Sagkeeng warrior/protector Tre Delaronde arrested at Camp Marcedes as the call to search the landfill continue

Photo of Tre Delaronde by Radio-Canada/Maxime Beuachemin.

From social media reports we see that Sagkeeng warrior/protector Tre Delaronde was arrested by Winnipeg police yesterday and released this afternoon (but now faces several charges).

APTN tweets: “Winnipeg police are cleaning up their headquarters after what they call an ‘incident’ overnight. Handprints can be seen smeared across the glass in the front of the station and on the sign out front. People are upset with the arrest of protestor Tre Delaronde at Camp Marcedes.”

Photo: Winnipeg police have refused to search Prairie Green landfill for the remains of Marcedes Myran, Morgan Harris and Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe (Buffalo Woman), but apparently have deployed a forensics team to study the handprints left on their police station from the protest last night.

Photo: Jorden Myran at Camp Marcades. Her 26-year-old sister Marcedes (right) was murdered in May 2022 and her remains are believed to be at the Prairie Green landfill.

Photo of Camp Marcedes (at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights) by Celeste George.

Video still of Camp Marcades from APTN.

APTN journalist Dennis Ward also tweets: “Presumably, part of the ‘incident’ last night as numerous protestors showed up at police HQ following the arrest of Tre Delaronde, who has been at Camp Morgan at Brady landfill since December 2022. He was arrested at Camp Marcedes.”

Photo: The partial remains of 24-year-old Rebecca Contois were found at the Brady Road landfill in June 2022.

Photo of the Camp Morgan blockade (at the Brady Road landfill} dismantled by the Winnipeg police on July 18, 2023.

And Terrill Tailfeathers tweets: “Tre Delaronde arrested last night by @wpgpolice at Camp Marcedes outside the Canadian Human Rights Museum. Via @ClintonNabess on TikTok. Link here: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM2p66axc/ Please share widely.”

Delaronde, 28, is a member of the Sagkeeng Anicinabe Nation and of the First Nation Indigenous Warriors watchdog group.

In an October 2021 article about Delaronde, the Winnipeg Free press explains: “The name Warrior in the title derives from the Anishinabe word for warrior, ogichidaa, in much the same way as the ancient Hindu word Ksatriya means warrior or protector of society.”

Warrior criminalized with charges

It appears that Delaronde was released about 12:30 pm ET on Wednesday July 26. The Winnipeg Sun reports: “An online video shows that Delaronde has since been released and police have yet to reveal why Delaronde was arrested or if he faces any charges.”

(The Canadian Press now reports: “Police allege the man threatened two private security guards, and have charged him with uttering threats, mischief and possessing body armour without a permit.” The Winnipeg Police Service has also just posted this media release about the arrest. A response to this from Cambria Harris can be read here.)

The two camps

Just last week, El Jones wrote about Camp Morgan and Camp Marcedes in The Breach:

“Out of the violence and horror of the murders of Morgan Harris, Marcedes Myran, Rebecca Contois and a fourth unidentified woman known as Mashkode Bizhiki’ikwe (Buffalo Woman) and the compounded trauma of the government’s refusal to search for their remains, residents of the camp have worked to bring life and healing back to the land. A ceremonial fire burns behind us; as I climb to join the wiigwaam, I can see across the camp: to the women’s tent where elders and children rest, to the tipis erected, to the artwork created. All in the shadow of death and violence.”

This camp was established not only to demand action on searching the landfill, not only to pay respect and remember, but to transform pain and grief in the face of ongoing genocide into community, love and support.

[On Tuesday July 18], I go over to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, where a new camp called Camp Marcedes, is already being built. The fire has been brought over from Camp Morgan. A barbeque is going. Rudolph, who I met the night before, introduces me to his daughter. People smudge the food. It starts to rain, and they hold a tarp over the fire and continue on.”

We continue to follow this.

Further reading: MP Leah Gazan writes UN Expert Mechanism calling for international oversight of Canada’s failure to search landfills (July 19, 2023)