Calgary's permanent memorial to residential school victims receives planning input

Calgary's Indigenous Relations Office offered new insights into a permanent memorial for residential school survivors and victims at an event Wednesday.

City officials laid out their plans for a permanent memorial at the Indian Residential School Memorial Validation Ceremony, sharing feedback from "hundreds of contributions related to preferred location, design and the future of the temporary memorial." 

Feedback was collected from numerous Indigenous community members and Indigenous-serving groups. They participated in the first phase of engagement that took place between September and December 2022.

"This monument will provide a place for people to gather, pay respects and ensure that the history and legacy of the schools are never forgotten," said Sherri Kellock, an Indigenous consultant and co-lead of the memorial project, in a news release.

Over 9,000 people visited the project's online portal, which received 732 contributions.

Additionally, 185 members of the local Indigenous community were a part of offline engagement discussions hosted by the Indigenous Relations Office.

Participants shared preferred design themes and chose potential locations for the permanent memorial.   

Three locations stood out: Olympic Plaza, Fort Calgary and the Municipal Building.

Participants suggested opting for "traditional Indigenous design" while "incorporating the spirit of the temporary memorial" outside the Municipal Building. They also expressed a desire to see "the inclusion of nature and meaningful symbolism" at the memorial.

Respondents declared they'd like to see a memorial that is accessible to all with adequate seating space.

The Indigenous Relations Office is working with several partners, including local indigenous participants, the IRS Elders Advisory Group and the IRS working group to design a memorial "guided by the seven sacred teachings and by community discussions." 

The second phase of the project will focus on carrying out site feasibility discussions along with finalizing design, procurement, construction and "blessing of the ground and construction itself."

The permanent memorial is expected to be completed by 2025.