Fred Quilt inquiry

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Aboriginal peoples
in Canada
A life-sized bronze statue of an Aboriginal and eagle above him; there is a bear to his right and a wolf to his left, they are all looking upwards towards a blue and white sky

The Fred Quilt inquiries were two inquiries into the November 1971 death of Fred Quilt, a leader of the Tsilhqot'in First Nation in the Chilcotin Country region of the west-central British Columbia Interior. Members of Quilt's family and people alleged that he died days after being beaten by Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) constables. Inquests found no wrongdoing on the part of the RCMP. A group of activists later formed the Fred Quilt Committee, which raised money for Quilt's family, and later attempted to press criminal charges against the RCMP.

November 28, 1971

Incident

On November 28, 1971, the RCMP received a call about a pickup truck blocking Highway 20 around Alexis Creek near Williams Lake.[1] Fred Quilt, who was 55 at the time of his arrest, was arrested on charges of drunk driving.[2] RCMP constables Daryl Bakewell and Peter Eakins responded and found Fred Quilt along with three other members of his family in the pickup. The RCMP constables alleged that the four were "extremely intoxicated" and that Fred Quilt had to be pulled from the truck where he fell to the ground. The two officers also claimed that Fred Quilt fell again as he was being taken to the police truck which the four were driven to the nearby Anahim Reserve.[3]

Death

Quilt complained of stomach pain the following day, but refused to ride in an ambulance to Williams Lake's Cariboo Memorial Hospital. He stayed on the reserve another day before he was taken to Cariboo Memorial Hospital where he would die on November 30, 1971.[4] Before his death he told a nurse at at the hospital that a RCMP officer jumped up and down on him[5] a claim which was supported by Quilt's wife, Christine, and sister-in-law, Agnes.[3] An autopsy performed by Han Choo Lee found that Quilt died from peritonitis due to "complete severance of the small bowel".[3]

Inquiries

First Inquiry

An inquiry was held in February 1972, which took place in the Kamloops courthouse.[6] The Fred Quilt committee was represented by Harry Rankin, a famous lawyer, activist and one-time Vancouver Alderman.[7] Rankin would later be called before the BC Law Society for telling Native representatives that the police didn't mind beating up an Indian, but they "didn't like to get caught."[7] He was originally threatened with disbarment, but all charges were later dropped.[7] The Inquest conclusion rejected claims of police brutality as the cause of death.[2]

Second Inquiry

A second inquiry was ordered after Attorney General Leslie Peterson learned that some of the jury members (who were all white, despite 60% of the population being indigenous) had close ties to the Williams Lake RCMP unit and that no First Nation witnesses were called.[4] The jury for the second inquiry was made up of four men and two women, including two First Nation members.[3] On August 4, 1972, the jury returned with an open verdict, saying Quilt's "injury was caused by way of an unknown blunt force applied by an unknown object to his lower abdomen."[4] The jury also ruled that the injury happened sometime between moving Quilt from the pickup into the police vehicle. The jury did not lay blame on anyone for Quilt's death.[4]

Fred Quilt Committee

The Fred Quilt Committee was a group of activists fighting for Fred Quilt's case. They regarded Fred Quilt's death as the RCMP beating to death of a First Nation elder. After the Second Inquiry they voiced their disappointment of the verdict and released a statement that they would proceed with an attempt to start criminal charges against one of the RCMP members who were present at Fred Quilt's alleged beating.[3] They also supported Fred Quilt's family after his death and attempted to raise money to buy his widow 20 head of cattle.[3]

Bibliography

Notes
  1. ↑ Dawson 1998, p. 100
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Clement 2009, p. 75
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Province 1972, p. Cover.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "RCMP attitudes to native Canadians, 1972" (Audio). CBC News. July 15, 1972. Retrieved December 20, 2009. 
  5. ↑ "Indians protest RCMP killing". UVIC. The Martlet. 2009. Retrieved December 20, 2009. 
  6. ↑ Nickel, Todd (April 2006). "Another look at courthouse past". Newsbreak 2006. Retrieved December 20, 2009. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Moran 1998, p. 49
References
  • Clement, Dominique (2009). Canada's Rights Revolution: Social Movements and Social Change, 1937-82 (2009 ed.). UBC Press. ISBN 0-7748-1480-2.  - Total pages: 296
  • Dawson, Michael (1998). The mountie from dime novel to Disney (1998 ed.). Between The Lines. ISBN 1-896357-16-4.  - Total pages: 214
  • Moran, Bridget (1998). Judgement at Stoney Creek (1998 ed.). Arsenal pulp press. ISBN 1-55152-053-2.  - Total pages: 201
  • "Use Kid Gloves A-G tells Police". The Province. August 4, 1972. p. Cover. 

External links

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