Indigenous youth group creates art tribute to Kamloops residential school victims

The smell of burning sweetgrass fills the air as passersby glance at the rocks along the shoreline of Saskatoon’s River Landing.

Some of the rocks are colourfully decorated with flowers, birds and other pictures, but 215 of the rocks are marked with numbers in stark, orange spray paint.

A woman was lighting sweetgrass for anyone who wanted to smudge at River Landing. (Lara Fominoff/650 CKOM).

The art installation commemorates the 215 Indigenous children found one week ago in an unmarked grave at the Kamloops Indian Residential School. It’s also a way for the Chokecherry Studios youth group to show solidarity with the Tk’emlúps te Secwe̓pemc First Nation.

Dustin Ross Fiddler, the Saskatoon group’s vice chair, says there aren’t any monuments to residential school survivors in Saskatoon. Youth group members wanted to have a community event for people to come and share their stories.

“Ultimately, I believe it’s healing. This is a healing process and this is something the youth are healing through with every rock they paint,” he said.

He also says the group would like to engage with all three levels of government to get them at the table to create permanent monuments and displays in major Canadian cities recognizing the past and educating the public.

“It has to be with Indigenous peoples including with Chokecherry Studios because they are Indigenous youth, and (an) Indigenous youth-led organization. Anytime that the government wants to work on reconciliation in this country, you need to have Indigenous people at the table,” he added.

He added that for far too long, neither the history books nor the educational system have acknowledged history of residential schools, what happened there, and how it has affected generations of Indigenous peoples.

“The youth wanted to come together, pray, heal and create action beyond this event,” said Fiddler. “We hope that people are listening.”