When visiting the MOA as a class there was an art piece titled “His First Day of School” and “Her First Day of school”by Dionne Paul. This piece is two photos each with a smiling kindergartener on their first day of school in 2011. However on the photos are cropped images of black and white school uniforms. These black and white photos are pictures taken from residential school students. This is a powerful statement as residential schools for indigenous youth have impacted the community even 50 years later. The first day of school for kids is significant, the children are usually excited and anxious but look their best in new school clothing. They are ready to go to a safe learning environment and then return home to their families. Thankfully today in Canada this is possible for indigenous children but for the majority of 20th century, these kids were deprived of it. Parents were legally forced to send their children away to isolated schools where the children were forced to give up their native language, learn Christian beliefs and experience horrific emotional, physical and sexual abuse. The photos that showcase modern and decrepit images are visual manifestations of the atrocities committed against thousands of indigenous children and how they were subjected to a horrifying first day of school.
In the Great Hall, there is the art installation titled “Bone Box” by Michael Nicoll Yahgulnaas which was 12 wood squares stacked by 3×4, decorated with beautiful illustrations of indigenous animals, landscapes and people. The installation has a feature where you can move a lever and it will turn the 12 squares to reveal words painted on the bottom. It reads “A stack of plywood trays built to contain fragments of everyone’s culture.” These artworks are not immediately in proximity to each other however they do connect because it relates the idea of white colonialism stripping away Native culture. In Paul’s photographic work it merges the idea of today’s native children school life and the realities of the older generations school life. The bone box is a celebration of native art but with an important message that this art contains a culture of pain, suffering and generations of abuse. These simple plywood tray contain a deprived culture that did not have the chance to be celebrated until today.
I have gone through the Canadian high school curriculum and in secondary school we learned about Indigenous culture from art, dance, traditions and the devastating history. Most Canadian students learn about this in Social studies class and are somewhat informed. Student that have grown up elsewhere may not be aware of the history of Canada and their relationship with the native people. The artwork has plaques that explain the background of the art work so it can inform even the most unknowledgeable viewers.