One year since Myles Sanderson killed 11 people and injured 17 in one of Canada's worst mass killings, survivors struggle to move on, saying drug use is still rampant.
Since her husband, Damien Sanderson, was killed by his brother, Myles Sanderson, during the mass stabbing on James Smith Cree Nation on Sept. 4, 2022, her life has gone “really downhill.”
A year later, victims’ families and those still recovering from their injuries are taking stock of what was lost. To aid in the healing process, a Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations traditional health gathering was held at James Smith Cree Nation in late August.Global News spent four days over the course of the event meeting with victims, family members of the dead and those working to make the community a safer place. Most say that the situation has not improved.
“It’s a really long process and we have to get it right,” says Eddie Head, James Smith’s director of justice and policing.On a sunny Thursday morning, Vanessa Burns, her sister Deborah Burns, and her mother Joyce Burns, sit in a tipi at James Smith’s culture grounds, where the FSIN traditional health gathering is taking place. Vanessa and Deborah are wearing blue ribbon skirts, the lower portions of which are covered in Toronto Maple Leafs logos.
This is the first time Joyce has spoken publicly about the death of her husband, and the night that left her severely injured, with three stab wounds. Due to a severe stab wound to her stomach, she still has a colostomy bag. She’s on a waiting list to have it removed. “That morning, I heard a vehicle coming to the house. I got up and looked out the window and thought it was my brother,” Joyce says.
Earl’s body was later found in his school bus, which had rolled off the road and come to rest in a ditch. Three large crosses, covered in bright flowers, have been erected where his bus was found. A memory sticks with her from several days before the murders. Her niece had rushed into the house and gone to Earl, crying.
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