Truth and Reconciliation: How Indigenous artists are dealing with the residential school act

Sidney Martin (G8)

Published Issue 1 2021-2022

Creativity

1832, it was declared the first year that Indigenous children (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) were forced to attend residential schools. Now, 189 years later, Indigenous Canadians are grieving over the painful ongoing impacts of the Residential school system.

September 30, 2021, marks the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation in Canada. Survivors and children of survivors of this gruesome act found inspiration on this day and have communicated it in their art.

The art pieces featured in the CBC article are, Just Stick Feathers On It by John Brady McDonald, Erasure is Futile by Tim Moore, and They Tried to Bury Us but Little Did They Know We Were the Seeds by Donna The Strange.

John Brady McDonald (Nehiyawak-Métis) is a survivor of ​​Prince Albert Indian Student Residence where he attended school from 1984 till 1989. Most people wouldn’t suspect McDonald to be a residential school survivor. He states, “I recently said that my generation is often the one that's kind of forgotten ... they're always showing black and white photographs from the '50s and '60s." His children and his sister's children are the first generation of his family to have not gone to residential school and endured the traumatic events that took place in these facilities. McDonald found the idea of his artwork titled Just Stick Feathers On It at a Truth and Reconciliation event where a person at his table wasn’t talking specifically about reconciliation which McDonald pointed out. The person in question dismissed McDonald’s concerns with their response; “just stick some feathers on it”.

The final indigenous artist is Donna the Strange (Anishinaabe) presenting her work of They Tried to Bury Us but Little Did They Know We Were the Seeds. Donna was adopted to a Caucasian family not knowing about her heritage or culture until becoming an adult. Donna only learned of her background, and then found her birth mother, when she was an adult. Her mother is a residential school survivor of one of the worst schools in Saskatchewan - Lebret Residential School. Donna and her adoptive family didn’t know about her family which led them to research, studying and learning about her culture. Donna was a self-taught artist first teaching herself in 2010 when in 2015 she found the Anishinaabe woodland style. This pushed her to truly learn about her heritage and express it through her paintings. She states what her piece is about; "It's about residential schools: how they tried to wipe out our culture and our people and little did they know that they didn't succeed and that we came out even stronger and better and united”.

As the history of Canada’s residential schools comes more and more into light, Indigenous artists and people are expressing their feelings and traumatic experiences. This brings together the generations of survivors, creating a tighter and tighter community. Overall, these artworks and metaphors within them need to be expressed in order for communities to bind together.

Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at residential schools, and those who are triggered by the latest reports.

A national Indian Residential School Crisis Line has been set up to provide support for former students and those affected. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the 24-hour national crisis line: 1-866-925-4419.