The hateful vandalism of the historically orange bridge over the Somass River in Port Alberni only lasted a few hours before members and supporters of the Tseshaht First Nation removed it Saturday morning.
Ken Watts, the nation’s elected chief councilor, told CTV News he started receiving messages from friends and members around 10 p.m. Friday.
Photos of the vandalism showed the Every Child Matters message that survivors of the Alberni Indian Residential School had painted on the concrete barrier in front of the bridge earlier this week had been defaced, with the word “child” replaced with a ” derogatory and racist name”. “, said Watts.
Tseshaht First Nation recently completed a ground-penetrating radar search of the former residential school, and on Friday – the second National Day for Truth and Reconciliation – more than 1,000 people took part in a march to honor survivors who crossed the bridge.
“The same night it happens,” Watts said, calling the vandalism “shameful.”
“It just shows me that we have a lot of work to do,” he added.
At the same time, Watts said the reaction to the defaced sign was immediate and “incredible”.
Some Tseshaht members noticed the vandalism while the paint was still wet and were able to remove some of it with soap and water, the chief adviser said.
On Saturday morning, he and others headed to the bridge to repaint the sign, a job they finished before noon.
Watts said the outpouring of support his nation has received since the vandalism has been heartening.
“It shows that there are a lot of people who want to help our communities and support us,” he said.
Photos of the vandalism showed the Every Child Matters message that survivors of the Alberni Indian Residential School had painted on the concrete barrier in front of the bridge earlier this week had been defaced, with the word “child” replaced with a ” derogatory and racist name”. “Watts said. (Port Alberni RCMP)
POLICE INVESTIGATION
Port Alberni RCMP are investigating the vandalism and are asking anyone with dash cam video or information about who was responsible for defacing the signs to contact them.
“Senseless acts like this are unacceptable and disturbing to our community, and subvert efforts toward truth and reconciliation,” said Const. Richard Johns, in a press release.
“Although this crime has not been reported to our detachment, officers are actively investigating all available leads.”
TRIBUTE TO SURVIVORS
Watts said the first thing he thought when he saw the barrier had been defaced was how hurtful it could be to residential school survivors in his community.
Heading west along Highway 4, the historically orange bridge crosses the Somass River and enters Tseshaht First Nation, where the Alberni Indian Residential School once stood a few hundred yards away.
The bridge is a constant reminder to survivors of what happened there, to the point that some won’t cross it because it reminds them of school, according to Watts.
The recent paint job restored the bridge to the color it was painted in the 1980s, but it also added the Every Child Matters message and the symbolic meaning that the color orange represents.
In its current incarnation, the bridge is meant to honor all children who have attended school, but Watts says the key to maintaining that meaning will be education.
He said reconciliation requires speaking out against racist incidents like the one that happened on Friday night and educating others about what residential schools were and the damage they caused.