Friends, strangers honour memory of Neil Stonechild 25 years after freezing death
Twenty-five years after his freezing death family, friends and strangers gathered in a Saskatoon church basement to honour the memory of Neil Stonechild.
About 150 people attended a feast at St. Thomas Wesley United Church Wednesday night. Stew, bannock, and candy were laid out on blankets and the smell of ceremonial sage and sweetgrass filled the room.
“We want to honour his life and this is the way our culture does it. We want to feed his spirit,” said Jason Roy, friend and organizer of the feast.
Roy was the last person to see Stonechild alive in the back of a police cruiser before he was found days later frozen in a field on the city’s outskirts. His death led to a judicial inquiry, and the firing of the two police officers who last had contact with the 17-year-old boy.