‘Home’ themed monument to honour survivors of B.C. residential schools

by carly_mchugh | 11 April 2023 2:02 pm

Residential school survivors of the Splatsin First Nation near Enderby, B.C., are planning a monument to signify their strength and resilience, as well as promote healing for them and their families.

According to a report from Castanet[2], the monument will be dedicated to those who were taken from the community to attend residential schools. Together, Deanna Cook, director of Splatsin Teaching Centre, and Tswum Williams, who faced the experience first-hand in Kamloops, have been able to identify 150 members of the community who were survivors—45 of which are still living.

Last September, these survivors met to plan the monument. Through their discussions, they discovered “home” was the most prominent theme.

“When they were away from home, that was their primary focus,” Williams told Castanet. “They wanted to know what was happening at home. ‘What’s happening with my parents or my younger siblings?’”

The monument committee put out a call for artists in February, with a deadline for the end of March. They will present four shortlisted submissions to survivors, from Indigenous artists with “previous national installations to their credit.”

Currently, survivors have chosen a location for the monument, and fundraising continues for the project. Once it is complete, the monument will be open for everyone to visit.

Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/home-themed-monument-to-honour-survivors-of-b-c-residential-schools/

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