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Remembering Kelly Morrisseau

Street Art: Kelly Morrisseau

Street Art: Kelly Morrisseau

There’s a new piece of street art in town, and it’s not funny.

Located in Minto Park, at Elgin and Gilmour, the art installation consists of a painting of Kelly Morrisseau, and a short summary of some of the more salient details of her short life and horrific death.

Kelly's life and death

Kelly's life and death - click to enlarge

Kelly was an Aboriginal woman. She was 26 years old. She had three children and was seven months pregnant when she was murdered. Two and a half years later, her killers have never been found. Some speculate that nobody’s looking very hard.

The Women's Monument

The Women's Monument

It’s no coincidence that this piece of art is located in Minto Park, which is also home to the monument for all women abused or murdered by men.

The monument was erected after Ottawa lawyer Patricia Allen was shot dead by her crossbow-wielding husband. The murder took place in broad daylight, right beside this busy downtown park. Every time another woman in Ottawa is murdered by a man, another stone is added to the monument. It’s getting crowded.

“I’m trying, by putting up a piece of street art, to bring some attention back to Kelly Morrisseau, to let people know that she was a person worth remembering, and perhaps even get some new attention brought onto the case,” says Ottawa’s favourite street artist. “It shouldn’t take a street artist to get people to remember someone who was far too quickly forgotten.”

Kelly Morrisseau, 1979-2006

Kelly Morrisseau, 1979-2006

13 comments to Remembering Kelly Morrisseau

  • Em

    I remember when she was murdered, I had just moved to Ottawa earlier that year. It made me so mad and still does. I’m glad someone made this memorial. Thanks for posting this, zoom!

  • Sonja

    Great to see this public art and memorial for a fallen sister.

  • future landfill

    Too many aboriginal women (and men) live short brutish lives. The reasons are varied and complex but it’s a remarkably wide and deep stain on all of us that this is so.

    Is there a chance that this installation could be translated and erected in the vicinity of the offices of the Securite Quebec in Gatineau in whose jurisdiction the murder occured?

  • Convivialiddell

    I really like the last two lines on her bio: there are too many victims; there is not enough justice. It’s sad, but it’s true. In the US, I’m not sure about Canada, but really, the amount of justice you get is the amount that you can afford.

  • swampy cree lady

    i hope one day this will not happen to our sisters and children. justice will be served so that those who do these horrible crimes will not be walking among us

  • sorry

    I am so sorry for your loss kelly was a good hearted woman and definitly didnt deserve this i hope that her family has found comfort from the thought that she is watching over you from heaven above
    R.I.P Kelly

  • whats happing in this world

    people are still writing about this yet nobody has found the killer? why is it that when a native woman or man Dies in some sort of slaying the never find the killer they seem to make a big deal about it for a minute or two but then nothing but i can guarentee that if it was one of there family members out there that had to lay cold and dieing on the ground then something would be done.
    That is beyond wrong and my faith in the justice system is long gone how many more people are going to have to die before they can get it right? Kelly has been gone for 3 years now and yet they have found nothing on her case Her family has been working harder on this then the cops and need i remind you that none of them are police so what is happening in this world?
    R.I.P Kelly Morriseau

  • sad story

    Kelly Morrisseau, 1979-2006
    This shouldnt be it for her she had children and a family
    Her Children are growing up with out a Mother
    Her family is living without there sister daughter cousin aunt and so on
    why do things like this appen in this community
    I am very sorry for your loss and i hope justice prevails

  • jackie traverse

    Three years later and still no updates in this case.I really dont believe the police work very hard to solve the cases when it comes to murdered aboriginal women.I remember only one case twenty years ago when a friend of mine was killed here in winnipeg,her body was wrapped in plastic and she was dumped in a garbage bin.They made a arrest in the case it was in all the papers.Thye made it seem as though he was a victim because he took this woman home and then cuaght her trying to steal money from his wallet.So he killed her .Like he had the right to take her life over a measly 600.00 dollars.he was charged with manslaughter and sentenced to six years.WTF??? Six years for taking a womans life.This is the first and only time I have ever heard of a case being solved when it comes to First nations women.I can honestly say the police dont care.I doubt they will ever make a arrest when it comes to Kelly Morriseau they say a case go’s cold after 48 hours and well it’s been three years now.I know that around the same time Kelly was found two caucasian women in Ottawa were also killed and a huge reward was offered for information involving the case they even ha da crimestoppers video that was aired on tv for these women.But at the same time there was no reward for Kelly it was only after people saw the reward being offered for the two whithe women that people saw how unfair and cold hearted this society is when it comes to murdered first nation s women that a reawrd was then pooled together by various groups .I am a first nations woman and mother to three daughters I am allways worried when my daughters leave the house.Some one is killing our women and girls and getting away with it because the Police dont care and society has grown insensitive.

    • Sergio

      I’m African from Mozambique, i totally agree with You regardless the injustice and double standard by Canadian society, i can promise much but i will do little i can do see one day justice coming. I posted her pic at my facebook profile. So people can remember her. Rest in peace in God hands Kelly MOrrisseau.

  • Amy Hoffman

    Just added link to this Flickr site:
    See my Comment below the photo, with link to your site.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/peinturatu/272208199/?editedcomment=1#comment72157623722574530

  • Sergio

    The real justice will came,we will wait patiently. The media and some so called members of justice might forgot about you, but not the sons of God. I will be here waiting for yours justice, i promise not to forget you. Rest in peace. Yours children are in God hands now.