When Roy Henry Vickers speaks about his powerful new artwork sa国际传媒淭hey Were Buried in the Nightsa国际传媒� he chokes up.

sa国际传媒淭he angel is rising from the skulls of the children who have died, and her arms are uplifted, and theresa国际传媒檚 new life,sa国际传媒� Vickers describes. sa国际传媒淎nd that new life shines on us all. So the rays come from that beautiful little child. And thatsa国际传媒檚 what I see. Healing will bring beauty back to the people, people will reconnect to the land, all of us, because we all live here, new life.sa国际传媒�

Vickers hopes the discovery of 215 children in unmarked graves at the former residential school in Kamloops, and the thousands that are sure to follow according to estimates by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, is a wake-up call to all Canadians.

sa国际传媒淔or me, the great thing about all of these bodies coming to the mass knowledge of Canadians is, well, maybe now people will begin to hear, and if they begin to hear then there will be compassion because you cansa国际传媒檛 listen to these stories and not feel them deep down inside if yousa国际传媒檙e a human being and have a heart and everybody does.

sa国际传媒淥nce that happens then the compassion of us, as Canadians, for the Indigenous people actually helps to bring about the change for healing and thatsa国际传媒檚 the only thing thatsa国际传媒檚 going to change and thatsa国际传媒檚 for us to heal.sa国际传媒�

He also hopes it will lead to some concrete action.

sa国际传媒淢y dream is, now that we know these bodies are here, they cansa国际传媒檛 be left there, they should be exhumed, DNA done no matter what cost.

sa国际传媒淲e just spent the money on a ridiculous election that would have taken care of this whole thing, identify the bodies, return them to their homes. The massive amount of healing that would come from that is priceless, you cansa国际传媒檛 even put a value in money on that.sa国际传媒�

Vickers, a third-generation survivor of the residential school system, has personal experience of the generational trauma imposed by not just the horrors at residential schools, but the decades of silence that followed.

sa国际传媒淲henever we spoke about genocide it was sa国际传媒榗ultural genocide,sa国际传媒� but no itsa国际传媒檚 a genocide when you look at the number of bodies, mostly murdered, experiments done on them, kids thrown down stairs, girls raped and pregnant and go hang themselves because they cansa国际传媒檛 stand the shame.

sa国际传媒淧eople came back and they were told they would go to hell if they ever spoke of it once they left school so I heard nothing from my grandmother, from my dad, from any of my uncles and aunts and I went to them directly.

sa国际传媒淚f we donsa国际传媒檛 talk about it, how is anything going to change and how am I to know why my dadsa国际传媒檚 behaviour is as it is unless I know what happened to him, so itsa国际传媒檚 generations of unresolved trauma.

sa国际传媒淣ow wesa国际传媒檙e at a point that the inside rage and anger of those who suffered to the end of their lives, most of them because there was no one to help them deal with the trauma, and people wonder why there is so much addiction among Indigenous people.sa国际传媒�

Vickers has been there himself, in a place where the rage, suffering and addiction almost led him to suicide.

sa国际传媒淎t 45 years of age on Valentinesa国际传媒檚 Day, I hit the end of my rope for the last time, I thought, and I was going to put a bullet in my brain like so many have, but fortunately I was taught that life is a gift and you do not have the right to end it.

sa国际传媒淪o, I only had one choice, as Bob Dylan says, I have to change my way of thinking, make a different set of rules.

sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 been two decades of moving through the trauma and constantly having to go back and look at it again and seeing it come up again and deal with it again and thatsa国际传媒檚 the way it is when yousa国际传媒檙e healing and if yousa国际传媒檙e not healing then yousa国际传媒檙e just in this hopeless, dark, angry, shameful place and nobody wants to hear you.sa国际传媒�

Now, he speaks through his art.

sa国际传媒淢y pictures are worth a thousand words, look at my pictures if you want to know hear what I have to say.sa国际传媒�

Vickers was not impressed by the federal government making Sept. 30 a statutory holiday called the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, feeling like it smacks of the same old patriarchal colonialism of the past.

sa国际传媒淭he reconciliation the government talks about is bringing Indigenous people back to this beautiful relationship they had with the government. There wasnsa国际传媒檛 one. They were oppressors from day one. We were people who were in the way of the settlers.

sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 nothing to reconcile from that standpoint, but spiritually and soulfully, there is something to reconcile. But the leaders cansa国际传媒檛 see that. They donsa国际传媒檛. They donsa国际传媒檛 even know what Isa国际传媒檓 talking about.sa国际传媒�

But while he has little patience for politicians, he has a little more faith in the Canadian public.

sa国际传媒淚 think it should be a national day of mourning for Indigenous people, not truth and reconciliation.

sa国际传媒淚f it is treated like that, by Canada as a nation, that would be incredible. And I know it will be. Thatsa国际传媒檚 the way itsa国际传媒檒l be looked on by Indigenous people across this country. And we have a national day. Not Aboriginal day, but a national day of mourning.

sa国际传媒淎nd itsa国际传媒檚 time.sa国际传媒�

Prints of sa国际传媒淭hey Were Buried in the Nightsa国际传媒� will be available through the Roy Vickers Gallery in the near future. Next year, Vickers plans to paint a 90-foot wall of skulls in Terrace.

editor@interior-news.com
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