Great leader’ J.J. Harper remembered 37 years after he was fatally shot by Winnipeg police – CBC

Mar 10, 2025

‘His voice still resonates because of what he stood for.… He was an advocate for his people’: MKO grand chief

On March 9, 1988, John Joseph (J.J.) Harper, then executive director of the Island Lake Tribal Council, was walking home in Winnipeg when he was confronted by Const. Robert Cross.

Harper was unarmed, had committed no crime and Winnipeg police were in the area looking for someone else. But the officer and the 37-year-old Wasagamack First Nation man scuffled, and Cross fatally shot J.J.Harper.

Sunday marked the 37th anniversary of J.J. Harper’s death. His wife, daughter and dozens others gathered for a memorial service at Winnipeg’s Stanley Knowles Park to commemorate his life and legacy.