“Assimilation vs. Inclusivity” is an image created by an unknown artist. It consists of many visual techniques, used to create different emotions. The image consists visually of many, many people. They line up into rows, as if they are in a school wide photograph. The angle is used from a high height, looking over the faces of the young. This is technique used for power, to make the people look vulnerable. It’s as if we are sitting on the higher step, and they are a thousand miles down. It’s as if the numbers are used to represent the percentage of survivors, and losses. The ones that remain with colour made it through, and the ones in black and white are the ones that passed. The representation of residential schools and their effects is used through the colour washing of the picture. As your eyes travel across the page, from right to left, you watch the culture and spirit wash out of their faces. This effect represents and shows us how the residential school affected the First Nations communities. It’s as if they are disappearing and turning into ghosts. The once braided and intricate hair designs fall to the ground as its chopped off. The once festive and cultured clothes are ripped off as they change into the plain grey ensembles. The once joyous faces turn somber and silent. What once was a lifetime, had turned into only a dream. What once was a fear, had turned into a nightmare. As the years pass by, the faces drain, by the end, you have nothing left but memories.
This image is a metaphor, to represent the culture being taken away. As their hair is cut, and clothes are torn off, the culture remains. It’s held on for as long as they can, it’s the only thing left that they have. Therefor the children’s faces disappear last. Right to left, one by one, each one becomes more sorrow until the last ones done. It was easy to strip them down, however harder to steal their crown. But as the cruel stand above them, they’re in power and that’s what they did.
The piece of art left me feeling sad and disappointed. The thought that people would dare to do that to others is beyond disappointing. The thought that it was only in 1996 that the last residential school in British Columbia closed is very sad. The past cannot be undone; however the future is not yet tightly tied. This artist created a visually realistic image, and an emotionally felt piece of art. It creates an accurate picture that faces us to the world that Indigenous lived. The stripping of clothes, the drain of emotion, the stolen childhood, are all correctly represented I feel as this art piece is an important part of education as there is unlimited depth. The closer you look, the more detail you, and the more you learn about the image
