FSIN, Muskoday First Nation chief say RCMP should investigate sign as hate crime

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PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. — Saskatchewan RCMP say they are investigating after a sign with derogatory comments was found on First Nations land.
The sign was put up this week on a bridge at the Muskoday First Nation, about 30 kilometres southeast of Prince Albert, Sask., with part of it saying "White Lives Matter Too."
A shoe was also hung up referencing the vigils taking place across the country for what are believed to be the remains of hundreds of Indigenous children found in unmarked graves at former residential schools.
The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations is calling the move racist and the content on the sign ignorant.
Muskoday Chief Ava Bear says these acts of racism cannot continue without punishment.
She says RCMP need to investigate it as a possible hate crime.
"Our youth and children have seen this sign on our lands, and we are calling on the RCMP to step in to investigate this act as a possible hate crime and charge the person or people responsible to the fullest extent of the law," she said in an FSIN statement.
"If we don't stand up to these racists, who will?"
Cowessess First Nation in southern Saskatchewan announced last month the preliminary findings of 751 unmarked graves at the nearby Marieval Indian Residential School.
Three First Nations in British Columbia have reported what are believed to be unmarked grave sites near former residential schools in their territories.
FSIN said it has filed a complaint with the RCMP and "will not rest until these acts end in this province."
"These children did not have a voice and now they are being found, they are being made fun of by ignorant racists and we must all stand up against hate crimes in Saskatchewan," FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron said in a statement.
The RCMP said Wednesday that they are in the early stages of the investigation, adding that it is inappropriate to speculate on the outcome of the charges.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 15, 2021.

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