The Saskatoon freezing deaths were a series of suspicious deaths of

Indigenous Canadians In Canada, Indigenous groups comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. Although ''Indian'' is a term still commonly used in legal documents, the descriptors ''Indian'' and ''Eskimo'' have fallen into disuse in Canada, and most consider them ...

in and immediately outside of

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, in the 1990s and early 2000s, which were confirmed to have been caused by members of the

Saskatoon Police Service Saskatoon Police Service (SPS) is the municipal police service in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It holds both municipal and provincial jurisdiction. Police Chief Troy Cooper is the head of the service. The deputy chiefs are Deputy Chief Randy ...

. The police officers would arrest Indigenous people, usually men, for alleged drunkenness and/or disorderly behaviour, sometimes without cause. The officers would then drive them to the outskirts of the city at night in the winter, and abandon them, leaving them stranded in sub-zero temperatures. The practice was known as taking Indigenous people for "starlight tours" and dates back to at least 1976. As of 2021, despite convictions for related offences, no Saskatoon police officer has been convicted specifically for having caused freezing deaths.

Incidents

Victims who died from

hypothermia Hypothermia is defined as a body core temperature below in humans. Symptoms depend on the temperature. In mild hypothermia, there is shivering and mental confusion. In moderate hypothermia, shivering stops and confusion increases. In severe h ...

include Rodney Naistus, Lawrence Wegner, and

Neil Stonechild Neil Stonechild (August 24, 1973 – November 25, 1990) was a Saulteaux First Nations teenager who died of hypothermia because the Saskatoon Police Service left him outside of the city to walk back when he was intoxicated. There were accusati ...

. Naistus and Wegner died in 2000, and their bodies were discovered on the outskirts of Saskatoon.

Inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a coro ...

s in 2001 and 2002 into their deaths determined they were due to hypothermia. The inquest jury's recommendations all related to police policies and indigenous-police relations. Neil Stonechild's body was found on November 29, 1990, in a field outside Saskatoon, which had led to an ''Inquiry Into Matters Relating to the Death of Neil Stonechild.'' On the night of Stonechild's disappearance, five days prior on November 24, 1990, the temperature reached -28.1 Cº. The 2003 inquest could not determine the circumstances that led to his death. In January 2000, Darrell Night was dropped off on the outskirts of Saskatoon but was able to call a taxi from the nearby

Queen Elizabeth Power Station Queen Elizabeth Power Station is a natural gas-fired station owned by SaskPower, located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The station was called the South Saskatchewan River Generating Station but renamed the Queen Elizabeth Power Station at t ...

. The two officers involved, constables Dan Hatchen and Ken Munson of the Saskatoon Police Service, claimed they had simply given Night a ride home and dropped him off at his own request, but were convicted of unlawful confinement in September 2001 and sentenced to eight months in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

. The Saskatoon police initially insisted these were isolated incidents. But in 2003, police chief Russell Sabo admitted that there was a possibility that the force had been dumping First Nations people outside the city for years, after revealing that in 1976 an officer was disciplined for taking an indigenous woman to the outskirts of the city and abandoning her there. On April 21, 2018, Ken Thomas alleged that he was picked up by two Saskatoon Police officers and dropped off outside city limits at night in the cold. This accusation was investigated by the Public Complaints Commission, which stated that it was unfounded. In a news release, Saskatoon Police chief Troy Cooper said it was unlikely that there was contact on the night of April 21, 2018, between the police and Mr. Thomas, based on video and audio recordings taken from police cars.

Censorship attempts

Between 2012 and 2016, the "Starlight tours" section of the

English Wikipedia The English Wikipedia is, along with the Simple English Wikipedia, one of two English-language editions of Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia. It was founded on January 15, 2001, as Wikipedia's first edition, and, as of , has the most arti ...

article was deleted several times. An internal investigation revealed that two of the edits originated from a computer within the police service. Alyson Edwards, a spokesperson for the force denied that the removal of content was officially approved by the force. On March 31, 2016, the Saskatoon ''

StarPhoenix ''The StarPhoenix'' is a daily newspaper that serves Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and is a part of Postmedia Network. The ''StarPhoenix'' puts out six editions each week and publishes one weekly, ''Bridges''. It is also part of the canada.com ...

'' reported that "Saskatoon police have confirmed that someone from inside the police department deleted references to 'Starlight tours' from the Wikipedia web page about the police force." According to the report, a "police spokeswoman acknowledged that the section on starlight tours had been deleted using a computer within the department, but said investigators were unable to pinpoint who did it." The police spokeswoman stated that the force is working to "move forward with all of the positive work that has been done, and continues to be done that came out of the Stonechild inquiry".

In media

Film

These incidents have been addressed in two films. Darrell Night's experiences were documented in

Tasha Hubbard Tasha Hubbard is a Canadian First Nations/ Cree filmmaker and educator based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Hubbard's credits include three National Film Board of Canada documentaries exploring Indigenous rights in Canada: '' Two Worlds Colliding'', ...

's 2004

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

documentary ''Two Worlds Colliding'', winner of the

Canada Award The Diversity Award is presented by Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to honour excellence in English-language television programming that "reflects the racial and cultural diversity of Canada." It was introduced in 1988 as the Multicultura ...

. A fictional incident was also portrayed in the half-hour drama ''Out in the Cold'', directed by Colleen Murphy and starring

Gordon Tootoosis Gordon Tootoosis, (October 25, 1941 – July 5, 2011) was a First Nations actor of Cree and Stoney descent. Tootoosis was a descendant of Yellow Mud Blanket, brother of the famous Cree leader Pîhtokahanapiwiyin. He was acclaimed for his commi ...

, Matthew Strongeagle, and Erroll Kinistino.

Music

In 2005, the Canadian punk rock band

Propagandhi Propagandhi is a Canadian punk rock band formed in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba in 1986 by guitarist Chris Hannah and drummer Jord Samolesky. The band is currently located in Winnipeg, Manitoba and completed by bassist Todd Kowalski and guitari ...

released the album '' Potemkin City Limits'', including the song "The Bringer of Greater Things", which was "dedicated to Rodney Naistus, Neil Stonechild and Lawrence Wegner, murdered by members of the Saskatoon Police Department" (album liner notes). Canadian musician Kris Demeanor's song "One Shoe" was written about the Saskatoon freezing deaths, particularly Stonechild's.

The Wailin' Jennys The Wailin' Jennys are a Canadian music group. They have released several albums and received two Juno Awards. The group has been featured several times on the American Public Media program ''A Prairie Home Companion'' and their album ''Firecr ...

' song "Starlight" was also inspired by the freezing deaths. In 2017,

Mi'kmaq The Mi'kmaq (also ''Mi'gmaq'', ''Lnu'', ''Miꞌkmaw'' or ''Miꞌgmaw''; ; ) are a First Nations people of the Northeastern Woodlands, indigenous to the areas of Canada's Atlantic Provinces and the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec as well as the northe ...

artist Cathy Elliott completed a five-weeks workshop with students from

Sheridan College Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning (formerly Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology) is a public polytechnic institute of technology located in the west-Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. Founded in ...

for her musical ''Starlight Tour''. This work was commissioned by the Grand Theatre in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

in collaboration with Sheridan College's "Canadian Music Theatre Project".

Podcasts

The freezing deaths are discussed in podcasts such as ''Criminal'' and ''

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons ...

''.

Television

The ''

Da Vinci's Inquest ''Da Vinci's Inquest'' is a Canadian dramatic television series which originally aired on CBC Television from 1998 to 2005. While never a ratings blockbuster, the critically acclaimed show did attract a loyal following, and ultimately seven seaso ...

'' episode "The Sparkle Tour" involved the death of a Native activist, allegedly as a result of the police arresting, assaulting, and dumping him in the outskirts in the middle of the night without his shoes; the incident sparks discussion between investigators about the Saskatoon freezing deaths, which are referred to as "sparkle tours."

References

External links

"In Depth: Aboriginal Canadians: Starlight Tours"
''CBC News''
"Final Report – Commission of Inquiry Into Matters Relating to the Death of Neil Stonechild"

"Conference confronts police ‘culture of oppression’"
''Aboriginal Multi-Media Society''
"Police Oversight"
''Justice Education Society and Centre for Education, Law, & Society at '' {{DEFAULTSORT:Saskatoon freezing deaths Police misconduct in Canada Violence against Indigenous people in Canada History of Saskatoon Deaths from hypothermia Crime in Saskatchewan Police brutality in North America Conflict-of-interest editing on Wikipedia