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I haven’t seen much coverage of this story outside of Quebec where it happened. 

This is Joyce Echaquan, a native woman from Atikamekw Nation of Manawan who secretly filmed her nurses, two white women, while dying, in a hospital bed at Joliette. She had a history of heart problems, had a pacemaker and was forcibly given morphine despite her protesting. On Saturday (September 26th), she went to the hospital in Joliette with a stomach ache.

She filmed herself on Facebook live for around eight minutes while crying from pain and calling for help in attikamek. Finally, near the end of the video, two white nurses came to her bedside and hurled violent insults at her. You can google the video, it’s gone “viral” in a way in Quebec, but I won’t put it in the post because it’s incredibly violent. Below is a transcript.

[tw for violent anti-indigenous and misogynist speech]

The first nurse yelled at her, “Are you done fucking around? Are you done? Shit. You’re stupid as all hell.” Joyce told her again that she’s in a lot of pain. The nurse replied, “Well, you made some bad choices, my dear. What would your kids think of you if they saw you like this? Think of them a bit.”

The other nurse then said, “You have trouble taking care of yourself, so we’re going to do it for you. These people are better off dead anyway. All you’re good for is getting fucked. And who do you think is going to pay for this? Us?”

Joyce passed away on Monday (Sept 28) and the cause of death is still not determined. The coroner’s office is investigating, but with the response of Quebec’s government, I hardly doubt any legal action will be taken. One of the nurses was fired, but neither one of them is being charged with abuse and their names are not even known to the public. I doubt they’ll be charged with her murder, either.

In a news conference on Tuesday (Sept 29), Quebec Prime Minister Legault denied that this is a result of systemic racism and denied that the nurses abused Joyce, but said it was “unacceptable”.

If you live in Quebec, write to your representatives, call them, write to and call the CISSS and demand they take legal action against the nurses who killed and abused Joyce. Demand they publish the names of these nurses and hold them accountable for her murder. They will not be allowed the privilege of privacy. What happened to Joyce has been happening to Native women in Canada and will continue to happen to them as long as the government refuses to acknowledge and dismantle systemic racism. Indigenous women in Canada are disappearing and dying at immense rates and no one is batting an eye.

Joyce’s family, her husband and seven children, have a gofundme set up to pay for her funeral service, among other things. As of 9/30/2020, they are still in need of $20k.

lions licking their cubs

Worksop Bestiary, England c. 1185