Arts and Culture

This mural is bringing life to Indigenous stories

New mural brightens up local business.

As part of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Kelowna10 is sharing past coverage of Indigenous stories.

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When you drive past Barry Beecroft Fuel Distributors in West Kelowna, you may notice a sea-can painted with beautiful Indigenous pictures.

The images, completed this week, reflect different stories from the syilx territory.

On each corner of the mural are the Four Food Chiefs which is part of a creation of how people came to be and how they were able to become privy to the resources on the land. The rest of the mural portrays Indigenous peoples working on and beside the lake, Turtle Island, and various animal myths and legends.

“We have the bitterroot, the Saskatoon bush, the salmon, and the black bear. All of them came together and they decided to help humans thrive,” local artist Coralee Miller, who led the project told Kelowna10. “They would give themselves so that we would have food, medicine, tools, clothing, and wisdom to observe.”

Miller, who’s from the syilx nation, said Beecroft Fuel wanted to have syilx representation at their location and she was approached to design and paint a mural on their property.

“They had that sea-can ready for us and they knew where they wanted that mural to go. And what’s exciting too is what they’re wanting to do is to have more. So, this is the first of many to come.”

She said the imagery and the stories showcased are inspired by the land.

“Land is important for your culture, and for your nation. Your language and our heritage come from the land,” Miller said. “What we’re trying to remind people is this is our land; we have been here since time in memorial.”

The mural took over a month and a half to finish. However, she didn’t tackle the project alone. She had the help from students at the sənsisyustən House of Learning from as young as pre-kindergarten to sixth graders painting different parts of the mural.

“I would just work along with the kids and would do a little bit of clean up and then I would do a lot of fill in [on the painting]. But it was very much a group effort,” she said. “It was really cool to watch them work and play together, being able to guide them along the way.”

Published 2022-06-16 by Connor Chan

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