In September of 2011, a then-17 year old girl was enjoying a night out in her small Inuit community of Tasiujaq when she was apprehended by authorities on suspicion of Drunk and Disorderly. The arresting officer, Danielle Gallant, was a rookie who had been on the force for less than a month. Constable Gallant had not been trained nor authorized to carry a firearm, but she had been sent to the remote village after reports of partying.
Gallant placed the teenager in handcuffs, then she put her in the back of the police van next to 24-year-old Joe Kritik. Kritik, a four-time convicted sex-offender, was not in handcuffs. That poor decision by the rookie officer would change the life of the young girl forever. The officer then left the vicinity of the van to further “police the area.”
When the officer was out of sight, Kritik took advantage of this opportunity and proceeded to rape the teenager. Restrained by her handcuffs, and with all the doors locked, the teenage girl was trapped with no way to fight back or escape.
Upon returning, Constable Gallant found Kritik, pants down, mounted on the girl. She quickly separated the two and took them both to the police station. When the teenager was taken to the police station she was refused medical care for the rape and thrown into a cell overnight. Neither of her parents were notified of the incident at that time, either.
It was later found the 17-year-old had committed no wrongdoing.
As egregious as this entire story is, the facts surrounding it get worse. The small Native American community of Tasiujaq is policed entirely by white Canadians from the southern part of the country. Race may play a great role in the police force’s inability to properly take the concerns of the local populace seriously. Many have been clamoring for members of the local community to be the ones to police their own, but this has been to no avail thus far.
Another startling problem that has been highlighted is the precinct in particular. The Kativik Regional Police Force is no stranger to covering up sexual assaults. Their former police chief once raped a woman on the force, bribed her to stay silent, and eventually fired her for coming forward. That officer remains unemployed to this day.
The rape victim, now 21, suffers from PTSD and never allows herself to be alone in the presence of men. She is currently suing the police force and the government for the sum of $400,000. The case is ongoing, but a settlement is expected. Denying the incident happened is no option for the police as Kritik plead guilty to sexual assault and received a piddly 39-month sentence.
The issues of systemic prejudices against rape victims has been breaking headlines for the last few years. It is bound by neither country, nationality, race, nor religion. It is a problem that governments and police forces struggle with, continuing to show failings and shortcomings. At the same time, this becomes a hot-topic issue as another police force in Arizona is guilty of much the same, leaving a teacher to be raped by an inmate while she was supposed to have been under the protection of the authorities in the jail facility.
H/T: CBC News Montreal | Featured Image: via Jane George
This is how little respect and caring that police departments have for, we the people. I am aghast at the level of incompetence that police departments display to, we the people. But what is even more galling, is the illusory way that the law is administered across the full spectrum of citizens in this nation.
Shocking story. However, I think the title just needs to be corrected to say “Native Teenager…” Take out the word American, since it happened in Canada. And, I could be mistaken, but I think they are referred to as the Aboriginals, the Natives or The Indigenous People in Canada. But, Native Teenager sounds right for an American audience.
Really ? Because Canada isn’t part of the american continent ? As Mexico too by the way ? So the only “americans” are the people from USA ? No wonder a large part of the world consider you as bullies, egoistic selfish people !!!
The real americans ARE the natives you call aboriginals !!! You are just immigrants who invaded and slaughtered them by millions less than 300 years ago !!!
There is a difference between the Continents of North America and South America, and the individual countries. In the United States of America, we refer to ourselves as Americans. The citizens of Canada as far as I know do not. They prefer the appropriate Canadians. This being the case, Anna’s original posting is correct. Especially when you consider the various audiences reading the article. As for how the various native tribes or people prefer to be addressed, I don’t have enough personal knowledge to make an educated statement on that.
I was born in California and have lived here all my life. My point is that the natives in Canada don’t generally use the term American to describe themselves. “Aboriginal” means: being the first or earliest known of its kind present in a region.
The Aboriginal people don’t necessarily want to be called “American” , since America is named after Amerigo Vespucci, who arrived in the late 1400’s. And, the natives had a very nice life here before the settlers came in.
Damn, George. Couldn’t have said it better myself. THANKS!
Did you know that the indigenous people of Central and South America are ALSO Native Americans? Jesus! From Alaska to Chile, it is The Americas! So foolish!
I was speaking to someone who was casting a TV show in Canada and he said they needed someone who is Aboriginal for the role. I said, “Like the natives of Australia?” He replied, “No. In Canada , what we call the Native Americans are known as the Aboriginals or the Indigenous Peoples.” And, then I met a bunch of Aboriginal people and that’s what they call themselves…Sorry to break the news.
I’ve most commonly heard them called First Nations here, but that doesn’t include Inuit and Metis. Overall they are known as the Aboriginal Peoples of Canada I believe.
In Canada they are known as “First Nation People”,
The United States is not America. North America is the US Canada and Mexico. South America and thus South Americans are also Native Americans. “Native Americans” is a term we use to make it easy for the European settlers and their descendants who bothered to destroy more tribes than they could remember to name. But it certainly includes the Inuit.
Yes, that what we might call them, but the people that I know who are indigenous to the land don’t necessarily call themselves “Native Americans.” That’s a recent term. Do you recall when they used to be called “Indians” ??? We gave them that name.
We all know what we want to call them, but how do they refer to themselves? If you want to lump everyone in to one category because it’s easier, that’s your choice.
Additionally, the Inuit people emigrated from Siberia. They didn’t originate from any land that is currently considered to be North America or Canada.
ALL Native Americans emigrated from Asia, yes including the Inuit, over the Bering Strait.
Okay. But, I think **some** of them might not be in love the term “American.” When I sent out a flyer to the Native American Reservations in the USA and Canada, searching for a 8-12 year old boy for a feature film role, one of the leaders asked for the PDF flyer that I had sent as a Word Doc. He took out one word out of the flyer. It was the word “American” and he just wrote, “Casting for Native Youth. Boy, age 8-12…”
And, the email for children in Canada that a Native leader sent out said, “Attention Indigenous People of British Columbia: A search is being conducted…..”
Well, you have that direct experience with them so I cannot argue with you
Guess every group decides what they prefer to be referred as. For example, I absolutely detest being referred to as “Latina”, it makes me cringe, each time I hear it I sprout a new white hair I’m certain of it. It’s too broad and just sounds like nails on a board to me. I’ll respond nicely to Hispanic, however 
Canada is in North America. Aztecs, Mayans, Incan, Quechuan, etc. are all natives of the Americas, so they are Native American. Our country is really called the United States, not America. When you tell someone from Panama that they aren’t American, you are being rude. They live in America too.
I’m not really sure what their reasoning is for not using the term Native American. But, if you run across one of them, you could ask.
My experience in Canada is that they refer to those who were there first as “First People”.
Canada is in America you stupid monkey!
Why is this cop still alive?
Why does Joe Kritik still have his penis?
Vigilante justice is sometimes the only justice available. It seems, in this case, it would be called for.
Just goes to show how quickly off topic and distracted one can become. How do you answer the question ” Is it what continent or country are you from?” Think you know the answer with specific geographical location on the planet. The issue is the tragedy associated with this incident involving the young woman which seems unresolved and undressed in this community to date.
Are you sure this rookie cop wasn’t a partner of the sex offender? Why wasn’t the guy handcuffed? I don’t think it was inexperience. I think the cop was picking up girls for the rapists. He probably watched the rape.
The cop was a woman. Not to say that changes what you’re proposing. Just an FYI
NATIVE CANADIAN. This horrible violation occurred in the far north of QUÉBEC, which is a province in CANADA. Make an effort!
This is just one of a long string of violations Native women have endured in isolated communities. It is an indictment of our nation & we must do better. I hope the law deals most harshly with those involved in this case. A Catholic priest who had molested many children (he also raped a DOG & forced children to watch) up north was just sentenced to 19 years in prison. Finally, some justice. Many victims had remained silent, fearing that no one would believe them.
This just makes me want to throw up. Yeah…why are people complaining about police? They do such a great job protecting the innocent (sarcasm) smh. C’mon America.. let’s face it…we have a problem here (policing)
people suck,, then you die..we are all gods children…..
Seems like Canadians are no better than Americans when dealing with native people.
Yes, I know. I’m only speaking from my experience with the people I’ve met and how they refer to themselves.
I would like to have a word with that police officer… can someone borrow me a spade?…