In working through the required reading in preparation for a lecture, I came across a statement about being a witness to the atrocities that occurred for more the 160 years in Canadian Residential Schools. It struck me to the core and I knew this would be the basis for my Journey to Reconciliation Aesthetic Project. Throughout my research, the image of the turtle and it’s meaning kept appearing. In the film, Muffins for Granny, a statement is made at the beginning “Grandmother turtle speaks the truth and she heals” (Muffins for Granny, 2007). My aesthetic representation is that statement in visual form.
In the Indigenous culture, the turtle is a symbol of truth and time and as part of the 7 Sacred Teachings. This turtles carries the truths about residential school in Canada as told by survivors. The outer rings bear the names of survivors, children who died as well as blank spaces for those not yet ready or able to speak their truth but deserve to be acknowledged. The statement “I am a Witness” is written in Cree first as my first step toward reconciliation by giving back their language and voice that was taken.
