The daughter of a First Nations woman alleged to have been murdered by a Winnipeg man is using artwork to draw international attention to the plight of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG).
Cambria Harris is the daughter of Morgan Harris from Long Plain First Nation, who is alleged to have been a victim of Jeremy Skibicki.
Skibicki, 35, is facing four charges of first-degree murder in the deaths of Harris, Rebecca Contois, Marcedes Myran and Buffalo Woman.
Morgan has been in the news since early December when Winnipeg police announced they believed her remains were at the Prairie Green Landfill outside the city.
“Indigenous women in Canada are not safe and people seem to think we’re disposable, that we’re trash, that we’re not human beings,” said Harris.
“Sometimes you need to go to extreme measures and make extreme pieces of art just to catch people’s attention.”
Harris is using her graphic design skills to create artwork featuring the words “in memory of MMIW2S”.
“You can see a face and a few hands trying to break out of the ground. It’s meant to symbolize being stuck in the Brady Landfill, and any and all missing Indigenous women and girls. It’s the idea of being stuck underneath the ground and no one ever looking for them,” said Cambria.
Her efforts caught the attention of Marie Babisky, also known as “Prettyeastvan” online. Babisky is an Indigenous artist and screenprinter.
She reached out and offered to help turn the artwork into T-shirts.
“I grew up in a very hard street life, and I survived things I probably shouldn’t have. So I could relate strongly with these women who are believed to be in the landfill. I feel like they don’t have a voice, and it’s heartbreaking to me,” said Babisky.
All proceeds are going to an MMIWG camp set up outside the Brady Road landfill in Winnipeg where some of Contois’ remains were found.
So far, Harris said they have sold 50 shirts and the number is climbing.
Orders have come from as far away as Germany, and a Swedish media outlet is interviewing her this week, she said.
