Dig. Dig Man. Dig for those Women in the Landfills

A Winnipeg man with white supremacist posting on social media, has been arrested for killing four Indigenous Women. The murders are said to have taken place between March and May of 2022. Four Indigenous Women: Rebecca Contois, 24 of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi (Crane River), Morgan Harris, 39 of Long Plain, Marcedes Myran, 26 of Long Plain, Unknown Woman (Buffalo Woman-Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe). Police say the remains of the Women, are in the Landfills of the Winnipeg City. There is a controversy about whether or not the Landfill should be searched.  A "Feasibility Study" is being financed by the Canadian government on whether or not if it is worth it to search for the missing Indian Women in the garbage dump. So it comes down to how much an Indian Woman's body is worth against the cost of garbage dump disruption.  In a recent media release by the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC, Provincial lobby group for Manitoba Chiefs) there has been no funding for the feasibility study and it is suppose to be complete by March 31, 2023. This is a really weird undertaking. Basically you are studying the worth of a person, or the cost of a dead body. 

The costs to dig for the bodies in the Winnipeg Land Fill, the garbage dump will be huge.  Most of the  country would likely side with saving the money.  I can hear it in my head, "Let's be practical" and "they should not have been careful, not partied there" and "they brought it on themselves." What is a reasonable cost for searching for dead people? Searches for missing people is not uncommon. An individual falls off a ship in the ocean and a search will take place. Not matter the situation it always comes down what the costs are going to be. 

People have no issue spending money, only if it is in their interest. With the lost Spirits in the garbage dumps, no one really has an interest. If there was a lost painting in the garbage dump it may increase interest to do a search. 

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled [detail] (1982), sold for $85 million at Phillips “20th Century & Contemporary Art Evening Sale,” May 18, 2022. Image courtesy Phillips.

With no 85 million dollar paintings in the garbage, Some cities have gone to mining landfills. Landfill Mining is said to have great potential. Since this is being a look at the future of the Landfill industry, might be an opportunity to start now? I know it's a far fetched approach to consider. The fact there is value in the garbage itself; metals, etc., and not the bodies of Women, is really strange. 

I don't know what the outcome of the feasibility will bring, I just know this, if it was my Mom, my Sister, my Cousin, my daughter, or your family member, I would say, "feasibility study? Dig man! Dig."