Helen Betty Osborne's life honoured near The Pas 50 years after she was murdered

People from across the province gathered in northern Manitoba to honour the life of Helen Betty Osborne.

People from across the province gathered in northern Manitoba to honour the life of Helen Betty Osborne.

The 19-year-old Cree woman was abducted from the streets of The Pas, Man. and brutally murdered 50 years ago on Nov. 13, 1971, in a case which exposed racism and indifference towards Indigenous people.

“Helen Betty Osborne was targeted,” said Renee Kastrukoff with the family resource centre in The Pas, who helped organize the ceremony. “The young men that went out that night, there were four of them, the intent was to go and find an Indian girl to have sex with. So, she was targeted.”

The ceremony, held to honour Osborne’s life, started at the former site of Guy Hill Residential School along the shores of Clearwater Lake just north of The Pas. A monument was placed at the site in July 2000 in Osborne’s memory.

Osborne, who was from Norway House, was a survivor and student at the school, before she started attending classes at a high school in The Pas.

Family, friends and former classmates huddled around the monument and held each for support. For some it was their first time visiting the site.

“It was difficult for them to come and visit the memorial site in the past,” said Darlene Osborne, a relative and councillor in Osborne’s home community of Norway House Cree Nation. “And now this is the first time and they felt they had to be here today.”