The following is an artist statement from "Emerging Feather. Let Us Grow Together" artist Brad Callihoo:

The figure in this stone, titled, “Let Us Grow, Together…”, came to me as I contemplated the theme of Reconciliation. The journey of our people and the new cultures that arrived on these lands has been complicated, and often times, cruel in its nature. One element that is often overlooked and disregarded, is that the peoples that arrived had been developing their own cultures and ways of life for multiple millennia, but upon encountering the inhabitants of Turtle Island, they expected the ancestors to embrace these new ways immediately, and when not quickly accepted, forced measures were implemented with devastating results to the indigenous communities.

The feather is an important, respected, and vital symbol to us Native people. Its enduring strength, resilience and beauty make up several of its components. But, when enough of the societal pressures faced by our citizens are applied, even that resilience can reach its breaking point, and the struggle for the feather (representing our people and culture), to be able to grow to its regular dimensions and beauty often became too much of a struggle, resulting in the damaged and lost generations we witnessed and endured, as more and more change came to these lands.

This feather is our people, and it is driving its energy to pull itself out of the big block that is the system that the ancestors struggled to adapt to – with one of the biggest hurdles being generations having been convinced that they, and their culture, were inferior and simply did not matter. The monolith of oppression and self-doubt looms, lurking, always there, injecting its weight into one’s soul, forming a tumultuous black cloud in one’s psyche that can pressure a soul into a distorted growth that is uneven, delicate and brittle…But. It. Is. Still. Growing… 

This feather, and we, have learned to draw on the strength of the ancestor’s spirits again, where they are embedded deep within Mother Earth, here represented by the waves of strength rippling up out of the ground to provide strength to their descendants. Those spirits, stretching all the way back to the Grandmothers and Grandfathers, are represented too in the concave areas, as they cut into the foundations of a system that once endeavoured to “beat the Indian out of the child”. Those ancestors battled their way against the staggering odds of colonization, to somehow carry on under these overbearing burdens. But keep fighting they did, and they kept the life’s breath of our cultures alive, entrusting coming generations to continue with this growth beyond their own goal of simple, singular survival, to the time when a swelling pride would pick up momentum and carry future generations with it to rise to the lofty heights ALL of us humans are capable of.

Beneath the Red Hand, which is the reminder of the ongoing issue of #MMIWG2S, is a skeletal hand that speaks of the hands of the Elder’s continuous support and encouragement, but, it is also the hands of that darkness – that darkness that comes up, reaching out with the intergenerational trauma that is still so rooted in our culture. The Orange Hand of course is a reminder of those Lost Generations that suffered through being separated from their parents, homes, and culture, and the horrendous abuses that are still being worked out of our families through tremendous efforts to stop the chain of the abuse that was introduced to our culture.

This struggling feather is reaching up and growing back into the Teepees which are perched above, serving as the everlasting symbols of our Home Fires. Those fires are a place where peace, comfort and strength can be found in the embrace and support of family and community.

As a community, we are thankful that this process of Reconciliation has officially been addressed and partially implemented, but sadly it took the discovery of the #215 in Kamloops to finally bring national attention, awareness, and compassion to a large percentage of the population, on an issue that we have been screaming about for decades. Conditions such as many Nations not having access to safe drinking water in this, the 21^st Century still exist, even though this too has been an issue for multiple years. Disproportionate prison sentences being imposed on Native defendants is another large issue that continues to affect the community, and these and other conditions need to be remedied to bring full belief in Reconciliation, thus allowing us to fully embrace and participate wholeheartedly in this initiative.  

Currently, only approximately five of the ninety-four actions recommended by Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada have been implemented, but hopefully, honest efforts in this process of Reconciliation will help to change the course of paths damaged by past actions moving forward, and patience will be shown as we continue to adapt, and we ask that you show patience as we catch up to the immigrants society’s ways, and “Let Us Grow, Together”...

-Brad Callihoo.