A chief’s story: attacked for being an aboriginal woman
As people across the country gather for roundtables to discuss missing and murdered indigenous women, a Saskatchewan leader is adding her personal story to the conversation about violence towards aboriginal women.
Kimberly Jonathan, now the interim leader of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, had just left a woman’s sweat in Fort Qu’Appelle and was carrying her bags into her motel room. A man approached her as she went to unlock the door asking for a cigarette. Jonathan told him she didn’t have one, and turned to go inside her room.
“At that point, I was grabbed from behind by the hair, pulled down to the ground, and was dragged.”
“I struggled. I kicked. I fought for what I believed to be my life,” Jonathan described as she spoke withCJME on Monday afternoon.