Dedication Held for New Public Artwork Passage Home and Healing Park
A Commemoration Event Marking the 150th Anniversary of the Signing of Treaty Six
The City of Prince Albert is pleased to share that a dedication ceremony was held today for the new public artwork Passage Home and Healing Park, located at Scarrow Plaza. The event also commemorated the 150th Anniversary of the Signing of Treaty Six and was presented by Common Weal Community Arts and the City of Prince Albert Public Art Working Group.
This City of Prince Albert public art acquisition project was undertaken through the City's Public Art Policy and Public Art Working Group in collaboration with artist Mary Longman (Askîypiyêsiwiskwêw), a renowned Saulteaux artist from Gordon's First Nation.
Passage Home is a bronze memorial sculpture situated within a public healing park. Together, the sculpture and park serve as a memorial healing site and community gathering place dedicated to Indigenous children who died away from home, and to those who continue finding their way home because of day schools, residential schools, and the Sixties Scoop.
The work also honours Survivors and family members who continue to grieve and heal today. The bronze sculpture is based on the form of a traditional akotâpân (travois), symbolically offering safe passage for children to return to their families and territories of origin and to rest in peace.
For generations, Indigenous Peoples of the Plains transported children and belongings using an akotâpân, originally pulled by an atim (dog) and later by a misatim (horse). Traditionally lined with bison hides, the travois provided children with a soft and secure place during travel.
“Passage Home is an incredibly meaningful public artwork for our city. It serves as a commemoration of the Survivors of residential schools, day schools, and the Sixties Scoop and their families. Understanding the truths of our history is vital to reconciliation and creating a better future for generations to come,” said Judy MacLeod Campbell, Arts & Culture Manager. “Together, the sculpture and healing park create a space for remembrance, reflection, grief, and healing.”
We are incredibly grateful to the artist Mary Longman and to the funders and organizations who helped make this project possible, including the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, SK Arts, Sask Lotteries, SaskCulture, Northern Lights Community Development Corporation, and Common Weal Community Arts. A project of this significance could not have happened without their support. We encourage everyone to visit the sculpture and healing park and take time to reflect on its importance to our community.
More information about the City's Public Art Program can be found at www.citypa.ca/publicart and Artist Mary Longman’s website at www.marylongman.ca.
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For more media inquiries, please contact:
Judy MacLeod Campbell
Arts & Culture Manager
306.953.4884
