Running free: Wildflowers growing freely for the children who never had the chance
Running free: Wildflowers growing freely for the children who never had the chance
Who are we & what are we doing?
We are a group of coworkers living on the traditional, unceded, stolen lands of the Coast Salish people. Most of us identify as settlers and guests on these lands; we are also honoured to be guided by team members who are of Indigenous Ancestry. We are among the many people across Turtle Island and around the world, who were devastated by the news of the discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous children at the site of a residential school on the lands of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation.
The truth that many Indigenous children who were forced to attend residential schools never made it home has been known publicly from the accounts of survivors and their families. The news of this discovery made that truth present and painful.
Like most people, we felt sorrow, anguish, and outrage, and we searched for something meaningful to do to express our grief. We are blessed to work alongside Elder Valerie Nicholson, who is Mi'kmaq, Haida and Roma in descent, as well as Claudette Cardinal, a Wise woman who is Cree in descent. Both Elder Valerie and Wise woman Claudette were immersed in Ceremony following the discovery of the initial grave sites. They both still graciously offered guidance and wisdom during this difficult time, and shared ideas for what our group can do to stand in solidarity with our Indigenous communities and survivors of these institutions. Elder Valerie's vision, in short, is to plant 215 wildflower gardens in memory of the children whose lives were taken on the lands of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation.
Announcements & Events
Planting at the Every Child Matters garden & Opening of the naturalized area at Copley Community Orchard
A dedicated group of Girl Guides set to work at the Copley Community Orchard to plant orange tulips and crocus bulbs.
Date and time: Saturday, June 8th, 2024. 10am - 12pm
Location: Copley Community Orchard located at 3554 Copley Street, Vancouver, B.C. (between Copley, Walker and Vanness Street; near Nanaimo Skytrain Station; and across from Naomi’s Place).
More details: please see Copley’s facebook page
Copley Community Orchard partner with a group of girl guides for a planting party
A dedicated group of Girl Guides set to work at the Copley Community Orchard to plant orange tulips and crocus bulbs.
Date and time: Saturday, November 18, 2023
Location: Copley Community Orchard located at 3554 Copley Street, Vancouver, B.C. (between Copley, Walker and Vanness Street; near Nanaimo Skytrain Station; and across from Naomi’s Place).
More details: please see Copley’s facebook page
Copley Community Orchard April's Work Party - Every Child Matters Garden Ceremony
Copley Community Orchard and the Running Free Wildflower Garden Society with Elder Valerie Nicholson came together at the Every Child Matters Garden once again to honour the children who never came home. The gathering included a ceremony led by Elder Valeerie, and planting more seeds and plants in the garden, as well as writing messages on orange rocks.
Date and time: Saturday, April 8, 2023, 10:30am
Location: Copley Community Orchard located at 3554 Copley Street, Vancouver, B.C. (between Copley, Walker and Vanness Street; near Nanaimo Skytrain Station; and across from Naomi’s Place).
For more details, please see Copley’s facebook page
Donations:
Did you know Copley is NOT a City of Vancouver park? All work is done by volunteers.
The orchard is funded through grants and personal donations.
If you can donate, we prefer online, but we will still accept cash if that is easier for you.
The suggested donation is $20.00 to $50.00 for the season or $5.00 per event.
Giving online is available at https://copleycommunityorchard.com/fundraising/
See you at the Orchard soon!
Hartley, Alban, Daniel, Favour, Kaylin, Mark and Tanya
Copley Community Orchard Board Members
FYI: 2023 work party dates are May 13, June 10, July 8, August 12, September 9, October 14, and November 18th.
NEIGHBOURHOOD FOOD WEEK: 215 Memorial Garden Ceremony & Garden Launch
The Vancouver Urban Food Forest Foundation (VUFFF) held a 215 Memorial Garden Planting and Ceremony with an Opening by Elder Valerie Nicholson. The event was well attended by lots of very young planters who got their hands in the soil, and did some reflecting while painting rocks.
Date and time: September 29, 2022, 10am-12:30pm
Location: Oxford Park, 2050 Wall Street, Vancouver, BC V5L 1B1.
More details: The schedule and description are posted here on VUFFF's Eventbrite page.
Running Free Q&A Session: April 4th, 2022
The Running Free Wildflower Gardens team hosted a question and answer session open to anyone interested in creating a wildflower garden to remember the children and childhoods taken by residential schools. Those who joined got an overview of the project, learned about some current gardens, and were offered the opportunity to ask questions and join in discussion.
If you missed the session, check out the recording of the Running Free Wildflower Garden Public Q&A session.
If you have questions that weren't addressed in the session, please reach out to us at runningfreewildflowergardens@gmail.com
or through our contact form.
Whether you're interested in creating something to remember at home, that will help bring back the bees, or if you'd like to bring a bigger project to school or work and remember with your community, we're here to support anyone who would like to create a garden and spread connection and understanding.
Wildflower Garden Launched!
Our first physical garden in Vancouver was launched on September 29, 2021.
We felt that it was important for this community-driven initiative to be launched one day in advance of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation - September 30th - which was declared by the Senate of Canada to honour survivors of and those taken by the Indian residential school system in Canada.
Visit the garden:
Corner of 1st & Commercial, Vancouver, BC
(Behind the Red Burrito & Mr. Pets)
Fundraiser
Support the creation and planting of Running Free Wildflower Gardens!
GoFundMe Fundraiser
Funds will go toward garden supplies and supporting Indigenous businesses, like seed suppliers, nurseries, and Elders providing ceremonial garden openings.
New shoots
In this section we showcase the latest gardens, but you can find records of all existing gardens in the "Gardens" section.
When will the next gardens be planted?
Planting conditions to ensure our gardens survive and thrive will be ideal in the Fall and Spring, so our team will be pulling on our gardening gloves next Spring.
Project Update:
We set out with a vision of 215 wildflower gardens to honour the young lives taken on the lands of the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation. Our team began reaching out to various community gardens to seek out space to plant wildflowers to memorialize the children.
Sadly, in the time that has lapsed since our group came together to take action, several more grave sites were discovered. We have mourned 104 losses discovered by the Sioux Valley Dakota Nation (at the former Brandon Indian Residential School); 751 losses discovered on the lands of the Cowessess First Nation (at the former site of the Marital Indian Residential School); 182 losses discovered by the St. Mary’s First Nation, a member of the Ktunaxa Nation (at the site near the former St. Eugene’s Mission Residential School); and 160 losses discovered by the Penelakut First Nation (at the site of the former Super Island Indian Industrial School).
Many First Nations are undergoing searches on the grounds of former residential schools including:
Ahousaht Indian Residential School
Muscowequan Indian Residential School
St. Joseph’s Residential School
Shubenacadie Indian Residential School.
As we brace ourselves for the many more such discoveries in the months to come, we know that the number of allies who wish to contribute will also grow. We sincerely hope that Elder Valerie’s vision for the 215 wildflower gardens for the children flourishes, and the seeds of her vision find their way all across Turtle Island and beyond.
What can I do?
Want to get involved? There are so many ways!
Plant a wildflower memorial garden of your own
We encourage anyone who is interested in starting a wildflower garden in their home or community or workplace garden to do so.
While this is a community-based initiative and each garden will surely take on a life of its own, we kindly ask you to consider the following guidelines:
Tell us you’re interested in starting a garden!
Head to the Contact Us page, or send an email to runningfreewildflowergardens@gmail.comLet us know how we can help.
Is there anything we can do to help out? Do you have a source for seeds? Are you connected with Indigenous Elders who can open the garden in a Good Way?Set up a commemorative flower garden.
If you’re planting a new garden, fall (September) or spring is the best time to plant wildflowers. Research what flowers and plants are native to your location. We may be able to help with this, or if you have information we would love to hear what grows near you and the history of your natural area!Visibly display a sign that says “Running free: Wildflowers growing freely for the children who never had the chance” and a land acknowledgement.
You can write this message on a piece of plywood or on a rock, or get a laminated sign to post. Customize the sign any way you like, so that it is meaningful to your specific location, or we can help out with a digital template that you can print and laminate locally and post in the gardens.Take a photo of your garden and share with the team
If you are comfortable with us sharing publicly, email photos of your garden with the location and story behind it to our team at runningfreewildflowergardens@gmail.com. We would love to post about your garden. You can send us the address if it’s in a public space, or just the neighbourhood or approximate location that you are comfortable sharing (e.g. Glenayre, Port Moody, B.C.). Feel free to include any details, such as why you built the garden, and who is in your team or helped out.Consider sharing a photo of your garden on your social media. Make sure to tag us!
This will help to spread the word and encourage others to consider donating to the cause or starting their own garden to honour Indigenous children.
Other ideas to add to your garden:
If you have other ideas as well, please let us know and we can add them here.
- Put an orange shirt somewhere in the garden
- Paint rocks with notes or images to post around your garden, or place rocks that are natural and unpainted. Elder Val teaches us that these are the grandparents, and will protect the children's spirits who visit your garden.
- Utilise native resources, like cedar, that are important to Indigenous culture and history. Find out what is meaningful to the local Indigenous culture.
- Fit seating in or near the garden, so that folk can rest, consider, and mediate. These can be as simple as tree stumps.
- Include orange flowers around the garden, those native and planted or crafted.
Sponsor a garden
Don’t have a green thumb but wish to contribute?
Our team has launched a Go Fund Me campaign, with 100% of the proceeds going towards the purchase of wildflower seeds from local Indigenous owned and operated nurseries. This is an entirely volunteer-driven initiative. Any funds that are not used directly towards the wildflower garden project for whatever reason will be donated to the Indian Residential School Survivor Society.
Actively Practice Allyship
Have a friend, colleague, or acquaintance of Indigenous ancestry? Find your own special way to say, “I see you, I hear you, I stand with you.”
What are some tangible ways to do that? Wear orange or black every July 1st and August 1st (BC Day) in solidarity with the Every Child Matters campaign and as an act of resistance against the typical 'thoughts and prayers' response from elected officials. Observe September 30th, the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, by wearing an orange shirt as well.
Learn directly from Phyllis Webstad about the history and significance of the orange shirt.
Resources
Educate yourself & those around you
We think it is important to resist the urge to ask our Indigenous friends what we can do during this horrible time. Indigenous people do not owe anyone an explanation or a history lesson or suggestions for a way forward. Indigenous people deserve this time and space to heal.
Those among us who are non Indigenous are grief stricken and filled with outrage over the atrocities experienced by Indigenous peoples at residential schools and are rightfully demanding action, and searching for something to do.
We have compiled a list of resources to consult and actions we can take as allies at this time:
Learn about whose land you live on:
Native Lands strive to map Indigenous lands in a way that changes, challenges, and improves the way people see the history of their countries and peoples.
We recommend you discover the history of the land on which you live and work, to encourage territory awareness in everyday speech and action.
Helplines
To share, to support, to use.
- Hope for wellness: 1-855-242-3310
- National Residential School Crisis Line 24/7: 1-866-925-4411
- Ontario: 1-888-301-6426
- Indian Residential School Survivors Society: 1-800-721-0066 or 24hr Crisis Line 1-866-925-4419
Do your research
We have collated resources for you to self-educate that we have found useful, but ensure you always listen to indigenous voices, ask honest questions, and be willing to learn through all forms of communication.
Website
- Settlers Take Action https://oncanadaproject.ca/settlerstakeaction
Films & Podcasts
- Thunder Bay - CANADALAND Podcast
- Finding Cleo - CBC Podcast
- Canada’s Dark Secret - via Al Jazeera on YouTube
- A Mother’s Voice - via STORYHIVE on YouTube
- Residential Schools - Historica Canada Podcast
- Indian Horse – An adaptation of Ojibway writer Richard Wagamese’s bestseller
- We were children - Directed by Tim Wolochatiuk
- Je m’appelle humain – histoire de Joséphine Bacon, par Kim O'bamsawin
Free courses
- “Indigenous Canada” - offered by the University of Alberta, Faculty of Native Studies
Read Up
Some select texts are below, but if you have suggestions for us to add please get in touch in the contact section
Literature
- “21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act” by Bob Joseph
- “A Knock on the Door” by Phil Fontaine, Aimée Craft, The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada
- “Loss of Indigenous Eden and the Fall of Spirituality” by Blair Stonechild
- "Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City” by Tanya Talaga
- "Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation." Smith, M. G. (2017).
- “The Colonial Problem: An Indigenous Perspective on Crime and Injustice in Canada” by Lisa Monchalin
- “Up Ghost River” (St Annes in Fort Albany) by Edmund Metatawabin
- “Un thé dans la toundra“ & “quelque part“ par Josephine Bacon
Reports
These are great sources to understand the situation, to advise and advocate with, and to offer change ideas.
- Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s: the 94 Calls to Action
https://nctr.ca/records/reports/
- UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/documents/DRIPS_en.pdf
- National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls
https://www.mmiwg-ffada.ca/final-report/
- A historic legal victory for First Nations children and Canada’s failure to comply: Canadian Human Rights Tribunal finds that Canada is racially discriminating against 165,000 First Nations children and their families
https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/.../INT_CERD_NGO_CAN_27941_E...
- Rapport Viens https://www.cerp.gouv.qc.ca/.../Rapport/Rapport_final.pdf
- In Plain Sight https://engage.gov.bc.ca/.../In-Plain-Sight-Full-Report.pdf
Principles/Actions
- Jordan’s Principle: https://fncaringsociety.com/jordans-principle
- Spirit Bear Plan: https://fncaringsociety.com/spirit-bear-plan
- Shannen’s Dream: https://fncaringsociety.com/shannens-dream
- Joyce Principle: https://fncaringsociety.com/shannens-dream
Gain Context
It’s crucial to understand that the removal of First Nations children from their home and communities is still happening today. Put pressure on your Elected Officials
When the residential school era came to an end, the Government of Canada’s First Nations Child and Family Services Program (“FNCFSP”) was implemented. Today, this Child and Family Services Program provides more incentives for taking children into care than it provides support for preventive, early intervention and less intrusive measures. As a result, more Indigenous children live out of family care today, than at the height of Residential Schools.
In 2016, Canada was found to be discriminating against First Nations children. Nevertheless, our government continues its perpetual legal battle against First Nations families and has been issued 10 non-compliance orders from the Commission of Human Rights Tribunal in the past 4 years alone. In 2019, the Tribunal found Canada to be “wilfully and recklessly” discriminating against First Nations children and was ordered to compensate every child. To this day, Canada has NOT compensated First Nations children and continues to challenge the ruling.
We as settlers and non-Indigenous people of this land need to own what happened - and keeps happening; we need to sit with the discomfort of our country's actions. We need to do better.
Gallery
Photos & videos from gardens, and of wildflowers taken by the Running Free team
Connect With Us
Accounts coming soon!
Email
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
