Category: Grade 10

In this podcast I talk I about the story of Kelly Goforth, a missing and murdered young Indigenous woman. I go into detail about her death, how she died, when she was found, how she was found, and what her family went through during that time. I talk about Kelly herself, her personality and how much of a wonderful girl she was. I mention the struggles indigenous women like Kelly have to go through and how much they get discriminated just because they are indigenous. I talk about what Maxine Goforth, Kelly’s mom, goes through and how much the death of her daughter affected not only her but her whole family and many indigenous women and families that had similar cases as Kelly’s. I used audacity to record and got the music in the background from Bensound.

 

Podcast Script:  The Troubles of Indigenous Women: Kelly Goforth

• Intro: Welcome to The Troubles of Indigenous Women, the podcast that brings attention to missing and murdered Indigenous women and hopes to educate more people on the troubles indigenous women have to go through. I am your host Melissa Sobhani and today we are bringing attention to the solved case of Kelly Goforth.
• Sponsorship: This Podcast is brought to you by Vancity, a company that works in partnership with the First Nation government and Indigenous not-for-profit organizations to help build stronger communities.

 

• Segment 1: – Kelly Nicole Goforth, a young girl who grew up on Star Blanket reserve, a 21-year-old young Indigenous woman that died in September 2013. Kelly was announced missing around mid-September and was found dead about a week after her announcement, September 22^nd, 2013. Her body was found inside a hockey bag that was dumped inside of  a dumpster in alley of an east end industrial area located Regina, Saskatchewan, where she had moved to with her family in 2011.

 

• Kelly’s family members said she left her home to go to the store, but never returned.

 

• Kelly was described as the pillar of her family; she was a mother of a young boy named K.C. Her family members said she has always wanted a child and died when K.C wasn’t even a year old. Kelly was said to have a heart of gold.

 

• Kelly had 5 siblings and was said to be a very family caring woman, she loved family gatherings and spending time with her siblings.
• Kelly’s mother Maxine Goforth talked about how sweet of a girl Kelly was. She said Kelly would always make sure her mother felt special.
• Kelly’s family and friends could always count on her to encourage and uplift them.
• Kelly and her mother had a very strong bond, she was always at her mother’s side.
• Kelly also had a strong connection with her brother Ezekiel Bigknife
• Kelly’s brother mentioned in a testimony that Kelly did struggle with addiction at times because of her rough childhood, but she was still such a kind-hearted woman that truly cared about her family.
• Hook: Missing and murdered indigenous women has been getting more serious every single day. There have been over 4,000 murdered or missing indigenous women and girls in the last 30 years. Cases like Kelly Goforth’s has been increasing more and more everyday. Indigenous females and males get discriminated just because of their ethnicity.

Segue: music

 

• Segment 2: Kelly Goforth’s case was unsolved for 3 months, until New Years eve 2013, Clayton Eichler pleaded guilty to second degree murder. He also murdered another indigenous woman named Richele Bear. It was obvious that the murderer had a specific target, indigenous women.
• No one knows if there was a relationship between Kelly and the murderer. As well as a connection between Kelly and Clayton’s other victim Richele.
• Clayton has been accused for sexual assault, also involving a First Nations woman. It was mentioned by the police that he had sexually assaulted his other victim Richele Bear before he killed her, which makes people think that he unfortunately did that to Kelly as well.
• Once Clayton Eichler was convicted, it was said that he is the first serial killer in Regina’s history. Clayton Eichler got 20 years with no chance of parole for 18 years through the court. Kelly’s family believes he should have gotten more time for the horrible things he did.
• Kelly’s family was left in the dark for the time Kelly’s case was unsolved, when the charges for her murder had been laid, her mother said she can now rest and at least no one can hurt her anymore.
• Maxine Goforth said she feels like social services has failed her and her daughter. She felt this way because of how they treated Kelly’s son K.C after the murder of Kelly.
• Social services showed up in front of Maxine’s door and asked bluntly if Maxine wanted them to take her grandson.
• Maxine felt as if they had absolutely no empathy towards her and didn’t even care about what she was going through.
• Of course, Maxine took her grandson and has been taking care of him ever since.
• Just like social services, her family felt as if the police had failed them as well. A week after they found out she was dead, they read in the newspapers that her body was found in the dumpster. The police never told Kelly’s family where her body was, the newspapers did. The police did not put much attention towards this case, they put no effort into putting up posters or talking more about Kelly when she went missing. Kelly’s family of course posted about it on social media and put posters around their town.

Segue: music

 

• Segment 3: – The Case is solved and Kelly’s family finally has some peace.
• Maxine Goforth mentioned in an interview that she is satisfied because Clayton Eichler apologized for what he did.
• Kelly’s mother Maxine wants to bring more attention to not only her daughters’ case, but cases that relate to what happened to Kelly by talking about her experience to organizations that bring awareness to situations like this, including the missing and murdered indigenous women and girl’s inquiry of Saskatchewan.

 

• Outro: We call upon the Federation of Law Societies of Canada to ensure that lawyers receive appropriate cultural competency training, which includes the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal– Crown relations. This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.

 

We call upon the federal government, in consultation with Aboriginal organizations, to appoint a public inquiry into the causes of, and remedies for, the disproportionate victimization of Aboriginal women and girls. The inquiry’s mandate would include: Investigation into missing and murdered Aboriginal women and girls. And links to the intergenerational legacy of residential schools.

 

We call upon federal, provincial, territorial, and municipal governments to provide education to public servants on the history of Aboriginal peoples, including the history and legacy of residential schools, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Treaties and Aboriginal rights, Indigenous law, and Aboriginal–Crown relations. This will require skills-based training in intercultural competency, conflict resolution, human rights, and anti-racism.

Send off: We have come to the end of the podcast, thank you for listening to The Troubles of Indigenous Women and the story of Kelly Goforth.

Work Cited

Song title. Site name, year. URL.

“Kelly Goforth .” Missing & Murdered: The Unsolved Cases of Indigenous Women and Girls , CBC NEWS, www.cbc.ca/missingandmurdered/mmiw/profiles/kelly-goforth.

Merasty, Francine. National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Truth-Gathering Process Part I Statement Gathering Regina, Saskatchewan The Gathering Place, 2019. PDF file, https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/20180828_MMIWG_Regina_E._Bigknife_Statement_Vol_476_Public.pdf

Woloshyn, Roxanna. “Preliminary Hearing for Kelly Goforth, Richele Bear’s Alleged Killer to Begin in Regina | CBC News.” CBCnews, CBC/Radio Canada, 2 Nov. 2015, www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/preliminary-hearing-for-kelly-goforth-richele-bear-s-alleged-killer-to-begin-in-regina-1.3297729.