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.

It香蕉视频直播檚 now a year later and the reckoning over the legacy of residential schools for Indigenous children is still being felt.

香蕉视频直播淟ast year I did a memorial totem pole of a bear holding a cub for my good friend Ray Bergen and his granddaughter,香蕉视频直播� Hunt said when asked how the project began. 香蕉视频直播淭hat was when all the stuff came out about finding the graves at the residential schools.香蕉视频直播�

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.

香蕉视频直播淭hat was when they asked me if I香蕉视频直播檇 be interested in a doing a memorial for the children, and I said of course I would.香蕉视频直播�

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 children香蕉视频直播檚 faces all the way to the bottom.

香蕉视频直播淭here will only be two colours, black and orange,香蕉视频直播� he said, adding the children香蕉视频直播檚 faces will be traditionally carved and black-washed. 香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 to mark a very dark part of Canadian history, and I don香蕉视频直播檛 want to insult anybody that was involved in this, but we are going to recognize who they were and what happened.香蕉视频直播�

Apprentice carver Rey Dickie is helping Hunt create the monument. He said he香蕉视频直播檚 proud to be working on such an important piece of art with his uncle.

香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 quite an honour to be able to do something of this magnitude for all the Indigenous people who were affected by residential schools,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淭his is for them.香蕉视频直播�

香蕉视频直播淚t isn香蕉视频直播檛 just for our village, it香蕉视频直播檚 for all the First Nations people across Canada,香蕉视频直播� added Hunt.

They香蕉视频直播檙e aiming to have the project finished in about six to seven months and will be touring it across Vancouver Island before it香蕉视频直播檚 finally shipped off to Vancouver. Its longterm location is still to be determined.

香蕉视频直播淚t will be in a public place,香蕉视频直播� Hunt said. 香蕉视频直播淚 know they are looking at high profile places. We香蕉视频直播檒l see.香蕉视频直播�