Murals in Canada – Native Images of Reconciliation

Somewhere along the Galloping Goose Regional Bike-Trail (or precisely where it crosses Seaton street, only a minute from Recyclistas bike shop) there is an unsuspecting underpass for pedestrians and bikes, under the Trans Canada Highway, running along the Goose. On the southern side it’s nothing but a white-walled tube with nothing to adorn it but a plaque of 1977, indicating the year it was put in place, and a warning sign mentioning heavy fines for anyone who defaces public or private property.

Take a look at the location of my post on Steemit Worldmap:

[//]:# (!steemitworldmap 48.457495 lat -123.386404 long d3scr)

On the northern side, however, there are incredible paintings on both sides of the wall, as well as the ramp for bikes and other wheeled objects. The murals are painted in traditional native style. An information sign above the tunnel informs us that the title of the work is Ascension, with these words:

Ascension was designed by a group of seven First Nations, Inuit, and Metis youth to reflect their relationship to the topic of reconciliation. Each image is representative of the artist’s ancestry and was painted over the course of five weeks. The continuity of the design is representative of the resilience of First Nations in the wake of colonialism.

All seven artists left their names on the wall, but it was almost impossible for me to find them on-line, with the exception of Uumati. The images, however, are all stunning. I don’t know enough about the native symbolism to try to interpret the pictures, though I can only guess that the one with the seals has been created by the Inuit painter. What strikes me here is the sea-weed looking plant floating beautifully all around the person in the image, just like their long long hair.

Since the Métis are mentioned separately, I had to look them up. According to Wikipedia, they are an ethnicity, based on either French or English mixed with mostly Wabanaki, Algonquin, Saulteaux, Cree, Ojibwe, and Menominee cultures. So rather than being simply mixed-blood people, they are a distinct ethnic group, with common cultural traits that developed during the 18th and 19th centuries. As such, they are recognized in Canada, but also in the United States as their own ethnicity.

Most other images are drawn in the typical style of the Pacific Coast, with oval-shaped decorations giving life and movement to the images. They mostly depict animals, such as fish (salmon maybe?), an otter, an eagle, another bird (possibly a crane?) and some other mammal. They also are used to illustrate celestial entities, such as the moon, or very predominantly the sun, setting into the sea.

According to the information sign, the mural is about ancestry and reconciliation. While most natural creatures might point towards the former, there are some interesting aspects regarding the latter. One of these may be the fist-fight between the deer and the fox. I’m not sure which animal might represent which culture, though I find it note-worthy that the deer, which normally would be expected to flee, decided to fight the predator.

Another, more somber picture shows a dark and foreboding image of a school / church building. This recalls the residential schools many native children were forcefully sent to by the Canadian government, with the intent to eradicate their cultural heritage. The last one of these schools closed in 1996, which the sign below corresponds to. The image also shows a native person, being depicted just as dark as the building, but with a glimmer of light within them. It is this ember, kept alive, that is now catching flame again, with the renewed sense of identity of native peoples.

I am really happy to see so many beautiful images all around us. They tell us many stories, even if we don’t know how to interpret them properly. Usually, however, a fragment or another remains with us, making the whole effort worthwhile. But even if not, the imagery alone is much preferable to a boring blank wall, of which there is just too much around us.