Three new installations by Indigenous artists at The Forks will recognize the importance of truth and reconciliation while "while paying homage to the exchanges of compassion upon which Manitoba was founded," explained a press release.

 KC Adams, Jaimie Isaac and Val Vint are the three Indigenous artists whose works will be installed at the Forks in 2020 and 2021.

The installations are curated by Dr. Julie Nagam, Chair of the History of Indigenous Arts of North America at the University of Winnipeg and Winnipeg Art Gallery. 

The works are all centered around Indigenous history and life. The installations are carefully crafted and each one will shed a unique light on truth and reconciliation.

This light is very real in one of the three installations as the work itself features "eight spherical globes, internally lit by strong solar panels of varying colors."

"The Eighth and Final Fire," by Jamie Isaac is made up of colored lights that signify the story of an Anishinabe prophecy foretelling the arrival of the settlers.

The story goes that if the "light-skinned race" choose the right path they would become brothers and sister with the indigenous people and live in peace.

Isaac wants to encourage the government to make choices to get us back onto that right path. This right relationship would light the eighth eternal Fire of peace, love, brotherhood and sisterhood, mentioned in the Anishinabe story and reconciliation might truly occur.

KC Adams concrete sculpture, "Friendship" is another call to action in the battle for reconciliation.

Adams explained, in making her sculpture names of wronged indigenous people like Tina Fontaine, Errol Greene, Brian Sinclair, came to her mind.

But along with those memories comes a memory of the "Grand Chief David Courchene Sr. (Anishinaabe from Sagkeeng First Nation, 1926-1992) and his address to Canadians in 1971."

Adams remembers him speaking "passionately about our struggles since contact and our ability to adapt to changing environment, our unbreakable spirit and our love for this land . . . of hope and that our attachment to the land means that we must also commit ourselves to help develop a healthy society for all the people who live upon this land. "

The last Installation called "Education is the new Buffalo" by Val Vint will allow people to see the prosses of reconciliation in a new way as he believes, "the door of truth must be flung wide open

and journeyed through before we can ever hope to reach the door of reconciliation."

This installation features a 20-foot-tall Buffalo constructed of replicas of books and videos that the artist hopes will help usher in a real understanding of what reconciliation means.

The three artists are the co-creators of Niimaamaa and piece currently located at the Forks at Niizhoziibean.

These coming projects, like Niimaamaa, received funding from The Foundations through their ongoing Green Spaces Initiative.

“It is a very intentional commitment from The Foundation to support these projects, which are vitally important during this time in our national history which calls on each one of us to respond to and support healing, truth and reconciliation,” says Richard Frost, CEO, The Winnipeg Foundation.

Paul Jordan, CEO, The Forks is also excited about these projects saying, “It makes sense for The Forks to be the host of these significant art pieces, given the site’s strong ties to Indigenous history . . For millennia, this site has been a place for collaboration, trade, and conversation – we look forward to these art pieces continuing that story.”