DIGITAL MONUMENTS : ᑲᓇᐁᐧᔨᒧᐁᐧᐃᐧᐣ (kanaweyimowewin)

In the fall of 2021 we began planning and developing what came to be known as the Digital Monuments Project. Consultations were led by digital storyteller Evie Ruddy and Indigenous media artist Rene Dufour-Contreras and centered on the questions: 

• How can the use of digital media to tell Indigenous stories challenge colonial narratives embedded in our urban landscape through monuments, street names, and design? 

• Is digital media the right approach for this work?

• Does this approach reflect the needs of Indigenous communities? 

After significant community consultation and research, we began working with technical artist Rene Dufour-Contreras and Indigenous artist and activist Star Andreas—whose Spirit name is Evening Star—on a pilot project titled ᑲᓇᐁᐧᔨᒧᐁᐧᐃᐧᐣ (kanaweyimowewin) which means ‘to protect’. The project had its public exhibition in February 2022 at the Regina Frost Festival. 

ᑲᓇᐁᐧᔨᒧᐁᐧᐃᐧᐣ (kanaweyimowewin) is located at the former site of the John A. Macdonald statue in Regina’s Victoria Park, and uses augmented reality to showcase a digital sculpture featuring a Kokum with 8 feathers and the words ‘Every Child Matters’ painted on the back of her shawl. The feathers honour the eight Cree warriors Macdonald ordered to be hanged, an event that Indigenous students from the Battleford Industrial School were forced to watch. The words ‘Every Child Matters’ honours the unmarked graves being discovered on the grounds of former residential schools across Canada. The sculpture also features four children, representing the four directions of the medicine wheel. The Kokum wraps her arms around them, displaying a commitment to the protection and nurturing of all children. 

The project illustrates the significant harms done to the Indigenous people by John A. Macdonald and his government that have largely been erased from the mainstream colonial narrative. ᑲᓇᐁᐧᔨᒧᐁᐧᐃᐧᐣ (kanaweyimowewin) is an accessible way to engage digital arts as a tool to explore Truth and (Re)concilication here in Saskatchewan. The sculpture’s powerful message gives light to the heinous crimes Mcdonald committed against the Indigenous community, and ensures these historical truths are not lost.

This project is funded through the Department of Canadian Heritage / Government of Canada, Community Support, Multiculturalism, and Anti-Racism Initiatives Program and SaskCulture Miff Annual Grant funded through SaskLotteries Multicultural funds.