Jade Tootoosis and Melaina Sheldon discussed the racialization of the Canadian legal system in a moderated Q&A held Tuesday afternoon at Yukon College.

Tootoosis is the cousin of the late Colten Boushie, a 22-year-old Cree man who died from a gunshot to the back of the head in August 2016 in Biggar, Sask.

The farmer who shot him, Gerald Stanley, was acquitted of all charges in a case that triggered country-wide controversy about the inequalities faced by Indigenous people in the Canadian justice system.

According to First Nation tradition, Tootoosis refers to Boushie as her brother.

About 100 people gathered at the college to hear Tootoosis speak about her family’s experience and the consequent documentary, nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up, which chronicles the legal proceedings following Boushie’s death.

Tootoosis was interviewed by Sheldon, a citizen of the Teslin Tlingit Council.

Tootoosis described her brother as a fun, outgoing individual as well as a helpful and enthusiastic volunteer at the Red Pheasant Cree Nation, where he resided in Saskatchewan. She remembered Boushie as bringing “the joy, the lightness and the laughter” to her family.

“It’s been a tough loss,” she said. “We miss him deeply.”

nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up was released last April but premiered in the Yukon on Monday evening. Tootoosis said she was familiar with the filmmaker, Tasha Hubbard, before Hubbard approached her with the idea for the documentary.

“She saw the importance of visually recording exactly what was happening,” Tootoosis said.

Hubbard and her documentary team followed Boushie’s family through the harrowing legal process that followed Boushie’s death. The trailer and a select number of clips were shown to attendees.

“The big concern was what it would be like, having a camera follow us around, but it wasn’t as intrusive as I thought it was going to be,” Tootoosis said. “What you see in the film is us in our natural motions.”

Tootoosis explained to attendees the circumstances of her brother’s trial, which are captured in the documentary.

Tootoosis recounted that on the evening of her brother’s death, two young women were arrested at the scene. One of the women said she saw Stanley chatting casually with RCMP officers while she was handcuffed in the car.

The two women were processed by police and one asked to give a statement under extreme duress and lack of sleep.

When she was later cross-examined in court, her story was different from the original statement, discrediting her. Tootoosis said no mention was made of the conditions in which she’d made the original statement.

In the days immediately following Boushie’s death, RCMP released a statement that a theft was being investigated – with very little mention of a death. Tootoosis said this initial statement fuelled racism and set the tone for what followed.

Tootoosis said the car the youth were driving that night was released shortly after Boushie’s death. She was later told the RCMP would not cover the storage costs of the vehicle.

“I asked, ‘isn’t that evidence? Shouldn’t that be protected?’” Tootoosis said. “I felt rage and sadness, but mostly confusion.”

At the time of the jury selection, Stanley’s defence used 13 peremptory challenges which gave him veto power over potential jurors. Five of the challenges were used to exclude visibly Indigenous prospective jurors. The selected jury was all-white.

Boushie’s mother told media at the time that “if it’s an all-white jury, I don’t think we have a chance.”

When the trial began, Tootoosis said she was shocked to learn the Crown prosecutor was not technically representing her brother, but rather was representing the evidence.

“If they’re giving neglectful evidence to begin with, that is already stacking the evidence against us,” she said.

During the trial, Tootoosis said “the only image the jury got to see was (Boushie’s) lifeless body, framed as a drunk thief.”

Tootoosis said the proceedings never attempted to humanize her brother, tainting the jury’s opinion of him.

When Stanley was acquitted in February 2018, there was public outcry across the country.

“We know it’s bad for Indigenous people, but I honestly didn’t think it was this bad,” Tootoosis said. “There were so many things along the way that happened that were so surreal.”

Stanley’s acquittal led to public protest under a movement hashtagged “Justice for Colten”. Tootoosis has continued to advocate for an upheaval of the justice system to better serve Indigenous people.

She came to the Yukon with a list of four calls to action.

One of them is calling on the United Nations to conduct an investigation into the systemic inequalities that hinder the legal system.

Boushie’s family attended a United Nations forum in April 2018 and called for the study in a fervent statement read by Tootoosis.

The second call to action asks for a Royal Commission, which Tootoosis says requires the country to investigate itself in hopes that recommendations will be brought forward to eliminate racism.

The third is a call to end peremptory challenges in the jury selection system. The audience was informed that this call had indeed been answered just a few days earlier, when Bill C-75, eliminating peremptory challenges and increasing maximum penalties for criminal cases, took effect on Sept. 19.

However, Tootoosis urged attendees to be critical of what those peremptory challenges are replaced with, to question whether it is just “a different mask on the same face.”

Tootoosis’ last call was for more resources for victims and families of victims. She said her family was constantly forced to seek out their own support, a frightening process of facing powerful officials in an unfair system.

Tootoosis added she hoped everyone would make an effort to see the film, which “holds so many more truths” than was exposed in the media about the trial and the state of the legal system.

Tootoosis said she and her family have faced intense backlash since the trial and her advocacy work.

Her family is careful not to read the comment sections on social media or news articles, which are often rife with racist and aggressive mentions of them. She said that even on articles with no relation to the Boushie family, she finds herself mentioned in the comments.

Tootoosis said she no longer feels safe visiting her home community.

“I’ve been told if they ever see me on the streets, I’ll end up like my brother,” she said.

“My anxiety is through the roof. I can no longer go home on my own. I have to take precautions.”

She added that the hate mail she receives is usually anonymous. She does not have the luxury of anonymity because her photo has been widespread in Canadian media for several years.

“These are the implications on our loved ones and our community,” she said.

Tootoosis also asked attendees to watch media stories on Indigenous issues with a “critical eye.” She feels her brother’s story was misrepresented by media organizations.

“Even the headlines, in terms of the words they choose, the way they chose to identify Colten and my family, that is what we have to be critical of,” she said.

“In order to actually get the truth, I encourage you to go to those places and spaces and witness it for yourself. We cannot rely on the media to get the story straight.”

Tootoosis told attendees she hopes to see Canadians keep the “Justice for Colten” movement alive.

“As much as I’m appreciative to be here today, I wish I didn’t have to be,” she said.

“I wish my brother was still with us. I wish there was no such thing as racism and colonialism.

“I hope you continue to learn and grow as you challenge these systems.”