If not 21. Demure

Randy Palmer - Moose Jaw Express

A display that stood for weeks on the steps of St. Andrew’s Church in support of the hundreds of lives lost to the residential school system is now a permanent fixture in the Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery. And it’s truly fitting, given the power of the message that was on display. More than 500 pairs of children’s shoes, stuffed animals, candles, notes and even photos of those lost were left by Moose Javians, far exceeding the original goal of 215 -- one for each body found in the Kamloops residential school unmarked grave -- set by organizers and sisters Cassidy and Kayleigh Olson. “It was actually really overwhelming in the end to see all the shoes, when we

visited the steps and saw how many there were, it was pretty powerful,” Cassidy said while visiting the new MJMAG display alongside Kayleigh. “And knowing that so many people had laid out those shoes… that was really big.” The duo both call Whitecap Dakota First Nation their home reserve and have direct family connections to residential school survivors. That made the spontaneous act that much more meanCassidy and Kayleigh Olson pause for a photo with some of ingful, especially the 500 pairs of shoes that were placed on the steps of St. An- once the communidrew’s Church and are now part of the Indigenous display in ty got behind it. the Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery. “Myself, personally, I didn’t even think it would get as big as it would get or that we’d reach our total of 215, I was kind of hesitant,” Kayleigh said. “But I was super grateful that we had some shoes just to start off and begin with, then when we reached 500 or so, that was just so surreal because I never imagined that to happen. And whenever we’d drive by or drop by, there were always people there paying their respects and talking to one another about it. “We’re just happy to see how well it turned out, especially for Moose Jaw,” she added. “We’re the kind of community that needs to start stepping forward, so I was really thrilled to see so many people support it.” When the time came to remove the dis-

Cassidy and Kayleigh with their kunshi Mavis Olson, who made the moccasins that are depicted on their orange ‘Every Child Matters’ shirt.

play, Cassidy decided to contact MJMAG curator Jennifer McRorie to see if something could be done to help continue the conversation and keep the message alive. “She was super quick to get back and said ‘we need something that’s not just history-based, we need something that can help educate’,” Cassidy said. “She said to bring the shoes over as soon as they were taken off the steps, then she contacted us the next day and said ‘I think I found a display and I think I found a vision’.” The rest is now permanent history -- a large glass display case holding hundreds of the shoes sits next to an open stand of still more pairs, along with photos and information about what it all means and how it came together. “For these children and their spirits, this had to happen” Kayleigh said. “People need to understand the truth and that these schools didn’t happen that long ago. It’s a chance for people to understand who we are as Indigenous people and why we face all these social issues and stereotypes that everyone thinks about. I really hope this will open the door to conversations about residential schools, and that it will open many other doors to things we carry as Indigenous people.” The work the sisters have put into spreading awareness and creating support for residential school survivors doesn’t end there. They’re currently selling orange ‘Every Child Matters’ t-shirts featuring a pair of moccasins their ‘kunshi’ -- Dakota for grandma -- made soon after she left the residential school system. They’re selling for $20 each, with all proceeds going to the Residential School Survivor Circle in Saskatchewan. You can buy one by visiting https://bit. ly/2U1FbdM. “(Their ‘kunshi’) being a survivor is very significant to all of this” Kayleigh said. “We do things for her and our relatives that weren’t able to have that voice and be Indigenous people. So I like to say I do this for my family and the others in the spirit world who won’t be able to do things like this.”

Festival of Words concludes 25th annual event with applause, big plans for future Look for next week’s feature overview of the Festival in Moose Jaw Express

By Larissa Kurz - Glacier Media

It was a weekend full of literature, panel discussions and connecting with authors about their craft, and organizers of the Saskatchewan Festival of Words are feeling great about how the 25th anniversary event was received. “I think people really enjoyed it. You got a little bit of Moose Jaw online, and that’s really a highlight, is giving that feeling,” said Amanda Farnel, operations manager and, previously, interim director. The Festival took place from July 15-18 as a hybrid event that included both virtual and in-person sessions for guests to attend — a decision that ended up being very last-minute but well worth the effort. “It was a really difficult year for planning, we started out planning a fully in-person Festival, and then we moved to fully online, and then partially online,” said Farnel. “It’s just been a crazy rollercoaster, where we were still planning events a few weeks before the Festival.” Most author readings, panels, workshops and Q&As were held by livestream on the Festival’s independent website, which also featured virtual tours of Festival venues, daily trivia and a video discussion room for the after-panel lobby experience. But Farnel and the team happily added some in-person opportunities to attend Festival events once the province confirmed pandemic restrictions would be lifted in time.

FoW summary: The 25th annual Festival of Words has concluded, after a fourday-long schedule of virtual and in-person events that lived up to the popular literary festival’s reputation. (photos by Larissa Kurz)

Working with the Moose Jaw Cultural Centre, the Mae Wilson Theatre was the place to be during the weekend, as guests were invited to watch the virtual sessions on the big screen in the theatre, enjoy a live concert from country-rock artist Val Halla and attend a series of three in-person author panels. “People have been saying how much it meant that we’ve done some in-person and online,” said Farnel. “So I’m very happy that everything turned out and everyone seems really happy with how it went.” Farnel said the return of a live audience to the concert was definitely a highlight, among other great moments over the weekend. “I loved the panel on ‘festivals from an author’s perspective,’ that was really great,” said Farnel. “And the [after-event video rooms] were great, because it became almost like a little focus group on what people want to see in future years, [and] it’s great to see people are so invested and willing to give us ideas.” The goal of this year’s Festival was to feel as normal as possible, said Farnel, as the popular event celebrated 25 very successful years in operation. “We didn’t want it to be another session you’re watching on a screen, we wanted it to be more like entertainment, and I think we pulled it off,” said Farnel. ‘We were trying to make it feel in-person, but online and you’ll never capture that fully but I think we did pretty well.” Attendee and author feedback was overwhelmingly positive, she continued, and organizers are already looking forward to next year’s event. Farnel confirmed that moving forward in the future, the Festival is going to be keeping a virtual aspect even as sessions return to their usual delivery and volunteers, attendees and authors once again converge on the Friendly City for the weekend. She also added that being forced into a virtual event last year due to the pandemic really pushed the Festival to adapt sooner than it’s natural timeline would have played out, but it turned out to be a positive move. “For years, we’ve been talking about doing more virtual stuff and we have incorporated it in the past, but this really forced us to completely reevaluate how we look at our festival events,” said Farnel. “It’s already giving us opportunities to get [guest authors] that we normally couldn’t because they can’t make it down for the four full days, so it’s really giving us more opportunity to expand and do some cool things.” Already confirmed for appearances at the 2022 Festival of Words are Giller Prize-winning travel writer Will Ferguson, Cree writer, poet and lawyer Michelle Good and author and screenwriter Emma Donoghue, who penned the novel Room and later adapted it into an Academy Award-winning film. The Book Launch session will also be making a return to the Festival, in partnership with Saskatoon-based publisher Thistledown Press. Recordings of all the sessions from this year’s Festival of Words will be available for anyone to view until July 31, hosted online at SKFOW25.com. A feature-overview of the festival will appear in next week’s edition of the Moose Jaw Express.