in state at Manitoba Legislature

Led by singers and escorted by pallbearers from the RCMP and Winnipeg Police Service, a white casket bearing the body of Cathy Merrick, the late Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs grand chief, arrived to lie in state at the Manitoba Legislative Building on Wednesday morning.

The song from the group of First Nations women — one carrying Merrick's headdress — echoed through the broad foyer and grand staircase of the building as they headed the procession.

Immediately behind the casket walked Merrick's husband, Todd, and the couple's three children, along with other family members, a number of First Nations chiefs and other dignitaries.

It was a slow, sorrowful walk as the casket was taken to the Chandelier Room on the second floor for a sacred private ceremony.

Public viewing is scheduled for noon until 5 p.m.

Merrick, 63, is the first woman given the honour of lying in state inside the legislature, and the first person to do so since 2013.

She died suddenly on Sept. 6 after collapsing outside the Law Courts building in Winnipeg while speaking to reporters. 

A book of condolences for the public to sign has been placed at the base of the grand staircase in the Manitoba Legislative Building and flags at the building have been lowered to half-mast.

Merrick's death was marked by a vigil outside the Winnipeg courthouse earlier and a sunrise ceremony.

Former Manitoba premier Gary Doer, who showed up at the legislature on Wednesday to sign the book, said Merrick was a person of integrity and leadership.

"She had it all and she lived it all, and that's why there's so many people grieving her passing," he said.

Her body will be taken from the legislature to the RBC Convention Centre for a wake service from 5:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. It will then return to her home community, Pimicikamak Cree Nation (Cross Lake), for a wake service at the arena on Thursday and Friday.

A last viewing will take place on Saturday, ahead of the funeral service interment later that same day at the Cross Lake Cemetery.

Merrick spent more than a decade as a band councillor at Pimicikamak and became the community's chief in 2013 — only the second woman to do so.