multiPLAY Remembers.

Indigenous Lives Matter.

Every Child Matters.

Support is available for anyone affected by their experience at Canadian residential schools, and anyone who is triggered by references to them. People can access emotional and crisis referral services by calling the Indian Residential School Survivors Society

CRISIS SUPPORT  24/7 1-800-721-0066

In 2021, a group of artists connected to multiPLAY were given permission by the Tk̓ emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation to create an improvised audio and visual memorial to 215 children who had been at residential school, and whose unmarked graves were found on their territory, near Kamloops, BC, Canada. These 215 children woke up the world to facts survivors have told us for many years.

The artists are very grateful for the advice and blessings and contributions of Elder Lorna Standingready, Elder-in-Residence at the University of Regina, who shared her own stories and gave us prayer and advice as we prepared this video, on Treaty 4 land in Saskatchewan, with collaborators from across the country. At the end of this piece, she sings for her grandchildren, a song of love, strength, hope and security as they go to sleep. 

We must remember all the victims of the horrific residential school system in Canada, which forcibly took Indigenous children away from their families and cultures and forced them to endure terrible experiences of abuse and loss.

The last residential school closed in 1996.

Artist Statement/Bio:

The Remotions are an online “distanced” improvisation collective initiated by artist and technologist John Campbell using low latency audio and 360 degree livestreaming. The Remotions are: Norman Adams (cello, electronics); WL Altman (found sound, electronic music, performance art); Stacey Bliss (gong and percussion); Rebecca Caines (sound art); John Campbell (digital art, video, found sound); Helen Pridmore (vocals); and Gao Yujie (live visuals). Special guests: Erin Goodpipe is a dakȟóta wíŋyaŋ/ anishinaabekwe from tatanka najin oyate (Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation) and is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, and researcher. With a Bachelor of Indigenous Education from First Nations University of Canada (FNUniv, Regina). She is currently in her Masters and works on a number of health and wellness projects, based on her research in kinship, ceremony, and land/sky/water-based practices. Elder Lorna Standingready is a direct descendent of Ka-na- hah-cha-pay-o (Skillful Archer), one of the Treaty 4 negotiators, and great niece of Chief Peepeekisis, son of Ka-na-hah-cha-pay-o. Lorna attended three Indian Residential Schools and is a ten-year Residential School Survivor. Lorna has worked and volunteered in many capacities, and is frequently called upon to present a Welcome to Treaty 4 Territory and a Blessing.

This memorial premiered at the IF: Improvisation Festival in August, 2021, with all artist fees going to the Tk̓ emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation.

It will now be hosted permanently on this website.