When Roy Henry Vickers speaks about his powerful new artwork 香蕉视频直播淭hey Were Buried in the Night香蕉视频直播� he chokes up.
香蕉视频直播淭he angel is rising from the skulls of the children who have died, and her arms are uplifted, and there香蕉视频直播檚 new life,香蕉视频直播� Vickers describes. 香蕉视频直播淎nd that new life shines on us all. So the rays come from that beautiful little child. And that香蕉视频直播檚 what I see. Healing will bring beauty back to the people, people will reconnect to the land, all of us, because we all live here, new life.香蕉视频直播�
Vickers hopes the discovery of 215 children in unmarked graves at the former residential school in Kamloops, and the thousands that are sure to follow according to estimates by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is a wake-up call to all Canadians.
香蕉视频直播淔or me, the great thing about all of these bodies coming to the mass knowledge of Canadians is, well, maybe now people will begin to hear, and if they begin to hear then there will be compassion because you can香蕉视频直播檛 listen to these stories and not feel them deep down inside if you香蕉视频直播檙e a human being and have a heart and everybody does.
香蕉视频直播淥nce that happens then the compassion of us, as Canadians, for the Indigenous people actually helps to bring about the change for healing and that香蕉视频直播檚 the only thing that香蕉视频直播檚 going to change and that香蕉视频直播檚 for us to heal.香蕉视频直播�
He also hopes it will lead to some concrete action.
香蕉视频直播淢y dream is, now that we know these bodies are here, they can香蕉视频直播檛 be left there, they should be exhumed, DNA done no matter what cost.
香蕉视频直播淲e just spent the money on a ridiculous election that would have taken care of this whole thing, identify the bodies, return them to their homes. The massive amount of healing that would come from that is priceless, you can香蕉视频直播檛 even put a value in money on that.香蕉视频直播�
Vickers, a third-generation survivor of the residential school system, has personal experience of the generational trauma imposed by not just the horrors at residential schools, but the decades of silence that followed.
香蕉视频直播淲henever we spoke about genocide it was 香蕉视频直播榗ultural genocide,香蕉视频直播� but no it香蕉视频直播檚 a genocide when you look at the number of bodies, mostly murdered, experiments done on them, kids thrown down stairs, girls raped and pregnant and go hang themselves because they can香蕉视频直播檛 stand the shame.
香蕉视频直播淧eople came back and they were told they would go to hell if they ever spoke of it once they left school so I heard nothing from my grandmother, from my dad, from any of my uncles and aunts and I went to them directly.
香蕉视频直播淚f we don香蕉视频直播檛 talk about it, how is anything going to change and how am I to know why my dad香蕉视频直播檚 behaviour is as it is unless I know what happened to him, so it香蕉视频直播檚 generations of unresolved trauma.
香蕉视频直播淣ow we香蕉视频直播檙e at a point that the inside rage and anger of those who suffered to the end of their lives, most of them because there was no one to help them deal with the trauma, and people wonder why there is so much addiction among Indigenous people.香蕉视频直播�
Vickers has been there himself, in a place where the rage, suffering and addiction almost led him to suicide.
香蕉视频直播淎t 45 years of age on Valentine香蕉视频直播檚 Day, I hit the end of my rope for the last time, I thought, and I was going to put a bullet in my brain like so many have, but fortunately I was taught that life is a gift and you do not have the right to end it.
香蕉视频直播淪o, I only had one choice, as Bob Dylan says, I have to change my way of thinking, make a different set of rules.
香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 been two decades of moving through the trauma and constantly having to go back and look at it again and seeing it come up again and deal with it again and that香蕉视频直播檚 the way it is when you香蕉视频直播檙e healing and if you香蕉视频直播檙e not healing then you香蕉视频直播檙e just in this hopeless, dark, angry, shameful place and nobody wants to hear you.香蕉视频直播�
Now, he speaks through his art.
香蕉视频直播淢y pictures are worth a thousand words, look at my pictures if you want to know hear what I have to say.香蕉视频直播�
Vickers was not impressed by the federal government making Sept. 30 a statutory holiday called the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, feeling like it smacks of the same old patriarchal colonialism of the past.
香蕉视频直播淭he reconciliation the government talks about is bringing Indigenous people back to this beautiful relationship they had with the government. There wasn香蕉视频直播檛 one. They were oppressors from day one. We were people who were in the way of the settlers.
香蕉视频直播淭here香蕉视频直播檚 nothing to reconcile from that standpoint, but spiritually and soulfully, there is something to reconcile. But the leaders can香蕉视频直播檛 see that. They don香蕉视频直播檛. They don香蕉视频直播檛 even know what I香蕉视频直播檓 talking about.香蕉视频直播�
But while he has little patience for politicians, he has a little more faith in the Canadian public.
香蕉视频直播淚 think it should be a national day of mourning for Indigenous people, not truth and reconciliation.
香蕉视频直播淚f it is treated like that, by Canada as a nation, that would be incredible. And I know it will be. That香蕉视频直播檚 the way it香蕉视频直播檒l be looked on by Indigenous people across this country. And we have a national day. Not Aboriginal day, but a national day of mourning.
香蕉视频直播淎nd it香蕉视频直播檚 time.香蕉视频直播�
Prints of 香蕉视频直播淭hey Were Buried in the Night香蕉视频直播� will be available through the Roy Vickers Gallery in the near future. Next year, Vickers plans to paint a 90-foot wall of skulls in Terrace.
editor@interior-news.com
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