Waterloo bus wrap displays Indigenous art with message of resilience

by marika_gabriel | 10 October 2024 9:00 am

A bus wrap designed by Swampy Cree artist Judy Ross Mack was unveiled on September 30 as part of the “Every Child Matters” walk in Kitchener, Ont. The walk began outside wellness centre, The Healing of the Seven Generations, at 300 Frederick Street and featured a bus to assist participants needing mobility support. After the event, the bus continued circulating on major transit routes, spreading a message of reconciliation throughout the community.

The mural, created in collaboration with the Reconciliation Action Partnership, symbolizes strength, healing, and remembrance. “This painting represents empowerment, healing, and remembrance of our young ones that were taken from us,” Mack explained. The design includes ancestors watching over current and future generations, with colours representing Mother Earth, water, and growth. “Our spirits will never be broken again,” she added.

Mack is a survivor of the 60s Scoop, a government policy that forcibly removed Indigenous children from their families and placed them in non-Indigenous homes. Since the age of 16, she has been an active member of the Kitchener-Waterloo (KW) Indigenous community, using her art to raise awareness and promote healing from the legacy of these harmful policies.

September 30, also known as Orange Shirt Day or the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, honours the children who never returned home from residential schools and acknowledges the survivors, their families, and affected communities. Public commemoration of this painful history and the ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process. This initiative aims to foster community reflection, education, and connection, contributing to ongoing reconciliation efforts.

Source URL: https://www.signmedia.ca/waterloo-bus-wrap-displays-indigenous-art-with-message-of-resilience/

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