RE Wilson Mural Event

OCTOBER 10, 2019. Meeka Kakudluk, Inuit Elder, and Monique Manatch, Algonquin Elder, open the Mural Presentation Event at RE Wilson PS. The students, City of Ottawa Mayor, Jim Watson, principal Todd Saunders and artist Claudia Salguero among friends helped celebrate the collaborative mural that now decorates the façade of the school.

Monique Manatch’s story:

“The Creator decided to give all of creation a gift. And the gift was of light—of life.

All of creation was so overawed and overjoyed, but they were worried too because this was such a substantial and wonderful gift. They did not want anything to happen to it. So, all of creation got together, everybody got together to have a conversation, the ones that fly, the furred one, the plants, the ones who swing and asked, “What should we do about this gift? How can we take care of it?” One of them said, let’s put it up in the sky, and they talked about that.

But there was a very tiny mouse who said, “I have an idea, I have an idea!” But no one could hear her because she was just this tiny mouse. You know that moose are big. Bears are big, but this mouse was very tiny.

Creation finally decided that they didn’t want to put the light in the sky because some day, someone could go up there. Something would then happen to this gift. So they kept on talking, and in the meantime that little persistent mouse kept saying, “I have an idea, I have an idea!” No one heard the tiny mouse.

Someone then suggested, “Why don’t we put it under the ocean?” So they all talked about that for a while. But the mouse persisted and finally, someone heard the tiny mouse. They asked, “What’s your idea little mouse?” And she said, “Let’s take the gift. And each of us take a piece of it. And we’ll put it inside.” The mouse motioned her hand towards her heart. “And that way, if somebody’s light is failing, and something happens to it, we can share ours. So that everybody will always have this gift. And nothing bad will happen to it.”

So that is what they did. And that’s why, every member of creation, all the trees, all plants, all the birds, all the butterflies, everyone of us, all members of creation have that gift of light and we can share it.

And that is what is happening here [at the event]. We are sharing that gift of light. You are lighting each other’s gift and you are keeping that light alive. And I think that is the most wonderful, wonderful thing.”