Dying under the living sky: a case study of interracial violence in southeast Saskatchewan

• Main Author: Keating, Kathleen Patricia
• Other Authors: Eigenbrod, Renate (Native Studies)
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2010
• Subjects: Violence; Colonialism; Racism; Saskatchewan; History
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1993/4256

On August 15, 1992, William Dove, an elderly retiree, left his cottage at the Round Lake resort in southeast Saskatchewan to assist three individuals fix flat tires on their truck. Dove never returned home. The following morning, his burning vehicle was discovered in a field near the city of Regina, Saskatchewan while his badly beaten body was found in a separate area on the east side of the city. Three individuals were charged with his murder; David Myles Acoose, Hubert Cory Acoose and a young offender. Dove was a white senior citizen from Whitewood, Saskatchewan: his assailants were Natives from the Sakimay First Nation, just west of Round Lake. In the aftermath of Dove’s death and the trial, which ultimately found all three guilty of manslaughter, the public attempted to make sense of a crime that appeared senseless. In my research, I reject the idea that the crime was committed out of a lack of judgement and a deficit of morality alone, but I argue instead that it has to be understood within the context of colonialism. In contextualizing this violent encounter, a layered understanding of the murder surfaces and it becomes clear how colonial history within the region played a significant role in the enactment of violence. The findings of this research are based upon a discursive examination of actual court transcripts, postcolonial critical theory, and historical examination.