Kwakiutl First Nation master carver Stan Hunt is hard at work creating an 18-foot monument in remembrance of Indigenous children who were abused and died while attending residential schools.

After the remains of up to 215 people were discovered at an unmarked site at a former Kamloops Indian Residential School in May of 2021, the detection of hundreds more suspected graves connected to residential schools across Canada soon followed.

ItB次元官网网址檚 now a year later and the reckoning over the legacy of residential schools for Indigenous children is still being felt.

B次元官网网址淟ast year I did a memorial totem pole of a bear holding a cub for my good friend Ray Bergen and his granddaughter,B次元官网网址� Hunt said when asked how the project began. B次元官网网址淭hat was when all the stuff came out about finding the graves at the residential schools.B次元官网网址�

Hunt noted Bergen, who is a well-known businessman and a philanthropist based out of Vancouver, got together with two of his business partners for their monthly meeting and discussed what they could do to memorialize the graves that were being found on residential school grounds.

B次元官网网址淭hat was when they asked me if IB次元官网网址檇 be interested in a doing a memorial for the children, and I said of course I would.B次元官网网址�

Hunt says when the monument is finished it will stand 18 feet tall by four feet in diameter with a giant raven on top with the seed of life in its beak, and there will be childrenB次元官网网址檚 faces all the way to the bottom.

B次元官网网址淭here will only be two colours, black and orange,B次元官网网址� he said, adding the childrenB次元官网网址檚 faces will be traditionally carved and black-washed. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 to mark a very dark part of Canadian history, and I donB次元官网网址檛 want to insult anybody that was involved in this, but we are going to recognize who they were and what happened.B次元官网网址�

Apprentice carver Rey Dickie is helping Hunt create the monument. He said heB次元官网网址檚 proud to be working on such an important piece of art with his uncle.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 quite an honour to be able to do something of this magnitude for all the Indigenous people who were affected by residential schools,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淭his is for them.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚t isnB次元官网网址檛 just for our village, itB次元官网网址檚 for all the First Nations people across Canada,B次元官网网址� added Hunt.

TheyB次元官网网址檙e aiming to have the project finished in about six to seven months and will be touring it across Vancouver Island before itB次元官网网址檚 finally shipped off to Vancouver. Its longterm location is still to be determined.

B次元官网网址淚t will be in a public place,B次元官网网址� Hunt said. B次元官网网址淚 know they are looking at high profile places. WeB次元官网网址檒l see.B次元官网网址�