Regina family plants garden honouring victims of Regina residential school
A Regina family planted a garden to honour the victims of a Regina residential school and educate the public about the reconciliation process.
Chantelle Payot created the “Honouring Memories, Planting Dreams Truth and Reconciliation Garden” to remember the lives lost at the Regina Indian Industrial School.
Payot said the garden stemmed from a project for a course she is taking on treaty teachings.
“We had to come up with sort of an artistic, creative project at the end and I thought I would tie it into something that I’m passionate about,” she said.
The garden features red hearts with the confirmed names and ages of some of the children printed on them. Other hearts remain blank for the children who haven’t been identified.
One of the hearts dedicated to a child killed at the Regina Indian Industrial School made by Talulah Messner. (Mackenzie Read/CTV News)
One of the hearts dedicated to a child killed at the Regina Indian Industrial School made by Talulah Messner. (Mackenzie Read/CTV News)
It also has QR codes posted on the signs that bring up information on the history of residential schools in the area and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls for Action.
“I think it’s really important to have these and recognize the children who didn’t have the perfect childhood and were taken away from their families at such a young age,” Talulah Messner, Payot’s step-daughter who made the hearts and signs, said.
Payot believes that reconciliation work is like tending a garden.
“It takes constant care, attention and compassion to carry out those calls to action,” Payot said.
She and two of her colleges also took a treaty walk on the school grounds in May and have been doing research on the area.
Other people with plots in the garden said they are impressed with the thought and dedication into the increased education on residential schools.
“As an Indigenous person who garden here, seeing this display makes me feel welcome and makes me feel like it’s a safe space,” Kim Belhumeur said.
“This has not been touched and to me [that] is very important. It just shows the respect that the gardeners here have,” James Sather, another gardener, added.
Payot would like people come to the garden and use it as a learning tool. She also hopes more of the hearts can spread through the community garden space as the gardening season progresses.
“I’m a settler on Treaty 4 lands and this is my contribution to those calls to action for the TRC,” said Payot.
The garden is located at Payot’s 13th Avenue community garden plot.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.