Truth and Reconciliation

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This piece was done in memory of a former student who died in a jail cell at age 23. I'm not sure which tribe Jolie was born into but she came from Saskatchewan. And because the Prairie Blackfoot people traditionally have honoured the Sun I started with its face.

Then I asked people which word was heavier - Truth or Reconciliation. Most said 'Truth' so the red dress, symbolizing the missing and murdered aboriginal women, is attached to the bottom of the Sun where it is a weight the God must carry.

Reconciliation is represented by the three stones suspended from the top ray of the Sun.

Stones are formed after a period of great heat and pressure much like our path to Reconciliation .

When I asked people what reconciliation looked like the most frequent answer was 'it looks like acceptance'. So the first one is named 'Acceptance'.

I recently became friends online with an artist/elder from Nunavut who assured me 'words can be found that will be the medicine and healing for our soul, mind and body". Therefore I named the second stone 'Healing'.

The third stone is named 'Hope'.