Journey to Reconciliation

Inspiring Action and working towards healing and reconciliation in the Municipality of Kincardine

Seven Generations Crosswalk – Created on May 21, 2023

Artist: Jeffrey Red George

On Sunday, May 21^th, artists and volunteers came together along Kincardine’s lakeshore at the bottom of Harbour Street to paint two crosswalks. Creation of these ground murals is part of the ongoing journey to reconciliation as well as a representation of the community’s actions towards supporting and celebrating inclusion.

The first crosswalk features work by Jeffrey (Red) George (Ma-Mi-No-ga-boo). Red is an Ojibway artist who grew up along the shores of Lake Huron on the First Nation lands of Kettle and Stoney Point. He connects with his mind and heart, with each of his paintings guided by the ancestral tradition of painting in the Woodland style influenced by Norval Morrisseau. Red is a renowned artist signed with Canadian Indigenous Art in Vancouver and a native flutist.

“We are so excited to host Jeffrey’s work in the Municipality of Kincardine. We hope it will inspire commitment and actions towards reconciliation with First Nations, Métis, and Inuit community members,” says Lorie Fioze, Manager of Strategic Initiatives.

The story behind the mural. 

This vision was designed as an eagle feather, you can see the image of an eagle’s head inside the feather. If someone received an eagle feather it is a symbol of great honour and respect. The eagle serves as a messenger for the earth’s people, retrieving prayers and delivering them to the Great Spirit in the sky. The eagle flies the highest amongst all other birds which allows it to travel to the Creator’s realm.

The colour black represents a dark period in Canadian history in which many Indigenous children were taken from their homes and sent to residential schools many run by churches and endured abuses on many levels.

The colour orange represents every child matters, especially the children who did not make it home and who were recently discovered in unmarked graves and the survivors who have suffered from the trauma subjected upon them.

The colour white represents the healing powers of prayer that lead us from a darkened past to a brighter future of hope.

The seven little circles within the eagle feather represent the seven sacred grandfather teachings – honesty, truth, love, respect, bravery, wisdom and humility. These teachings were given to help humanity live a more harmonious and balanced life so that we would treat each other and the earth with more kindness.

This crosswalk is named in honour of the seven generations. This idea urges the current generation to live and cooperate for the benefit of the next seven generations that are to come in the future. The Seventh Generation Principle is based on an ancient Haudenosaunee (Iroquois)* philosophy that the decisions we make today should result in a sustainable world seven generations into the future. It is also important to keep in mind to create healthy relationships build on a strong foundation of trust and respect between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

When you are using this crosswalk you are walking with the ancestors, say a beautiful prayer for the earth and all its beings and for the seven generations that are yet to come.

For Additional Resources

Jeffrey George's Red Dog Studio

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA)

May 5 is designated as the National Day of Awareness for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S). This is a day to honour and remember all missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBT+ People who are more than twelve times as likely to go missing or be murdered than any other population in Canada.

From 2015-2019, Canada conducted a National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, (Home Page - Final Report | MMIWG (mmiwg-ffada.ca)which concluded:

“The National Inquiry’s Final Report reveals that persistent and deliberate human and Indigenous rights violations and abuses are the root cause behind Canada’s staggering rates of violence against Indigenous women, girls and 2SLGBTQ+ people. The two volume report calls for transformative legal and social changes to resolve the crisis that has devastated Indigenous communities across the country.”

“Colonial violence, as well as racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQ+ people, has become embedded in everyday life – whether this is through interpersonal forms of violence, through institutions like the healthcare system and the justice system, or in the laws, policies and structures of Canadian society. The result has been that many Indigenous people have grown up normalized to violence, while Canadian society shows an appalling apathy to addressing the issue. The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls finds that this amounts to genocide.” (Executive Summary of Final Report)

To support the ongoing learning, we invite you to continue your learned and explore the following resources: 

• Podcast: CBC’s Finding Cleo. Where is Cleo? Apprehended by child welfare authorities as part of a wave now known as the Sixties Scoop, and adopted in the U.S., the young Cree girl is believed to have been raped and murdered while hitchhiking back home to Saskatchewan. CBC offers additional support material.
• Season 1: Highlights the interconnected and complex nature of the ongoing tragedy of Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. In 1989, 24-year-old Alberta Williams was found dead along the Highway of Tears near Prince Rupert, B.C. Police never caught her killer. Twenty-seven years later, her unsolved murder continues to haunt her family. Additional resources available.
• Season 2: Highlights the interconnected and complex nature of the ongoing tragedy of Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. 
• Podcast: Warrior Life by Pam Palmater (numerous related episodes including “Judy Wilson & Ellen Gabriel on Canada's Failed National Action Plan,” “Canada's Genocide: Murdered & Missing Indigenous Women and Girls”)
• Video: CBC A look back at the MMIWG inquiry (3:52)

• Video: CBC Docs: Peace River Rising: The link between violence against Indigenous women and violence against the land (9:36)

The Municipality of Kincardine has made a commitment to develop meaningful relationships with Indigenous Peoples and work toward reconciliation. Part of this commitment includes developing awareness and acknowledging the truths of our history and the harms that have been completed against Indigenous peoples.  There cannot be reconciliation without understanding and acknowledging the truth. 

One step in our journey to reconciliation is to acknowledge the land that the Municipal meeting and/or public event is being held on. 

View the Land Acknowledgement.

To help us understand the history of the land we are on we have arranged to have two training sessions for staff, Council, Committees of Council and the Community: 

This training will be conducted by Trish Nadjiwon Meekins. She will present the history of First Nations peoples from a First Nations' perspective.  Trish will also bring you on a journey from before contact with the newcomers of Turtle Island to where we are today.  It is our responsibility to understand what it means to be treaty people and brainstorm ways to move forward from where we are today. 

Trish Meekins will be providing this training.  Trish is the sole owner of Nikaanaganaa Counselling & Learning Centre is a counsellor and teacher of First Nations culture and history for over 20 years. Her passion is her Indigenous roots and finds rewarding work in assisting all people become educated about themselves and how they fit as a part of community extending out to all of Creation. Learn more about Trish at https://trishmeekins.com.

The next sessions TBD. 

Residential School Virtual Video Tour of the Mohawk Institute

Residential schools have impacted and will continue to impact Indigenous Peoples across Canada.  In order to understand why residential schools have such a negative impact we invite you to participate in a virtual tour of the Mohawk Institute Residential School. The virtual video tour was created with the production company “Thru the Reddoor”, and it follows guide Lorrie Gallant, as she gives a tour of the former Mohawk Institute Indian Residential School. During the video Lorrie provides the history of the institution over its 140 year history. Viewers will get to see the different rooms in the school, from the girls’ and boys’ dormitories, the cafeteria, laundry room, and other rooms throughout the building, as well as hear interviews from five Survivors of the Mohawk Institute. 

Resources from the Mohawk Institute Residential School Tour

Ever wonder what the 2S is in LGBTQ2S+? 

Two Spirit (2S) is an English umbrella term to reflect and restore Indigenous traditions forcefully suppressed by colonization, honouring the fluid and diverse nature of gender and attraction and its connection to community and spirituality. It is used by some Indigenous People rather than, or in addition to, identifying as LGBTQI. 

Watch this video produced by Egale, an organization with a mission to improve the lives of 2SLGBTQI people in Canada and to enhance the global response.