City of Calgary to partner with Fort Calgary for permanent memorial to residential school victims - Action News
Home WebMail Sunday, November 10, 2024, 09:13 PM | Calgary | 0.4°C | Regions Advertise Login | Our platform is in maintenance mode. Some URLs may not be available. |
Calgary

City of Calgary to partner with Fort Calgary for permanent memorial to residential school victims

The City of Calgary has announced that it will collaborate with the Fort Calgary Preservation Society to establish a permanent Indian Residential School Memorial at Fort Calgary to honour children who attended residential schools.

'Our actions must come from the heart and reflect a commitment to do better,' says mayor

a person dressed in a black jacket, toque and mittens leans down on concrete steps to rearrange a lineup of children's shoes
A volunteer rearranges shoes at the memorial for residential school victims at Calgary's City Hall on March 12, 2023. (Tom Ross/CBC)

The City of Calgary has announced that it will collaborate with the Fort Calgary Preservation Society to establish a permanent Indian Residential School Memorial at Fort Calgary to honour children who attended residential schools.

According to a statement released by the city, Fort Calgary will work with the city to build a memorial close to the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers. While a marker has been placed at the site, the exact location of the permanent memorial still needs to be finalized.

"As we move along a path that includes both truth and reconciliation, our actions must come from the heart and reflect a commitment to do better into the future," said Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek.

"This permanent memorial will be a space to honour residential school survivors, their families and the thousands of children who never returned. It will be a reflective space to mourn individually and collectively, and ensure that our shared history, no matter how painful, is not forgotten."

A marker with details on the future site of the Indian Residential School Memorial at Fort Calgary is seen on the ground with skyscrapers in the background.
Fort Calgary will work with the city to build a memorial close to the confluence of the Bow and Elbow Rivers. While a marker has been placed at the site, pictured here, the exact location of the permanent memorial still needs to be finalized. (Helen Pike/CBC)

A temporary memorial was built by several local communities after 215 unmarked graves were found at the former site of Kamloops Indian Residential School in B.C. in 2021.

The City of Calgary started workto construct a permanent memorial began in 2021, when it partnered with local Indigenous organizations, the Indian Residential School Elders Advisory Group, and the Indian Residential School working group.

Fort Calgary was picked as the location for the permanent memorial after feedback was collected from the public, including inputs from numerous Indigenous community members and Indigenous-serving groups.

Jyoti Gondek speaks to the media after being sworn-in as the new mayor of Calgary in Calgary, Alta., Monday, Oct. 25, 2021.
Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said that 'the permanent memorial will be a reflective space to mourn individually and collectively and ensure that our shared history, no matter how painful, is not forgotten.' (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press)

"Fort Calgary's legacy will forever be tied to [the] role of the North West Mounted Police in enforcing the Indian residential school system. Officers searched for and returned children who had run away, they fined parents whose children did not go to school, and they assisted Indian Agents with the removal of children from their homes," said Jennifer Thompson, president of Fort Calgary.

"Truth must come before reconciliation, and the IRS Memorial will help deepen the community's understanding of the truth that is represented here at Fort Calgary. We are grateful to the community and the City of Calgary for selecting this place as its future home."

The next phase of the construction project will include 'several key milestones', according to Harold Horsefall, Issues Strategist with the City of Calgary's Indigenous Relations Office and co-lead of the memorial project.

"Our focus now is further development of the siting and design workgroup, procurement. Then we'll look towards final design and construction."