In his words:
The red silhouette of a person on the right kneeling represents the Indigenous people. Their children were taken from them, forcefully and were subjected to sexual and physical abuses. They were punished if they spoke their language and the Canadian government banned potlaches and kept them from practicing their culture. Many of the First Nations have lost their traditional ways of governing themselves. This aggressive assimilation and colonization method was used by the government to divest itself of its financial and legal obligations to the first nations in order to take control over their land and its resources.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has defined Reconciliation as follows:
“Reconciliation is about establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between the First Nations and non-First Nations in this country. In order for that to happen, there has to be awareness of the past, an acknowledgment of the harm that has been inflicted, atonement for the causes, and action to change behavior.”
The four silhouettes that are yellow, black, white and brown with arms outstretched, represents the multicultural group or groups that have undertaken to learn about the first nations plight in the past over one hundred years. Their outstretched arms depict them asking for wisdom and the Eagle Rising in the background represents what the First Nations have always believed, that the Eagle is a symbol of courage, wisdom and strength. They have always believed that the Eagles’ purpose was as a messenger to the Creator (God) because he flies so high.
