First Nations hold marches for Elsipogtog man killed in police shooting [video]

More than a dozen communities held events on Sunday to mourn the death of an Elsipogtog man shot and killed by police one week earlier.

Steven “Iggy” Dedam, 34, died at the hospital in Sainte-Anne-de-Kent shortly after an encounter with RCMP around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 8 in Elsipogtog.

Awareness walks were planned on Sunday in at least 15 Mi’kmaq communities across all three Maritime provinces, along with Tobique First Nation — a Wolastoqey community in western New Brunswick — and Halifax.

In Elsipogtog, the largest Indigenous community in New Brunswick, video shows a procession of marchers and vehicles making their way through the centre of the reserve on Big Cove Road.

Dozens of people then assembled outside the Elsipogtog RCMP detachment as singers and drummers performed. Parts of the police station had already been covered in posters and red handprints with the message “Their Blood, Your Hands.”

Images from awareness walks at First Nations across the region show people mourning the death of Iggy Dedam, expressing support for Elsipogtog and demanding changes in how Indigenous communities are policed.

People carried signs with slogans like “Indigenous Lives Matter,” and “Wellness checks shouldn’t lead to death.”

The commanding officer of the RCMP in New Brunswick, Assistant Commissioner DeAnna L. Hill, said last week that the call for service leading to Iggy Dedam’s death wasn’t a “wellness check.”

She described it as a “call for service involving a suicidal male armed with a weapon at a residence in Elsipogtog.” The RCMP declined to elaborate on the distinction, citing the ongoing investigation into the death by the Serious Incident Response Team.

Meanwhile, a sister of Iggy Dedam asked people on social media for financial support for legal counsel over the weekend. A few hours later she said that supporters had already raised $10,000, enough to cover a lawyer’s retainer.

Other fundraising efforts include sales of sweaters and shirts with the slogan #JusticeForIggy and an image of him that has circulated widely since the fatal shooting.

Dedam is survived by a large family that includes three daughters and four sons, according to his obituary. He was the captain of his own fishing boat and loved spending time with family and friends, it stated.

A funeral mass is scheduled for Tuesday morning at St. Anne’s Roman Catholic Church in Elsipogtog.

Dedam was among six Indigenous people in Canada who died at the hands of police between Aug. 29 and Sept. 8, prompting an emergency debate in the House of Commons.

David Gordon Koch is a journalist with the NB Media Co-op. This reporting has been made possible in part by the Government of Canada, administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Stations and Users (CACTUS).