The piece aims to raise awareness about Truth and Reconciliation Call to Action #66, which, according to CBC, “calls to the federal government to establish multi-year funding for community-based youth organizations to deliver programs on reconciliation.” Photo courtesy Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
A new mural by a self-taught Indigenous artist, unveiled in the North End of Winnipeg, Man., earlier this month, seeks to bring awareness to the 66th call for action coming out of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. The mural, painted by artist Jedrick Thorassie, is on the north-facing side of the youth-serving organization Ndinawemaaganag Endaawaad or Ndinawe on Burrows Avenue. Its name translates from Anishinaabemowin to “our relatives home”.
According to CBC, the mural is split into two pieces that present contrasting images. The first paints a bright sun, a blue sky with birds, green grass dotted with flowers, and a forest. Two tipis are adorned in red hand prints—a recognition of MMIWG2S+ (missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and two-spirit+). A woman and child, located in the bottom right corner of the mural, point to the other side of the art piece. The second depicts a frail and sprawling boy, and in the backdrop is the skyline of Winnipeg with looming dark clouds.
Thorassie had complete creative freedom for the mural—which Graffiti Art Programming supported as part of its Art As Action Project.
The piece aims to raise awareness about Truth and Reconciliation Call to Action #66, which, according to CBC, “calls to the federal government to establish multi-year funding for community-based youth organizations to deliver programs on reconciliation.”
Thorassie said the art was influenced by his journey, which he said has been “pretty tough”. He told CBC, “The people I know and the people I associate with, they all come from the streets … like the North End of Winnipeg, the struggle, so I try to show all that in my art.”
The self-taught artist is from the northern Manitoban community of Tadoule Lake, about 250 kilometres west of Churchill. He is a member of the Sayisi Dene First Nation.
Shanlee Scott, the executive director of Ndinawe, which has been serving children and youth in the community for more than 30 years, said the mural is a “heartfelt representation of the realities and the possibilities.” She added that the art reflects the organization’s present “time of crisis,” when it is experiencing record numbers of unhoused youth.
Steve Wilson, the executive director of Graffiti Art Programming, praised Thorassie. “Winnipeg really loves what this young man does, and this is just the beginning for him,” he told CBC.
Link in story to view the mural.
