The Papaschase band, on whose traditional territory Edmonton

stands, signed an adhesion to Treaty 6 in August of 1877 and took

up more than 60 square kilometres of reserve land in what is now

southeast Edmonton. Within two decades of signing Treaty 6,

according to band history, Papaschase people were removed from

their land and forced to join nearby First Nations.

‘The River’ is a tribute to many of the animals - four legged, winged or scaled - that are native to Edmonton’s beloved river valley, specifically near the University of Alberta.

Starting from the top of a seven landing stairwell, the river surrounds viewers and flows with them as they travel towards their destinations. Featured at each landing is an animal that called this place home before Edmonton was founded.

Water connects all life. ‘The River’ emphasizes the importance of the North Saskatchewan to this land: depictions of water can be found within or around each featured animal. The spark for this idea came from one of our first community consultations - one strong takeaway was the idea of art centering on the stories of the land and the animals. This work was further informed by conversations and a river valley tour with local traditional knowledge keeper and UofA professor Dwayne Donald. His deep knowledge of the history of the area moved us to honour the river and animals - in the end, black bears, sturgeon, beavers, woodpeckers, buffalo, and wolves were chosen to be represented here, linked together by the river as a source of life. Knowledge from Elder Wilson Bearhead also provided key inspiration for the artwork.