The Qualicum First Nation is asking the public for help in finding who is responsible for a disturbing incident at their graveyard.
Tanna Weir, a councillor at the Nation, says her brother discovered on Friday that the memorial in memory of her brother-in-law had been spray-painted with a racial slur targeting Indigenous peoples and had its plaque stolen. The sprinklers in the area were also broken.
Weir’s brother-in-law passed away four years ago following a battle with cancer.
“It is very hurtful… and it’s so racial,” said Weir. “It’s a hate crime… we are very fortunate in the community that we live in that we don’t deal with a lot of racial innuendos from people around here, their arms are always out and welcoming and so when you see something like that it’s really disheartening. ”
Although Weir says after she shared the incident on social media the community stepped up to help.
“We actually have a gentleman who works with granite so he knows how to get it off… now its just a matter of repairing the sprinklers… we are hoping to get the [plaque] replaced” said Weir.
Her brother last saw the gravesite, which is on a more remote part of the First Nation’s land on Cochrane road, about a week ago.
The Oceanside RCMP have been notified about the incident, and are asking anyone with information to contact them.
“It’s an isolated incident, this has never happened to us before… there’s so few people out there that think like this, I am hoping everybody showing support of us this will change their views,” added Weir.
The Cenotaph at the Qualicum First Nation’s gravesite had the F-word followed by a derogatory term for Indigenous peoples written on it (Photo: Tanna Weir)
CHEK News
