Powell River Brain Injury Society executive director Debbie Dee came up with the idea behind the historical mural project, with support from Tla’amin Nation. The orange plaque, revealed alongside the multiple panel mural, states that: “Our hope is that through collaborative projects such as these murals, we can move forward in small steps towards reconciliation and find a new way forward together.”

Artist Whitney La Fortune was lead on the project with Dee’s assistance, along with folks from the brain injury society and Tla’amin artists from the Timothy family.

La Fortune visited qathet Museum and Archives (with Tla’amin residents), and with permission from Tla’amin culture and heritage manager Drew Blaney, found historical photos to be used for the multiple murals project, depicting Tla’amin ancestors and their communities and European settlers who came to the qathet region.

“I said ‘yes, I would design the murals,’ and I drew them up as planned, but it was the Powell River Brain Injury Society clients who helped paint the murals,” said La Fortune. “I put a lot of the detail in at sitting level, so clients in walkers could paint.”

La Fortune said one client from the brain injury society wasn’t sure at first about painting, but when the client saw the striking purple and orange as she drove away in the handyDART, she was happy about what she had accomplished.

One of the significant murals is a painting of the totem carved by Mr. Jackie Muksamma Timothy, which can be seen today at the lookout on Marine Avenue.

“His widow came through the drive-through and we decided to get her three granddaughters to paint the herring racks right beside their grandfather’s pole,” said La Fortune.

Ella, Lilla and Quinsam Timothy, Muksamma’s granddaughters, painted the herring roe drying racks featured in the panel that includes the totem originally carved by their grandfather; their names can be seen on the orange plaque.

“I sketched it [the totem on Marine Avenue] through every kind of weather pattern, the rain, the sun; I love that pole,” said La Fortune, who painted her first mural at age 18 for the Mission Friendship Centre with Chief Dan George’s grandson, Joey Dan George.

Folks familiar with the inside of the Patricia Theatre in Townsite can see La Fortune’s mural inside the theatre.

Although the mural project had some setbacks, including computer problems at the museum, once the photos were found and permission was given by Blaney, the work started. All of last summer, painting took place.

“I’m just mirroring people in the community in a different way, and a way people can analyze and talk about,” said La Fortune. “While we were painting, and we were painting for quite a long time, we would hear comments behind us; people were happy we were throwing up colour and once the concept of the mural got drawn up, people came by and said thank you for doing that.

“It was interesting to hear the comments change as the mural went along.”

La Fortune said the painting of a photo of Townsite in 1910 is probably one of the oldest used in the project.

“It’s Townsite, the Patricia Theatre was a tent, and the biggest building was a Chinese laundromat,” she added. “There are the ravens on the ground [in the mural painting] pecking at the photo with orange behind it representing Indigenous folks, and Tla’amin in particular, being there before the settlers.”

The orange ribbon depicted throughout the paintings represents Tla’amin people throughout history. One panel is a painting of a woman and little boy in the garden.

“I needed the original photograph,” said La Fortune.

Dee found the photo. Written on the bottom was the little boy’s name: Golden Stanley.

“When my husband and I got married, the old man that married us, his name was Golden Stanley,” Dee said to La Fortune.

On September 15, people from Tla’amin, including Blaney, were at the unveiling ceremony with drums, along with Dee and representatives from Town Centre mall. The multipanel colourful mural is the work of La Fortune, clients from the brain injury society, and Tla’amin artists.

The murals and plaque are there for the public to see, according to La Fortune, and interpret how they wish.

Original article at PR Peak:

https://www.prpeak.com/in-the-community/video-history-in-art-mural-unveiled-at-powell-river-town-centre-7571020