As we approach the one year marker of the uncovering of the remains of 215 children at the Kamloops Indian Residential School, we commemorate the devastating loss of these young lives, as well as thousands more, that were robbed of their fate. The locating of these unmarked graves in Tk’emlups te Secwépemc First Nation, announced publicly on May 27, 2021, has been for Canada, a watershed moment late in arriving. At this time, it is imperative to work towards understanding the political and social structures that failed Indigenous children then, and continue to fail them now. It is for this reason, Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel, with the assistance of Macaulay & Co. Fine Art, have commissioned internationally renowned artist Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun Lets’lo:tseltun to create a work that casts a light on the shadowed past and present, while offering an opportunity to extend the dialogue and awareness about the National Truth and Reconciliation Day, first commemorated on September 30 of last year. One hundred percent of the proceeds of the sale of the work, titled Indian Residential School, Leaving the Shallow Graves and Going Home (2022), will be donated to the Orange Shirt Society (OSS ) and the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS).

Read full essay on Heffel website.

Read more on the auction fundraiser here.

IMAGE: Indian Residential School, Leaving the Shallow Graves and Going Home (Heffel)