Installed in the Centre Block hallway of the Parliament of Canada, this powerful expression of Canada’s Apology for the culturally devastating residential school era was created in 2012 by the Winnipeg Métis artist Christi Belcourt.
The central section includes the artist’s replication of a photo taken at the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School in Nova Scotia, an image typical of 20th century photos in schools across Canada. The Shubenacadie school operated from 1930 to 1967, and was the only Indian Residential school in the Maritime provinces.
The mother and child panel suggests the passage to a better time, celebrating the profound continuity of the feminine in Indigenous cultures. Giniigaaniimenaaning means “looking ahead” in the Anishinaabemowin (Ojibway) language.
Photos P. Burns 2017
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