Indigenous mural raised on Hwy. 3 on Canada Day: “We’re Still Here!”

“Canada Day is not a celebration for everyone,” said one Okanagan artist after an Indigenous mural was raised on a busy road in the Okanagan.

The University of British Columbia Okanagan in partnership with the Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society and Kelowna Senior Secondary (KSS) raised a billboard on Highway 3 near the town of Cawston on July 1 as a reminder that confederation and colonialism have had a negative effect on Indigenous communities in Canada.

“There are different perspectives on this land,” said Crystal Pryzbille, fine arts master student at UBCO and facilitator of the project.

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Syilx artist Sheldon Louis along with Grade 12 students in the Honors 12 art class painted “Lifeline - Sqilxw Resilience” last year with help of a $1,500 UBC partnership recognition fund and waited until July 1 to raise it.

It features a prismatic collection of Indigenous symbols and settings such as people, lakes, mountains and animals.

It was created through a series of discussions led by Louis and Syilx activist Dixon Terbasket, who discussed with the students the impact of colonialism on their people and culture

“There was lots of honking on the highway as people drove by,” said Pryzbille.

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The painting is in line with an on-going mission that Pryzbille describes as an artful reminder of Indigenous resilience from over a century of adversity and the broader histories of Canada.