CANADA Canada - James Brady, 59, & Absolom Halkett, 40, Foster Lake, SK, 7 June 1967

Richard

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Forty Years ago this month:

James Patrick Brady
Missing since June 7, 1967 from Lower Foster Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada
Classification: Missing

Vital Statistics
Date Of Birth: March 11, 1908
Age at Time of Disappearance: 59 years old
Height and Weight at Time of Disappearance: 177 cm (5'10"); 75 kg (166 lbs)
Distinguishing Characteristics: Native male. Black hair; brown eyes.
Marks, Scars: Unknown
Clothing: Unknown
AKA: Jim

Circumstances of Disappearance


On the 7th of June, 1967, James Brady and his partner, Abraham Halkett, were dropped off by plane at Foster Lake, SK, located 120 miles north west of La Ronge, SK.


The two were prospecting in the area.

They were last heard of on a radio call to a nearby mine on June the 8th.

Extensive land, air, and water searches of the area failed to locate any trace of the two men.

Their camp was located but had been unused.

Brady was born in St. Paul, Alberta. With a strong concern for his people; Brady was destined to become a political activist. Brady became involved with the Metis in the Edmonton area where they went on to form the big five and start up the Metis Association of Alberta.


Brady entered the war and came back to join the CCF in Saskatchewan. The workload was too much for Brady to handle so he went on to a life as a prospector in the Northern woods, where he continued to support the rights of the Metis. In 1964 he formed a new Metis Association in La Ronge.

Investigators
If you have any information concerning this case, please contact:
Saskatoon RCMP
Historical Case Unit
306-975-5153

Agency Case Number: 2002-5945
Please refer to this number when contacting any agency with information regarding this case.

Source Information:
SACP
AMHS
The Doe Network: Case File 1809DMSK

LINK:
http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1809dmsk.html
 
Many hazards in such a wilderness area. Bears, bogs, rivers and lakes to drown in... has LE ever mentioned they suspected foul play? Funny things sometimes happened to Indian activists in those days...
 
Wonder what the substance of the radio call to the mine was... did they intend to visit the mine that day? There's just no way to know with the information available what their plan was to know where they might have been headed. If they were headed to the mine to do some organizing, it's quite possible there were some "union busters" that did them harm.

If a bear got them, it happened out in the woods somewhere...by the time anyone found them (if ever), the remains would have likely been scattered. Same deal if they got caught in some sort of weather, or deadfall, or who knows what.

Google came up with this biographical info:

http://www.ualberta.ca/~walld/brady.html
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0000951
http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/brady_james__patrick_1908-67.html
http://www.sicc.sk.ca/faces/mbradji.htm

Interesting guy...here's a link to one of his writings...
http://www.metismuseum.ca/resource.php/03840

Read the pdf file downloadable here for some theories on this case:
http://www.metismuseum.ca/resource.php/03865

I'm ordering the book that the author of the last linked document wrote...will let you know how he fleshes out his theories in the book when I've read it. It sounds like there are a few different possibilities here.
 
Bumping case up. This is one for the RMCP.
 
Wonder what the substance of the radio call to the mine was... did they intend to visit the mine that day? There's just no way to know with the information available what their plan was to know where they might have been headed. If they were headed to the mine to do some organizing, it's quite possible there were some "union busters" that did them harm.

If a bear got them, it happened out in the woods somewhere...by the time anyone found them (if ever), the remains would have likely been scattered. Same deal if they got caught in some sort of weather, or deadfall, or who knows what.

Google came up with this biographical info:

http://www.ualberta.ca/~walld/brady.html
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0000951
http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/brady_james__patrick_1908-67.html
http://www.sicc.sk.ca/faces/mbradji.htm

Interesting guy...here's a link to one of his writings...
http://www.metismuseum.ca/resource.php/03840

Read the pdf file downloadable here for some theories on this case:
http://www.metismuseum.ca/resource.php/03865

I'm ordering the book that the author of the last linked document wrote...will let you know how he fleshes out his theories in the book when I've read it. It sounds like there are a few different possibilities here.
I've never heard of a bear getting two people at once; that's not to say it hasn't happened.
 
Bumping this up. It has been over 51 years now since these two men went missing. It would be nice to know more information. Such as exactly where they were dropped off, what their destination was, and what supplies they had with them. Were they out exploring, or were they traveling in a straight line?
 
james-brady.jp

Nov 21 2020 AUDIO at bottom of link.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sask...brady-absolom-halkett-disappearance-1.5811409

''A cold case from northern Saskatchewan more than half a century old is the subject of a new book, co-authored by two people from the Lac La Ronge Indian Band.

Cousins Deanna Reder and Eric Bell, members of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band, co-wrote Cold Case North: The Search for James Brady and Absolom Halkett, along with Michael Nest, a researcher based in Montreal.

Brady and Halkett disappeared without a trace in 1967, Reder said in an interview on CBC's Afternoon Edition, but many in the community don't believe the official investigation into the disappearance was conducted properly.

James Brady was a Métis leader described by Reder as "one of the most famous activists in Canada."

She said that Absolom (Abbie) Halkett was a band councillor for the Lac La Ronge Indian Band and was likewise dedicated to Indigenous control of Indigenous lives.

"These were remarkable men that went missing," she said. ''

''In researching the book, Reder said there was a lot of information at the authors' disposal through archival records in the Gabriel Dumont Institute and the Glenbow Archives at the University of Calgary.

But the trio also found people in their 80s or 90s who remembered the story like it was yesterday.''
 
41iPgvNtaKL._SX332_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg



https://www.amazon.ca/Cold-Case-North-Absolom-Halkett/dp/0889777543
Cold Case North: The Search for James Brady and Absolom Halkett
''For fans of true crime, an unsolved mystery of missing persons, police conspiracies, and private investigations in an Indigenous community in northern Canada.

Métis leader James Brady was one of the most famous Indigenous activists in Canada. A communist, strategist, and bibliophile, he led Métis and First Nations to rebel against government and church oppression. Brady's success made politicians and clergy fear him, and he had enemies everywhere.

In 1967, while prospecting in Saskatchewan with Cree Band Councillor and fellow activist Absolom Halkett, both men vanished without a trace from their remote lakeside camp. For 50 years rumours swirled of secret mining interests, political intrigue, assassination, and murder. Cold Case North is the story of how a small team, with the help of a local Indigenous community, exposed police failure in the original investigation, discovered new clues and testimony, and gathered the pieces of the North's most enduring missing persons puzzle.

"This engrossing account charts the efforts of three dedicated people to determine the fate of two missing Indigenous men in the north of Canada. [...] Meticulously researched, this smoothly written tale of injustice showcases the authors' tenacity and arouses the reader's indignation. This is a scathing rebuke of the RCMP's failure to take the case of missing Indigenous people seriously." -Publisher's Weekly

"Like too many cases involving missing and murdered Indigenous people, authorities failed to ensure that Brady and Halkett's deaths were properly investigated. This book helps get to the bottom of the fate of these two men, and demonstrates why investigators should never dismiss the knowledge of Indigenous peoples." -Darren Prefontaine, author of Gabriel Dumont

"Cold Case North is an enthralling search for intimate answers and broader social accountability. Essential reading." -David Chariandy, author of I've Been Meaning to Tell You

"Cold Case North is part true crime thriller, part gripping mystery about the disappearance of Métis legend James Brady and Absolom Halkett in northern Saskatchewan. It is also about Indigenous knowledge, investigative incompetence, and the stuff of legend." -Paul Seesequasis, author of Blanket Toss Under Midnight Sun

"A fascinating search for the truth, Cold Case North unravels the layers of a decades' old mystery. It is about how communities hold knowledge for generations, and how missing loved ones are never forgotten." -Katherena Vermette, author of River Woman and The Break''
 
Jim Brady and Absolom Halkett were last seen in the area of Foster Lake, about 120 miles northwest of La Ronge, in June 1967.
At the time, Brady was a well known and respected Métis activist and Halkett, a Lac La Ronge Indian Band councillor, a proponent of First Nations rights.
The two were prospecting in the remote area.
Their remains have never been located and local stories have continued to prevail over the years that they were victims of foul play.

Late 60’s disappearance of Indigenous activists in northern Sask. subject of new book - MBC Radio
 
Jan 15 2022 by Bob Armstrong
Cold case account set to become series - Winnipeg Free Press
''A 2020 book investigating the 1967 disappearance of two Indigenous activists in northern Saskatchewan has been optioned by Toronto’s Wolfwalker Productions for development as a true crime limited series.''

''Cold Case North: The Search for James Brady and Absolom Halkett (University of Regina Press), by Michael Nest, Deanna Reder and Eric Bell, examines the disappearance of Métis leader Brady and Cree band councillor Halkett on a prospecting trip and presents new clues and details on failures in the police investigation.''
 
May 2022

The Prospectors Who Never Returned​

''Saskatchewan woods | 1967​

The RCMP ruled out foul play—but family and friends disagree

In June 1967, 59-year-old Métis leader James Brady and 40-year-old Cree band councillor Absolom Halkett boarded a tiny plane and departed the small Saskatchewan town of La Ronge. From there, they flew north to a remote lake on a trip to prospect for uranium. By the time another plane arrived to restock their camp about a week later, the men were gone. The RCMP investigated, but neither the men nor their bodies were found. Police quickly ruled out foul play and closed the case within weeks. The best guesses to come out of the investigation: the men had gotten lost or been eaten by a bear.

To those who knew Brady and Halkett, however, those weren’t plausible explanations. Both were experienced bushmen; they wouldn’t just vanish. And why had the investigation wrapped up so quickly? In a recent book, Cold Case North, author Deanna Reder writes that her mother, who knew the men, said they were taken by a UFO—to her it seemed more logical than any of the other theories. Others suspected the men’s deaths were no accident, but assassinations. Brady specifically was an ardent communist who challenged the Canadian government and the church, advocating for First Nations’ self-governance; back then, it was enough for the RCMP to surveil a person. Some even suspected they found a uranium site and were killed by business partners who wanted it for themselves.

In the past few years, the bodies of what appears to be the two men were discovered. An American tourist and fishing guide found a waterlogged corpse with its wrists tied in the water where the men had been prospecting. Reder and her co-authors later found evidence of what could be human remains at the bottom of the lake, though it remains inconclusive. Their book proposes, but doesn’t confirm, a prime suspect: another fishing guide with a history of violence. Indigenous filmmakers Danis Goulet, Tasha Hubbard and Shane Belcourt have now optioned the book for a film, which could renew interest in the case and finally lead to conclusive answers.''
 
Just added to doe network. Title on WS says Abraham but this profile says Absolom

From link, ty!

''5886DMSK - Absolom Halkett​

5886DMSK.jpg


Name: Absolom Halkett
Case Classification: Missing
Missing Since: July 7, 1967
Location Last Seen: Lower Foster Lake, Saskatchewan

Physical Description​

Date of Birth: circa 1927
Age: 40 years old
Race: Aboriginal/Native
Gender: Male
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Hair Color: Unknown
Eye Color: Unknown
Nickname/Alias: Abraham Halkett
Distinguishing Marks/Features: Unknown

Identifiers​

Dentals: Unknown
Fingerprints: Unknown
DNA: Unknown

Clothing & Personal Items​

Clothing: Unknown
Jewelry: Unknown
Additional Personal Items: Unknown

Circumstances of Disappearance​

On the 7th of June, 1967, Absolom HALKETT and his partner, James Brady , were dropped off by plane at Foster Lake, SK, which is located 120 miles north west of La Ronge, SK. The two were prospecting in the area. They were last heard of on a radio call to a nearby mine on June the 8th. Extensive land, air and water searches of the area failed to locate any trace of the two men. Their camp was located but has been unused.

Investigating Agency(s)​

Agency Name: RCMP - Saskatoon Historical Case Unit
Agency Contact Person: N/A
Agency Phone Number: (306) 975-5153
Agency E-Mail: N/A
Agency Case Number: 2002-5945



 

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