Parents decide Ashlee Shingoose will continue to be known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe
Community fire held to remember recently identified victim of Winnipeg serial killer
The father of a woman recently identified as the victim of a Winnipeg serial killer has decided she will continue to be known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe.
Indigenous community members, including a group of advocates, knowledge keepers and grandmothers, bestowed Ashlee Shingoose the name, which translates to Buffalo Woman, when she was the sole unidentified murder victim of Jeremy Skibicki.
Shingoose, a mother of three, was among the four First Nations women killed by Skibicki between March and May 2022, along with Morgan Harris, 39, and Marcedes Myran, 26 — both originally from Long Plain First Nation — as well as Rebecca Contois, 24, a member of O-Chi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation.
The first of Skibicki's victims, Shingoose, was unidentified for years, but DNA results stemming from new information provided by Skibicki in December helped Winnipeg police confirm the 30-year-old from St. Theresa Point Anisininew Nation was Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe.
Roughly 60 people, including elders and MMIWG2S+ advocates came together around a community fire on Thursday, some of them drumming, chanting and feeding the flames with tobacco wrapped in red cloth, to remember Shingoose and support her family.
After the ceremony, Thelma Morrisseau, one of the grandmothers who took part in the late 2022 ceremony to give Shingoose a name before she was identified, told Shingoose's parents they could choose for Ashlee to continue to be known as Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe.
WATCH | Ashlee Shingoose's father accepts Thelma Morrisseau's invitation:
"That's your decision, and the way we had intended is that she would walk with that name for as long as she needed, or forever and into the spirit world if that is your wish," she said.
Albert Shingoose, Ashlee's father, told the crowd her daughter would carry the name, and those who came for the community fire erupted in chants inside the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre.
Albert and his wife, Theresa Shingoose, also thanked those at the ceremony and the community at large for helping their family go "the long way," acknowledging that if it wasn't for the support, they wouldn't have made it thus far.
"It's overwhelming for me," Theresa Shingoose, Ashlee's mother, said. "It feels that I've known you for a long time."
"It was a hard journey, wondering where my daughter is, always waiting for her, hoping … but we know now," she said.
Premier Wab Kinew, who was also at the ceremony, acknowledged Shingoose's family for how, in spite of grieving the loss of their daughter, they have found ways to honour the community and the support it has given them.
"To me, that's just the spirit of generosity that they bring forward," Kinew said. "They're talking about gratitude … these are wonderful people."
The premier reiterated his promise of searching the Brady Road landfill, where Winnipeg police said Shingoose's remains are believed to be.
Sandra DeLaronde, chair of Giganawenimaanaanig Manitoba's MMIWG2S+ implementation committee, who was also at Thursday's community fire, said that while there is a sense of muted gratitude, there's also frustration over why it took so long for the family to find answers.
"Everybody should have their loved ones returned to them," Delaronde said, adding she's happy the family won't have to fight for the landfill to be searched.
With files from Zubina Ahmed