Edward Poitras

Pile of Rocks

Oliver B. Buell, First Industrial School with
Father Hugonnard and Indian Children in Foreground,
Lebret, 1885. Courtesy of the SK Archives Board #R-A448

Many years ago, when I saw this photograph of Father Hugonnard with a group of students, a few nuns, a mother and child, I saw a place from another time. I was there, in the background on the other hill. Looking back in time.

They are sitting on the north side of the valley with the Lebret Indian Residential School in the background. They are facing southwest looking at something beyond the border of the picture frame. It is mid day, the sun is shining with a few clouds. There is a distortion in front of the boys which they do not see.

The man behind the camera is Oliver B. Buell and the only ones who are staring at the camera are the mother and child as if unconcerned with what is beyond the border of the photograph. They are wrapped in blankets indicating it is cold and it looks like there are no leaves on the trees. It is autumn, 1885. The others are looking towards Regina and positioned as if sitting in a theatre...

The hanging of Riel has been placed before them for consideration. It has been known for months and postponed twice. It is a lesson for the children and others who would take up arms. A similar event will happen in North Battleford where the Indian school children will be exposed to the actual hanging of eight warriors on the 27th of November 1885. These, one can only imagine.

In the background on the other side of the valley, a fire burns and one cannot help but wonder if it is also intentional and a part of the picture. There is a sense of contact and loss.

I used this image in a billboard thus taking the students who appear on that picture into the industrialized world they were being trained to become part of, all dressed in their uniforms. So they may witness the impact of industrial progress on nature. The grass still grows. The sun shines and the water still flows. The trees burn in the Amazon and things move. Like the Buffalo, they come and go. Like waves of change.

“THE AMAZON IS BURNING.”

“WHILE YOU PLAY BINGO...”

Installation view of Qu’Appelle: Tales of Two Valleys
Mendel Art Gallery, 2002