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Narrative

Photograph of the artist's son, Nukal Barturin, when he was four years old.

Description

Large photographic print. A young boy stands in the centre of the photo. His smiling face and lower legs are in colour, while his torso and upper legs are surrounded by a rectangular black & white, X-ray type image overlaying the colour picture. Inside the rectangle he is wearing a neat suit coat, pants and tie, hands joined behind his back. Seen in the background are a hardwood floor, a washroom, and a frosted window. On the sides of the photo are images of cellulose film notches.

History Of Use

Artist’s statement for 3043/1-2: "These two pieces juxtapose the atrocities of the residential school experience with the modern school experience. The first day of school is typically synonymous with nervous yet proud parents sending their clean, well fed, well dressed children off to a safe learning environment to play and meet new friends and then return home, Monday to Friday. The reality for First Nations across Canada is the first day of school has been the exact opposite experience. The first day of school for First Nations was a heartbreaking and tragic experience for parents who were legally forced to send their children (as young as four) for the entire school year, often in a different town, returning home for short summer visits. The children were extremely frightened and were subjected to an extremely unsafe environment, often only speaking their own language; a curriculum extremely less-than-equal to other Canadian students; substandard nutrition plans that result in malnutrition and often lead to illness and death; no access to medical attention, resulting in serious illness and in some cases death; repeated violent sexual assaults that may have led to pregnancies; continuous mental abuse, physical torture and complete cultural genocide: “Kill the Indian in the child.”
These two pieces are visual manifestations of the crimes against humanity committed in the 139 residential schools in Canada against children as young as four – the age of the boy and girl in these two pieces. “First day of school” is also a visual cue that these offenses did not occur ‘in our distant past’ – that they occurred only one short generation ago. My father was a day scholar at the Sechelt Residential School. This residential school closed in 1975, the year I was born. The First Day of School pieces are relevant imagery for the Here and Now exhibition when discussing community. It is important to acknowledge all aspects of the history of a community, and in this community a residential school existed from 1912 – 1975. That is 62 years…." (written by Dionne Paul for the exhibition “Here and Now: Contemporary Art on the Sunshine Coast” held in Sechelt BC in October 2013.)