In the United States of America (USA) and Canada, Native children en masse were forcibly removed from their homes [and placed in Boarding schools] as a way to address the “Indian” problem. The policy was “save the man; kill the Indian.” - Andrea Smith - Indigenous Peoples and Boarding Schools: a comparative study prepared for the UN.
Save the Man: memorial Art installation and community Poetry reflection on native residential schools in the USA and Canada
The discovery of the bodies of nearly 8,000 native children at former residential school sites in Canada has provided evidence of the systematic brutality of the residential school program in the USA and Canada. This installation was created by artist Jason Montgomery to remember and honor the children who never returned home from residential schools. This art installation is composed of 3 free standing collaged wooden structures and 2000 orange flags. the memorial remembers, honors, and acknowledges those children who died while attending a residential school in the USA and Canada. From 1879 to the present day, it is estimated that hundreds of thousands of Native Americans attended Indian boarding schools as children. even following the passage of the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975, The US still operates over 2 dozen off-reservation boarding schools and has yet to investigate a single us residential school site.
This piece also asks the community to reflect and leave a word or phrase in the boxes provided. These community contributions will be used by Easthampton Poets Laurate Alexandra Woolner and Jason Montgomery to craft one poem per week. these poems will be shared with the community and sent to lawmakers calling for the investigation into the US residential school sites.
The artists of this project honor and remember the children taken and the parents left behind. We recognize that every child matters.
We mourn the lives lost.
We demand justice for the lives taken.