I did not know him as such and never met him, although once I had a chance to meet him but I could not attend the function where he was at. Donald Marshall exposed the blatant deficiencies in our justice system and how it operates – especially that of Nova Scotia. That is why capital punishment could be so horrendous as an innocent person could be executed. He was 17 years old when he was put in prison. Donald Marshall spent 11 years of his life in prison for a murder he did not commit and maintained his innocence through all that time and ultimately succeeded to prove himself innocent. However the jail term must have done extraordinary damage to him as part of his remaining life was very troubled.
He never stopped fighting for native rights after he was exonerated from murder allegations. He fought for the fishing rights of Natives all the way to the Supreme Court and won. Because of his jail ordeal and his fights for Native rights, he became an iconic figure and rightly so.
I had the good luck of having a few Native friends over the years and I have the utmost admiration and respect for them. I find my Native friends to be spiritually enlightened, you get that sense when you interact with them. I think Donald Marshall was an extraordinary human being and a great soul. He will be missed by many. May God bless him.
You can click here for a good write up on Marshall in the Toronto Star.
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