Simon Fraser University creates memorial for residential school students

BURNABY, B.C. – A memorial honouring First Nations, Metis and Inuit children who attended residential schools will be built at Simon Fraser University’s Burnaby, B.C., campus.

A release from the university says the memorial will be part of the Faculty of Education’s new Aboriginal Gathering Place.

The director of the Office for Aboriginal Peoples at S.F.U says the process is just beginning, but the memorial will likely include a copper or bronze wall plaque with map, locations and names of B.C. residential schools.

William Lindsay says it will also have a small stone or bronze statue of a hugging mother and child figure, a memorial garden with traditionally used plants, and an outdoor classroom.

He says the space will become a place of honour, a place to remember and a place to learn.

A date for the completion of the memorial has not been set but Lindsay says it will take several years as renovations continue within the Faculty of Education.