Helen Betty Osborne: The Cree woman whose brutal murder helped expose racism in the justice system

TORONTO -

A Manitoba community is remembering the life and legacy of a Cree woman who was 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.

“She was never given that chance,” Rebecca Ross, a childhood friend of Osborne and one of the last people to see her alive, told CTV News. “I often wonder how many hundreds of students she would have touched.”

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.

According to the AJI's final report, Osborne was picked up in the common town practice of targeting Indigenous women "to party." She was forced into a vehicle and at two different locations, she was repeatedly raped, beaten, stabbed and burned by the four men. Her body was then dragged and left in the bush.

Of the four men, only one, Dwayne Johnston, was convicted in December 1987 and sentenced to life in prison for Osborne's murder. His conviction was upheld by the Manitoba Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Canada refused to hear his appeal.

The three other men involved in Osborne's abduction and murder were not convicted. James Houghton was acquitted, Lee Colgan received immunity from prosecution to testify against Houghton and Johnston, and Norman Manger was never charged.

Renee Kastrukoff, director of The Pas Family Resource Centre, told CTV News Channel on Saturday that Osborne's case was "instrumental in the development and implementation" of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG) inquiry.

"It's 50 years later, and we are still seeing the same sort of thing that occurred when Helen Betty Osborne was abducted and murdered," Kastrukoff said.

She said that there are currently four unsolved missing and murdered cases in The Pas, however, she said they are "not at the forefront of the community" due to "systemic racism and apathy."

"I don't want to do this discussion when my two little granddaughters, who are ages two and five, become young women. We want the world to be a different place for them," Kastrukoff said.

The AJI said in its report that "allegations of racism, neglect and indifference" on the part of the town and its authorities were made throughout the investigation, suggesting that because Osborne was an Indigenous woman, her murder was "unimportant."

After months of hearing testimony and reviewing evidence, the AJI declared in 1989 that racism played a "significant role" in Osborne's case.

"It has been suggested that the delay in bringing the case to court indicated racism and that the police would have exerted more effort if the deceased had been non-Aboriginal. It also has been suggested that residents of The Pas were in possession of valuable information and kept that information from the police because the victim was Aboriginal," read the report.

On Saturday, Manitoba's Indigenous Reconciliation and Northern Relations Minister Alan Lagimodiere and Cathy Cox, the provincial minister responsible for the status of women, issued a statement saying it is important for Manitobans to recognize the factors that contributed to Osborne's murder are "deeply rooted in the ongoing legacy of colonization."

They said these factors include systemic racism, social and economic marginalization, multigenerational and intergenerational trauma, and "continued disrespect" for Indigenous women.

"Though Helen Betty Osborne was not the first woman to be victimized in the national tragedy of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, her heartbreaking death and the many significant issues during the investigation are often seen as the ground zero of the MMIWG movement in Manitoba," the statement read in part.

While it has been 50 years since Osborne was killed, the ministers said the case and the epidemic of MMIWG continues to "affect individuals, families and communities across the province and throughout Canada."

"The 50th anniversary of her death is a sombre reminder of the important work that remains ahead to advance reconciliation and healing," read the statement.

Kastrukoff said Indigenous women should be seen as valued members of any community in Canada and supports need to be put in place to protect them from targeted attacks that continue to this day.

"I think it's past time that everybody really, really take a look and see just how sacred our Indigenous women and girls are," she said.