Arts & Récits Autochtones - Indigenous Injustices

This piece is very significant to me because it deals with a lot of injustices that aboriginal people face in Canada. One of the major issues that indigenous people face is the inter-generational trauma that comes from the impacts of residential schools. There is a very atrocious over-generalization/Stereotype that aboriginal people in Canada and I wanted to address these issues in my art piece. Being an aboriginal person I have faced problems such as racism and inequality which negatively impacted my life but, my grandma helped me realize there is so much more to live for. My grandmother taught me so much about life such as residential schools and the cycle of trauma.


I had asked my grandmother "what do you think was the most immense impact that came from the residential schools?" and she replied with "Them taking our kids away". I took that statement and really tried to integrate that into my art piece. My piece covers covers issues such as missing and murdered aboriginal women and even the men. I purposely included pictures of the men because my dad was murdered less than two years ago and this has a large impact on my life. I included medicine wheel teachings to imply that as aboriginal people we need to overcome these injustices and reveal the truth about residential schools and reconcile these historic impacts. This whole painting is suppose to represent the healing process to all the serious issues indigenous people face such as assimilation, cultural genocide, the high incarceration rates and the fact many aboriginal people face drug and alcohol addictions.