Muriel Joan Walker
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​Dancing in Muddy Waters​

THE MURIEL WALKER STORY
Molested by her dad, abused by her alcoholic mother, deserted by the father of her baby and then Imprisoned along with her child for being an unwed mother... Muriel would still have to survive sinister beatings, whippings and drug experimentations all at the hands of her captors. Her love and need to protect her newborn son was all that kept her alive, and this she would do at any cost... but there was more to come, much more...
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A Little About
​Muriel.

​​Muriel was born in Toronto, Ontario on Feb.  21, 1934.  Her mother (Katie Bigelow) was a Native American raised on the Blackfoot reservation in southern Alberta.  Her father (Cecil Walker) was of Irish decent.  Muriel had 4 siblings.  (2 sisters & 2 brothers).  At a very young age,  Muriel began to exhibit signs of many talents.  She excelled in sports,  dancing and art.  She was a very confident girl that knew she wanted more from life.  Muriel was an attractive well spoken, charismatic girl and her smile always drew your attention. 

My earlier life

On January 24, 1951 Muriel was committed to the Andrew Mercer Reformatory on the charge of "INCORRIGIBLE" - Her crime ?  She was an unwed mother and a woman who refused to be groomed for the role of a  housewife.  She wanted more...   Years earlier Muriel's mother had her committed to the Cobourg School for Girls (she was only 15 at the time).   Muriel's mother was a chronic alcoholic and jealous woman.  Muriel's father often made sexual advances towards her.  Her mother blamed Muriel for this despite her daughters pleas to make him stop.  Muriel was permitted to live back at home on a probationary basis.  However,  her father was relentless in his sexual advances.  Muriel found ways to avoid coming home by staying at her girlfriends parents and attending dance class in the evenings.  She had met a young man around that time.  He was the son of a middle class family which owned the tri-plex her parents were living in (Bobby Carter).  They were a perfect young couple and both very attractive.  It was around this time as well that Muriel began to take her ballet aspirations to a higher level.  She had a glimpse of her future and knew she could attain it.  She would do what ever it took to succeed as a dancer.

​In 1948 Muriel met a girl named Anna (from Latvia).  She lived not far from her but in a better neighbourhood.  They became good friends.  Anna persuaded  Muriel to  come with her to her ballet classes.  This was not something Muriel could afford but it interested her tremendously.   Everyday Muriel went with Anna and eagerly watched while she mimicked the dance moves.  This did not go unnoticed by the dance instructor.  It wasn't long before Muriel actually began to resemble a ballerina.  One day at the studio the instructor approached Muriel and offered to take her on as a student without fees ... and so this chapter in her life began.
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Muriel's Portfolio

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​Born in Toronto in 1934, Muriel Walker was of Blackfoot, Mohawk and Irish descent. In childhood, she excelled in sports, dancing and art. Around 1947, Muriel began ballet lessons with Betty Oliphant at her Sherbourne Street school and was also given free classes at the Boris Volkoff School of Dance. She befriended Volkoff, his wife Janet Baldwin and fellow dancer James Pape and showed great promise as a ballet dancer. But burying herself in her dance lessons was also an outlet for avoiding a troublesome home life that involved various forms of abuse. Muriel persevered with her dance studies at a time when ballet was a rapidly developing art form in Canada. It was the time of the Canadian Ballet Festivals during which the Volkoff Canadian Ballet received much acclaim. By 1950 the Winnipeg Ballet started to pay its dancers and by 1951 The National Ballet of Canada had been created.

It was a time filled with opportunity for a young dancer; however, Muriel found herself unwed and pregnant in 1950. Her mother, suffering from her own trauma and alcoholism, had her daughter arrested on the charge of “incorrigible” and she was placed in the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Girls in Toronto. The Mercer had its own history of inflicting abuse particularly on Indigenous women. Muriel gave birth while incarcerated and the baby stayed with her at the Reformatory where he was also mistreated. After her release, Muriel eventually had to give up her son for adoption. Cash Walker has been piecing together his mother’s life and now that DCD knows her story, we will search the parts of the collection related to Boris Volkoff and Betty Oliphant to see if we can find traces of her dancing life. To learn more of Muriel Walker’s story visit:
🔗https://www.murielwalker.com

🔗https://www.facebook.com/Muriel-Walker-Bigelow-545357935559761/

🔗 https://bit.ly/3hbXLaG

#IndigenousHistoryMonth

Court & Mercer Prison Records

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The fifth Estate CBC exposes the CIA drug experiments done in Canada and in their Institutions.  I am certain these drug experiments in Mercer are connected.

https://www.cbc.ca/fifth/m/episodes/2017-2018/brainwashed-the-secret-cia-experiments-in-canada?fbclid=IwAR3CJk5H9azv45007ApdX3wjckO6mJzSQDVk0IjL-yILpRFdGMIMuain3wU
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They were using cattle drugs on my mother in Mercer just to see how they reacted. She was not informed or given a choice

Our stymied lawsuit against the Gov.

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RESPONSE FROM PARLIMENT

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www.facebook.com/DanceCollectionDanse1/?__cft__[0]=AZUPbiEs-6MNGERTMHy2PRnYg8mtehP8CPtjDDWdc-OKxp7q0ShPz8o37b8tWxvh_5uOhWGXZIDW5zszoLaHWsZUwSzSDp28uag83WHeS8iBMiOwGw_X_JEK5UcpzOpme0o1zuBj6s7Zn74pJRHGeTLy&__tn__=kK-R
THE MERCER REFORMATORY RIOT CHANGED THE ENTIRE VIEW OF THE PRISON. READ IT IN MAISONNEUVE.
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https://maisonneuve.org/article/2018/04/18/incorrigible-women/
Daniel Panneton explores how a little-known 1948 prison riot helped end a special hell for Canadian women.
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ROBERT BURKE - PRISON BABY

http://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/kelly-ellard-pregnancy-babies-in-jail-help-moms-rehab-says-elizabeth-fry-society
vancouversun.com/news/local-news/kelly-ellard-pregnancy-babies-in-jail-help-moms-rehab-says-elizabeth-fry-society

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                              He was born behind bars after his mother was arrested in 1951 for getting pregnant out of wedlock.
                                  https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-100-ottawa-morning/clip/15708690-born-behind-bars
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https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/former-prison-baby-reflects-on-notorious-andrew-mercer-reformatory-1.5144705?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar&fbclid=IwAR28xMS1a0v-uP-7mOCfnTWI43juPKxc42DpYEOuJeHTzcKIMQsCMDBVKDc

Senate June 6/19

RECIEVED THIS WONDERFUL LETTER FROM JANN ARDENS AGENT
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Parliment letters

This is me years ago. I am Robert Burke, Muriel's son that was born in that Mercer Reformatory.. I was beaten often in that prison by matrons. Then had to suffer the same again in several foster care homes.  The ordeal of Mercer Reformatory and all the illegal drug experiments and beatings my mother had to endure took its toll on her mentally. Upon her release she was suffering greatly from PTSD and physical ailments. My mother was a good woman, she would never be the same again.  The ripple effect of all of her pain and suffering flowed down over myself and her later children. Out of fear that she might hurt me she turned me over to the care of Childrens Aid in Toronto a few yrs after her release. For me the torture would not end as I was terribly abused in foster care.  In 1956 I was adopted by a well to do family in Leaside.  Unfortunate for me the pain did not end there either.  My mother eventually married in 1957 to a man named Odie Brooker.  They had 2 children ( She died young at 50 and my brother then took his own life at 18 as did my sister a few years later. No one has ever taken responsibility for what happened to my mother or myself. She was jailed on non criminal charges and was denied council as well. We lived in horror together for over a year in that dungeon. Sad that the government has swept this all under the carpet.
https://www.mykawartha.com/news-story/3911488-opening-of-court-records-helps-son-get-closure/

Our family heritage

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In death our trail ends and our footprints vanish in the wind. Our memory will drift like the smoke from our fire. This is the time for learning. This is the moment to embrace. (Muriel Walker 1965)
(below) MURIEL WALKER'S SON ROBERT BURKE TODAY 2021
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YOU CAN VIEW MORE ABOUT THE MERCER PRISON IN TORONTO AT...   https://www.facebook.com/pg/Adoptions-Andrew-Mercer-Reformatory-100121528828529/posts/
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  • Home
  • The IRONY of JUSTICE
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  • Statement Page
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