Ce projet a été entièrement conçu et mis en œuvre par une équipe de bénévoles informée, dévouée, et passionnée. Cependant, ce site Web est en voie d’être traduit. Nous vous remercions de votre gracieuse patience!
Update: To all heart maker participants, there will be a ceremony on July 2nd at 1:00 pm to honour the children who died at Kamploops IRS. The hearts will be blessed by Algonquin Spiritual Advisor, Albert Dumont to help them on their journey to the new Cultural Centre for Reconciliation at Algoma College. IRS Survivor Irene Barbeau from the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association will be present to accept the Hearts. Participants are requested to wear their masks and comply with Covid protocols. Be prepared for all weather as there is no *rain date*.
WE FEEL VERY BLESSED THAT YOUR INTEREST HAS BEEN CAPTIVATED BY THIS HEART GARDEN!
This Heart Garden has been created by passionate advocates of Indigenous social justice issues and supporters of Indigenous communities, who wanted to memorialize the 215 children who died at the Indian Residential School in Kamloops. Through this Heart Garden, and other activities, we are publicly calling Canadians to action.
WE INVITE YOU TO CREATE YOUR OWN “HEART” FOR THE GARDEN
Please feel free to use this template for your “heart”. You can then send us your “heart” — before June 21st — in one of the two following ways. We will laminate and “plant” it on your behalf.
- Drop it off here: at 50 Sussex Drive. Place it in the waterproof, black, plastic bin located near the front door of the Canadian Geographic / The Royal Canadian Geographical Society building.
- Mail it to: Project of Heart, 2 Craftsman Private, Ottawa ON, K1Y 4W9
Creating your own “heart” is an opportunity to reflect on the children who were lost, and the families who were forever broken, as a direct result of Indian Residential Schools — in Kamloops, and in innumerable other locations across Canada. For many of us, learning about these 215 children has stirred strong emotions. These “hearts” are expressions of thought and emotion.
In creating your own heart and decorating it in your own mindful way, you are honouring the unique spirit of each child who died. You are also taking an opportunity to think about, and express why, standing with Indigenous people in their struggles for justice is important to you.
The Heart Garden will be taken down on July 2nd and the hearts will be gifted to Algoma University in Sault Ste-Marie. The hearts will be archivally catalogued and displayed in the university’s Centre for Reconciliation. Furthermore, some hearts will remain here and be exhibited in the Canadian Geographic building at 50 Sussex Drive, as a constant reminder of the reconciliation work ahead of us. After July 2 we encourage heart-makers to place their work in their own gardens or places of significance to them, where they will continue to honour the children found at residential school sites across the country.
We respect and honour the thought and care that you put into creating your own “heart”, should you decide to do so. Thank you! Meegwetch!
VIRTUAL HEART GARDEN CREATED FOR PARTICIPATION ACROSS CANADA
A virtual Heart Garden was also created to allow for nation-wide, web-based participation. Please click on this link to access the virtual heart garden, and we invite you to share widely with others! A short video tutorial explaining how to contribute to the virtual garden is available here.
HOW DID THIS HEART GARDEN COME TO BE?
A few weeks ago, on May 31st, Charlene Bearhead, Director of Reconciliation at Canadian Geographic, and Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, called on teachers and educators across Canada to “plant Heart Gardens” at their schools to memorialise the 215 children who died at the Indian Residential School in Kamloops, and to publicly call Canada to action.
The current Heart Garden harkens to the one that was created on June 3, 2105, on the nearby grounds of Rideau Hall. At that time, students, together with their teachers from the National Capital region planted the inaugural Heart Garden as part of the closing ceremonies for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a gesture to memorialize the children who died as a direct result of the Indian Residential School system.
Today, the Heart Garden located on the property of Canadian Geographic at 50 Sussex Drive, has geographical and symbolic proximity with Rideau Hall. It provides us with the opportunity to “plant”, in a beautiful park-like space, the hearts that have come to mean so much to Survivors, Elders, and Indigenous families who continue to mourn, and who, very recently, have been profoundly (re)impacted by this latest news of the mass child burial ground discovered at the Kamloops IRS.
This public display of honouring the children who never returned to their homes in Tk’emlups te Secwepemc communities is an action that we can all take now, one which demonstrates that we stand with them, in solidarity, understanding, and compassion.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT HEART GARDENS
The guide entitled Have a Heart Day was developed by the B.C. Teachers’ Federation – you may find it informative and insightful. Once again, please feel free to share widely!
Thank you! Merci! Meegwetch!