Just in time for National Aboriginal Veterans Day, an Indigenous crosswalk is taking shape in downtown Wallaceburg.
The municipality has partnered with Nicholas Riley, an artist from Bkejwanong First Nation, who Mayor Darrin Canniff says should be on site in the next day or two.
“We’re going to have an Indigenous artist coming in very shortly, they’ll put the feathers on,” Canniff says. “Whyte’s Pickles has paid for that, they stepped in the community and covered all the costs of doing that. It’s going to be a nice addition.”
Canniff first presented a motion to council for the crosswalk one year ago, calling it a way for the community to take a step towards reconciliation and honour First Nations children who were taken from their families and forced to attend residential schools.
The seven feathers represent guiding principles called the Seven Sacred Teachings, or Seven Grandfather Teachings, which include wisdom, love, respect, bravery, honesty, humility, and truth.
The new crosswalk is located on James Street at the corner of Duncan, leading up to the L.O. Stonehouse Walking Bridge.
