The Child Taken project to receive honours

Participants in a unique partnership between the Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC) and the Department of Art & Art History—“The Child Taken: Commemorating Indian Residential Schools”—will be featured at two public events in March.

On Friday, Mar. 8, Professor Susan Shantz (Art & Art History) and ten art students along with the artwork they created for the project will be honoured in a ceremony with the national Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner and the Muskeg Nation at the Travelodge in Saskatoon.

Shantz and her students have also been invited to present the artwork in a formal, public Bentwood Box ceremony at the national Truth and Reconciliation Commission gathering in Edmonton on Mar. 29. A portfolio of their artwork in reproduction will become part of the national archive of symbols of reconciliation.

“These are high honours and speak to the success of the project,” said Shantz.

The Child Taken partnership resulted in a commemorative artwork created by art student Kayla Prive honouring the survivors of Indian Residential Schools. Prive's project was chosen from all the proposals submitted by Shantz's class.

Chief Felix Thomas, members of the STC and Elders unveiled the work of art at a public reception in June 2013 at the Gordon Snelgrove Gallery at the U of S. Plans are underway for the work to be installed at a prominent location in Saskatoon.

The goal of the project was to both educate the students and raise awareness amongst the wider public about the history and intergenerational impact of the Indian residential schools.

The artwork, Chief Thomas said, will serve as a symbol of hope and healing.