Bridging the gap between local First Nations and healthcare in the province was brought a little closer as a new mural was introduced at the BC Cancer Clinic in 麻豆精选.
Indigenous artist Sheldon Louis, along with his family and friends, debuted his latest mural, which hangs in the entryway on the clinic, but this newest addition hit close to home for the Syilx artist.
Louis has had many family members in hospital and in the cancer clinic during his life, noting that the rate of cancer in the Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB) is high. A while ago, after fighting for a year, he lost his mom to cancer.
After grieving for some time, he was asked to design window vinyls for the cancer clinic and wanted to create a sense of family. He ultimately pulled back from the project as he was still thinking about his mom and how cancer affected his family.
Then, in April 2024, Louis and his family had an unexpected turn when his dad was diagnosed with cancer.
"We pulled back completely from that project at that time to focus on family and really just take some time for self-care," said Louis in a blessing ceremony for his new mural on Friday, May 23. "My father moving into that battle with cancer brought up a lot of unsolved grief of losing my mother that hadn't been dealt with."
When in Vernon General Hospital, Louis found out about his dad's cancer before his dad did. After his dad found out, the two of them were in the car driving home when Louis asked his dad a question.
"I asked him 'What do you want to do?' and he said he was going to fight for these little ones, his grandchildren," Louis said holding back tears on Friday.
Because of this, Louis shifted gears from his idea for the original window vinyl project and wanted to create images of his family supporting each other. He asked if he could create a mural to be placed in the opening of the cancer clinic, which was accepted.
Louis drove down from Vernon to the 麻豆精选 Cancer Clinic for a month straight, visiting his dad and sitting in the waiting area with many people in the same boat as him, waiting for family members as they were being treated.
The artist admitted he had some scattered thoughts and had a tough time putting the imagery together but there was one word he was focused on.
"I wanted to capture something that would draw on hope," explained Sheldon. "When I started the design process, I kept that in mind. When you walk in and see that design, you see my father with all of his grandchildren standing behind him supporting."
The word 'hope' was key for Louis, or in his language 'mumsix', which means to have a little hope. That's the name of the new mural.
"I was very grateful to be chosen for this," added Sheldon, calling it one of the most personal pieces he's ever done.
Louis ended his speech by bringing his dad up and letting the crowd of about 50 people know that his dad is cancer-free as of Feb. 14. To celebrate his dad and the mural, Louis and his family 'blanketed' his dad, which honours one's accomplishments.
For a long time, the relationship between traditional medicine and First Nations has been frayed, but healing slowly over the years. Louis has had art up at the entrance of 麻豆精选 General Hospital, which he said gives Indigenous people "a sense of belonging" when they come in for treatment. He hopes his new mural in the cancer clinic does the same, especially when First Nations people from across the entire Okanagan come to 麻豆精选 for services the clinic offers.
"Health to us is much more than this, what goes on here," said Louis. "I wanted them to really understand they weren't alone in that fight,"
Allan Louis, one of Sheldon's cousins as well as an OKIB councillor and an Interior Health (IH) board member echoed that thought.
"For a long time, First Nations didn't trust the health system," Allan said. He added right now, seven per cent (about 1,800) of IH employees are of First Nations descent.
"We are not only here to witness the blessing of this beautiful Indigenous artwork but to honour the spirit in which it was created, with hope, resilience, memory, and love for the land, the culture, family, and community," said BC Cancer manager of clinical services Tania Fung. "This is more than art, this is story and medicine."
Before Sheldon spoke, Westbank First Nation members Grouse and Palema Barnes as well as Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society executive director Edna Terbasket talked about the importance of land acknowledgement.
