Nadalie explained to Al Jazeera that her world has turned upside down since Hoss’s death, as she goes through bouts of grief and anger. The family said goodbye in a traditional wake and burial with a teepee set up in her yard in mid-September.
“I am still so broken,” said Nadalie. She spoke as she displayed pictures of her grandson throughout his short life, from baby photos to others taken not long before he was killed.
Hoss had been living with his mother when he was placed in the foster care system in November 2023, said Nadalie, due to struggles with suicidal thoughts. He was living in a group home in Edmonton, about an hour north of Maskwacis, far from his community and family support system. He had run away multiple times since being placed in care, added Nadalie, often seeking refuge with her on the reserve.
“He was in care and he ran,” Nadalie explained, adding she battled cancer over the past year and was unable to take Hoss in until she recovered. “Most of those times he ran away. I took care of him, that’s just what a kohkum (grandmother) does.”
Nadalie described Hoss as a gentle soul who was vulnerable and always saw the best in people. “He was so honest with me,” she recalled. “I loved that about him.”
The circumstances surrounding Hoss’s death have not yet been revealed. Nadalie has heard rumours that he was shot multiple times.
Wetaskiwin RCMP say that Hoss had been found with several weapons, which the police officers confiscated, adding that a “confrontation” had led to two officers shooting Hoss.
ASIRT, the civilian oversight agency in Alberta responsible for probing incidents resulting in serious injury or death caused by municipal police officers and the RCMP is investigating Hoss’s death.
But Hoss is just one of at least nine Indigenous people to have died in police custody or during interactions with law enforcement across Canada since August 29, in a wave of violence that has led to calls for a national inquiry from one parliamentarian, NDP MP Blake Desjarlais.
The circumstances of the deaths have varied: two individuals died either in police custody or later in hospital, five were fatally shot, and two were struck and killed by police vehicles.
In one case, 42-year-old Jon Wells of the Blood Tribe died after an encounter with police in Calgary, Alberta on September 17. The Calgary Police Service initially reported that Wells, a champion steer wrestler and respected Blood Tribe community member, died following attempts to “de-escalate” a situation at a local hotel, where he was allegedly “acting erratically,” and being “uncooperative”.
However, ASIRT presented a markedly different account based on police body camera footage.
An ASIRT statement reveals that the police officers at no point attempted to identify Wells nor inform him that he was being detained or arrested during the encounter. Two officers deployed tasers, while a third was observed striking Wells in the head.
After being restrained face-down, Wells began bleeding from the mouth and vomiting. In addition to handcuffs, officers placed a restraining device called a spit mask over his head, as well as leg restraints. He was also administered a sedative.
Minutes later it was noticed that he was unresponsive, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
An investigation is under way, but Wells’s family have lost a man they described as “a loving father, son, grandson, brother, uncle, nephew and friend to many”.
They identified him as a well-known rodeo athlete who travelled across Canada and the United States for competitions and “a mentor and wrangler” with the Little Bear programme, an initiative that brought the Blood Tribe together with surrounding communities.
“His legacy as a mentor, friend and cowboy will forever be cherished by all who had the privilege of knowing him,” a statement from the family read. “Jon will be dearly missed, but his spirit will live on in the hearts of those he touched.”