Pair of DC Sneakers, Black with Red Accents

Credit LineGift of Lela Yeyatalunyuhe George, London, Ontario, 2021.

Object number2021.007.001

Label TextLela Yeyatalunyuhe George placed these shoes, with an "Every Child Matters" button, on the memorial she spearheaded at London's St. Peter's Cathedral Basilica following the May 2021 discovery of the remains of 215 children at the site of a former Kamloops, BC, residential school. George was raised in a home of Residential School survivors, and the news of 215 children being discovered in Kamloops was a personal moment for her. She said “I come from a family that has residential school survivors. My partner, as well, has grandparents that are here and are survivors themselves. So, I put the callout on Facebook and I asked people to join me to have a memorial for these young children who have yet to be named.” About the shoes, George shared, “[My son has] outgrown them but we still have them. So I chose his because he is a special needs child and when I was going through all of these thoughts in my head of these children and what they went through, he hits my heart a little bit more because he’s global development delay. He has the mind of a three-year-old. He can’t speak, I guess, like an average child can. He speaks but in his own different way. He signs with his hands and made up his own way of communication. And when I thought about these children being taken from their homes and how young, he came to mind as, you know, if we were back then, what would happen to him, being a child that does not have a voice? And so I decided to lay his shoes down because I think about those children and I think about those children that were found that did not have a voice and now, with their discovery of the remains, we are their voice years later...”

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