ST. PAUL - A bear statue presented to Portage College and placed at the St. Paul campus on Friday afternoon is filled with meaning, according to those involved.
The mother bear and her cub sit atop a stone platform, with the words "Every child matters" displayed. Saddle Lake sculptor Stewart Steinhauer created the piece, and was on hand as it was lifted, guiding it gently as it was put in place.
Elder Eugene Makokis offered a prayer, and drummers offered a song while the bear was gently placed at its new home.
Speaking specifically to the meaning behind the bear statue was Dr. Diana Steinhauer.
"Behind the symbology is a deeper layer of understanding and meaning. And one of them that I want to talk about...(is how) we have a treaty relationship. Our Nations and Peoples entered into a relationship with the Crown," explained Diana. The Crown asked permission for her people to come live on the land, "we had listened always, and followed the laws of our Creator... (and) with that, the Creator told all of his creation to be kind."
The bear itself is acknowledged as the lead of all of the clans that are families and represents four important laws. The four paws of the bear each represent four important laws, explained Diana further. The first law is kindness, which also includes love; the second law is honesty, and the third law is sharing.
Speaking specifically to the third law, she said "Our peoples follow those laws of sharing, that whatever we have we can share. When the Creator told our people at the beginning to be kind to all of creation... he meant all of the peoples of the world."
The intention of Turtle Island is that all people of the world would come here, and "We were to share. We were to make them feel welcome... and that's what that sharing is about, we shared our lands," said Diana.
The fourth law is strength.
"We receive that strength when we pray... in that humbled interdependance, balanced characterization of what it means to be strong."
Going further, Diana noted how the statue shows a mother bear with a cub, and speaks to the importance of women.
"The Creator gave us - women - the capacity to be life givers here on Earth. Without us, there would be no life, there would be no human beings."
Dr. Pat Makokis was also on hand to offer some thoughts and words to those gathered.
She spoke about residential schools, and noted how many Indigenous people weren't taught the Creator's laws, yet they are all called to live that way.
"We all really need to work together... to embed this knowledge," said Makokis.
When children went to residential schools, they were taught that they were heathens, savages and pagans; and non-Indigenous children were taught the same things, said Makoki.
Referring to a speech by Justice Murray Sinclair, Makokis relayed the message that "education got us into that mess, and it's education that's going to get us out of this mess." Sinclair was chairman of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission from 2009 to 2015.
Makokis said she was happy when she heard the sculpture would be coming to Portage College, and acknowledged the good work being done, and the people involved.
"When Stewart said this carving was coming here, I was really, really pleased about that," she said.
Nancy Broadbent, president and CEO of Portage College, said the institution is always very honoured to receive gifts, such as the new bear sculpture.
She noted that there has been an awakening since the 215 unmarked graves were discovered at the former residential school in Kamloops. She noted that when the conversations started, there was lots of information about it, but then, things got quiet.
"It needs to continue, those conversations. So my hope is that on this very busy street there will be lots of people walking by, and (they will) be curious... and will be asking the right questions," said Broadbent.
Bonnyville-Cold Lake-St. Paul MLA David Hanson said he felt fortunate to be in attendance, and noted that events like this make his job easy. Just the other day, speaking about the arts in the Legislature, Hanson brought up Stewart Steinhauer's name, along with Cold Lake First Nation's Alex Janvier.
Hanson recalled being involved with healing circles while he did work with the 60s Scoop and a question that often came up was "where were the children that didn't come home?" He noted that he believes there are still a lot more truths to come.
A similar sculpture was installed at the Saddle Lake youth centre on Sept. 30 and was also created by Stewart.
