Police ask public to help identify new Buffalo Woman
Police continue to ask the public for help in identifying a woman who was found dead in a stairwell inside the Manwin Hotel on Aug. 10, 2024. Her death is not believed to be suspicious.
On Wednesday, she was christened Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, or Buffalo Woman, the same name given to Ashlee Shingoose before she was identified as a victim of Jeremy Skibicki.
Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
Albert and Theresa Shingoose talk about the pain of losing their daughter, Ashlee Shingoose, at a news conference, Thursday.
Thelma Morrisseau, who helped give Shingoose the name Buffalo Woman in 2022, was one of the elders who took part in the naming ceremony.
The name was chosen with the blessing of Shingoose's parents, who joined Morrisseau in an emotional news conference Thursday afternoon pleading for the public's help.
'I wanted them to know that another one, our sister here, who is unidentified, also needed a name,' Morrisseau said from the Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre on King Street Thursday, gesturing to the sketch of the missing woman provided by police.
'Because of the generosity and the love of that buffalo spirit … We felt that passing the name on to this beautiful sister would be very appropriate.'
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The Winnipeg Police Service released an updated sketch Thursday of Buffalo Woman, with new details including small tattoos on her hand and a metal plate on her left clavicle.
'Although foul play was not suspected, no one present knew who she was or where she had come from,' said Sgt. Ashley Hartle with the Winnipeg Police Service missing persons unit.
'Since that day, investigators have been working to identify her, and we continue to search for answers. This is not a criminal investigation.'
Ma Mawi Wi Chi Itata Centre will accept tips from the public, recognizing that some may not be comfortable reaching out to police directly.
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Winnipeg police released an updated sketch of Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe, a woman who was found dead in the Manwin Hotel a year ago. Mashkode Bizhiki'ikwe is described as anywhere from 25 to 40 years old, Indigenous with shoulder-length dark hair and brown eyes. She had no remaining upper teeth, but her lower teeth were all intact. She had a papiloma above her left eyebrow and a small tattoo reading 'SN' on her right wrist and 'SS' on the back of her right hand.
Margaret MacKinnon, who works with Ma Mawi, said the renewed calls to learn the woman's identity have included calls to the provincial government and other bodies that may have access to identifying information.
'Systems work in silos. They have the answers, but they can't give us those answers. So community members search, and try to find closure on their own,' she said.
'This is an opportunity for these systems that say they believe in truth and reconciliation, (to) use those systems of reconciliation.'
An unprecedented court sitting is set to be held Friday to hear from Shingoose's family, who weren't able to address court last August with other victims' families because she had not yet been identified.
A preliminary search of the Brady Road landfill for Shingoose's remains began this week, Premier Wab Kinew said Wednesday.
Albert and Theresa Shingoose, Ashlee's parents, said Thursday they had been given a coat that belonged to Shingoose the day before.
'That was one step ahead to give us that strength to carry on,' Albert said.
They will return home to St. Theresa Point Anisininew Nation in northern Manitoba after the court sitting.
They hope the family of the woman who now shares their daughter's name gets the closure they have spent years waiting for.
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS FILES
Premier Wab Kinew said Wednesday that a preliminary search of Brady Road landfill for Shingoose's remains began this week.
'We're going to keep on helping whoever, that person that needs that help, to look for their loved ones, to find their loved ones, to have their closure for them,' Albert said.
'They need their closure like we do.'
Buffalo Woman is described as anywhere from 25 to 40 years old, Indigenous with shoulder-length dark hair and brown eyes. She had no remaining upper teeth, but her lower teeth were all intact. She had a papiloma above her left eyebrow, and a small tattoo reading 'SN' on her right wrist and 'SS' on the back of her right hand.
Police ask anyone with information to reach out at 204-986-6250 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477. In addition to Ma Mawi, other community organizations taking tips include Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak at 204-677-1648 and the Southern Chiefs' Organization at 431-294-0366.
malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca
Malak AbasReporter
Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg's North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak.
Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
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