WHITEHAWK, Dillon Ricky

Dillon Ricky Whitehawk was arrested in 2020 for 3 murders. Because the case is new, there is limited information. All information below is allegations, not yet proven in a court of law.

Whitehawk is a member of a Regina, Saskatchewan street gang. On November 9, 2019, Jordan Gaiten Denton was killed in a drive-by shooting on the otherwise quiet streets. In 2019, Regina had only 9 murders.

Almost a month later, on December 1, Keenan Scott Toto is the victim of a drive-by shooting. He died on a Regina street, the last murder in Regina that year.

On December 2, Regina police arrest Whitehawk for outstanding weapons warrants. He appears in court on the 2nd, 6th and 11th of December. Whitehawk is released and told to stay out of Regina. He doesn’t.

Keesha Cree Alexandra Bitternose, 29, is found dead in a home in January 5, 2020. She may have died as early as the 2nd. The mother of 4 was missing for a few days before being found. Following the loss of an infant, Bitternose began hanging around with a bad crowd. Her cause of death had not been released. She was the first murder in Regina in 2020.

On January 4, 2020, Whitehawk was arrested for a string of weapons offences. He was out on bond or had an outstanding warrant each time he committed a murder.

Whitehawk was charged with the murders of Dillon, Toto and Bitternose on February 12, 2020. He had been under court order to stay out of Regina.

Kurtis Clayton Thomas, 20, and Kelly Renee Stonechild, 26, have also been charged with the Bitternose murder.

Whitehawk and all his alleged victims are Indigenous. Homicide rates in the province of Saskatchewan are low, at just 34 in 2018. Of those 34 murders, 22 victims were Indigenous. Of the 30 murderers, 22 were Indigenous. Meth and car theft are strongly associated with street gangs. In turn, gangs are associated with murders.

No book includes Whitehawk, as the murders are too recent as of date of publishing this blog post. Two books I recommend on Canadian Indigenous violence are:

Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference, and the Pursuit of Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls by Jessica McDiarmid (Simon and Schuster, 2019). Journalist Jessica McDiarmid meticulously investigates the devastating effect these tragedies have had on the families of the victims and their communities, and how systemic racism and indifference have created a climate in which Indigenous women and girls are overpoliced yet underprotected. McDiarmid interviews those closest to the victims—mothers and fathers, siblings and friends—and provides an intimate firsthand account of their loss and unflagging fight for justice. Examining the historically fraught social and cultural tensions between settlers and Indigenous peoples in the region, McDiarmid links these cases to others across Canada—now estimated to number up to four thousand—contextualizing them within a broader examination of the undervaluing of Indigenous lives in the country.

Indigenous Men and Masculinities: Legacies, Identities, Regeneration by Robert Alexander Innes and Kim Anderson (Universit of Manitoba Press, 2015). Indigenous peoples of the Americas and beyond come from traditions of gender equity, complementarity, and the sacred feminine, concepts that were unimaginable and shocking to Euro-western peoples at contact. “Indigenous Men and Masculinities”, edited by Kim Anderson and Robert Alexander Innes, brings together prominent thinkers to explore the meaning of masculinities and being a man within such traditions, further examining the colonial disruption and imposition of patriarchy on Indigenous men. Building on Indigenous knowledge systems, Indigenous feminism, and queer theory, the sixteen essays by scholars and activists from Canada, the U.S., and New Zealand open pathways for the nascent field of Indigenous masculinities. The authors explore subjects of representation through art and literature, as well as Indigenous masculinities in sport, prisons, Gang and gangs. “Indigenous Men and Masculinities” highlights voices of Indigenous male writers, traditional knowledge keepers, ex-gang members, war veterans, fathers, youth, two-spirited people, and Indigenous men working to end violence against women. It offers a refreshing vision toward equitable societies that celebrate healthy and diverse masculinities.