Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City

The Court of Appeal released its judgment for Reggie Bushie’s case in March 2011: They were concerned that the coroners refused to tell Reggie’s family how they selected juries. This issue deserved an inquiry. However, Bushie’s inquest was delayed because officials needed to study the problem.

Retired Supreme Court Justice Frank Iacobucci conducted a review of the jury system. Iacobucci traveled to all the communities where the students were from, meeting with elders and surviving family members. He found a system in crisis. Indigenous parents didn’t trust the justice system because of the poor quality of police investigations. Talaga notes that what he “found most troubling was the strong possibility that the authorities had not taken the necessary steps to address these cases because the students were Indigenous” (272). He believed that an inquest into all seven deaths was necessary. He also released 17 recommendations to correct the justice system. Nevertheless, it took five years for the inquest to move forward. Tragically, another DFC student, Jordan Wabasse, died during this time. He represents the seventh fallen feather—the seventh student that the Nishnawbe Aski Nation lost in Thunder Bay.

The inquest finally began in October 2015.