Photo: A sign at Camp Marcedes in Winnipeg. (Antonia Gonzales)

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A grim search is underway at a landfill site near Winnipeg for the remains of two murdered Indigenous women.

This is the fourth stage of a five-stage plan that is expected to continue until the spring.

More from Dan Karpenchuk.

Wab Kinew, the province’s first Indigenous premier, was on hand for the start of the work as teams began the huge task of sifting through nearly 8,000 square feet of waste.

They are looking for the remains of Morgan Harris and Marcedes Myran.

Jeremy Skibicki was convicted of killing them and two other Indigenous women – Rebecca Contois, whose remains were found in a different landfill, and a victim identified only as Buffalo Woman.

Premier Kinew was with the Myran and Harris families as the work began.

“This morning I was there with two family members as we watched that first blue truck of landfill material come down to the search facility. And it is an intense emotion.”

It was two years ago that the families found out that the two girls had been murdered by Skibicki.

Tons of material have already been excavated to bring the search to the approximate time the women’s bodies would have been left there.

Amna Mackin leads the project.

“As we start to find items of interest, such as receipts or papers that have dates and addresses we’ll be continually looking at that information to see what it’s telling us and whether or not we’re in the right location of interest.”

There are about 45 people in the search team, which includes family members, a forensic anthropologist, a health and safety officer, and a director of operations.

The search of the landfill will continue six days a week for the next several months.

Kinew says he prays to God that the search will succeed.

Adult lake trout reared at Iron River National Fish Hatchery in Wisconsin. (Photo: Katie Steiger-Meister / USFWS Midwest Region)

After nearly 70 years of work, fishery managers say lake trout have fully recovered in most of Lake Superior, a development that’s sure to please regional Native American tribes.

As Danielle Kaeding reports, that comes after a fish-killing invader decimated the trout’s numbers.

The lake trout population dropped dramatically during the mid-1900s due to overfishing and an invasion of sea lampreys.

The eel-like parasitic fish feeds on the blood of lake trout.

It spread to Lake Superior by 1938.

At that time, the commercial harvest of the lake’s top predator was four million pounds.

But, that dropped 95% by the mid-1960s.

Bill Mattes chairs the Lake Superior Committee of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.

“What we’re seeing in our assessments are that the numbers of fish in the lake are similar to that seen in the lake prior to lamprey invasion and over harvest.”

Mattes is also with the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Lake Superior tribes use gill nets to commercially harvest fish, and he says the assessments show they can be used to sustainably catch fish.

“We’ve done a really good job of harvest management and of controlling those harvests over time.”

Mattes says those efforts along with lamprey controls has helped create a self-sustaining population.

A people’s celebration for the removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River takes place Saturday in California’s Arcata Theater Lounge.

Regina Chicizola is with the group Save California Salmon.

She says previous events featured politicians and tribal councilors.

“What we want to do with this celebration is celebrate all the people and organizers and families. So we have a lot of elders coming out, and then we’re going to have a few bands play. All three of the bands are part of communities that helped fight for dam removal.”

The removal of the dams follow decades of lobbying by Native Americans and allies, who say salmon are already back to their traditional spawning grounds.

“It’s time to celebrate, and it’s time to bring our kids up there to see the salmon spawning, and just let the world know that you can win these really big fights even when it seems impossible, especially if people listen to the guidance of the native communities that have knowledge on how to get it done.”

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