EMILY HSUEH
MANSFIELD ET PONTEFRACT Feb. 17, 2021
A new hub for healing and cultural and community affairs will be open to the public on Aboriginal Day in June.
The Pontiac Anishinaabe Healing Garden has been in the works since late November 2020 and is a way of honouring residential school survivors, their families and the community.
According to Richer Lévesque, co-head of the Pontiac Native Community, this will be the second garden of its kind in Canada, with the only other one being in . . .
Manitoba. It will be built in Mansfield et Pontefract, near chemin de la Chute and Rue Levesque.
“When we saw that in Manitoba, we decided to build one here,” Lévesque said, admiring the sense of community the garden fostered. “We started in late November, we just built the pergola and we want to finish in March. It’ll be open [on June 21st] for Aboriginal Day.”
Earlier this month, the Pontiac Native Community announced that they were awarded a grant for $38,500 which was echoed by Pontiac MP Will Amos in a press release on Monday. The group has received funding from the Celebrate Canada Program since 2013 to fund yearly Aboriginal Day events, but according to Lévesque the grant is separate from that program.
The garden will feature the large wooden pergola, art installations and several kinds of plants to “stimulate the healing power of the body.” Cement was poured for the walkway in December, and artist Roberta Della-Pica will be brought in to create a five-foot mosaic using rocks and stones that are brought in at the garden’s opening ceremony.
“Well there’s all kinds of plants, medicine plants, that will be planted there. We’re going to plant some trees and we are going to have a bear, an eagle and turtle for remembering Turtle Island,” Lévesque said. “Wheatgrass, turtlehead, common milkweed — which is good for arthritis and other things. One of our members works with plants and she is the one who is going to come here and put the plants in.”
When the garden opens up in the summer, the group hopes that it will be a focal point for all kinds of activities, meetings and ceremonies. However, the main focus of the garden will be to commemorate those who endured the residential schools.
“The proposed activities will increase awareness of the history and legacy of residential schools, while creating an environment within which to advance reconciliation. I look forward to seeing this project come to life in Mansfield,” Amos said in a press release.
Lévesque wanted to emphasize that the garden will not be solely for the Indigenous community, but invites everyone to pay a visit and learn about its significance. He said he expects people who were involved in the Manitoba healing garden to attend the opening ceremony, and that it will bring people from surrounding areas to visit the region.
“It’s going to be open to all the people, not just Aboriginal people, it’s for everybody. It’s going to be open on June 21st, Aboriginal Day, and I want people to come over and take a look,” said Lévesque. “It’ll be good too for [tourists], they’ll come here and take a look at that, it’ll bring people from all around. It’s going to be good for the Pontiac for sure.”
