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Yesterday, on the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, the City of Toronto opened the Spirit Garden at Nathan Phillips Square, dedicated to honouring residential school survivors and the children lost to their families and communities. Situated on the grounds of Toronto City Hall, it was inaugurated in the presence of more than 100 survivors.
Funded by the Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre, the City of Toronto, and the Government of Canada, the Spirit Garden will stand as a permanent space for reflection, teaching, and healing. Located at the southwest corner of Nathan Phillips Square, the Spirit Garden is designed to be easily accessible to everyone, from tourists to Toronto residents. Envisioning of the garden began in 2017 as a step in Indigenous placemaking within the downtown core, to build cross-cultural understanding. Gow Hastings Architects and Indigenous design consultant Two Row Architect were tasked with the garden's design, arranging several components around a central Kaswentha (Two-Row Wampum) walkway.
Brian Porter, Principal at Two Row Architect, described the Spirit Garden as “both a seed and a portal. As a seed, it provides a catalyst for the relationship between the Original Peoples of Turtle Island and all Canadians to improve and flourish through healing, sharing, and learning activities that are in alignment with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action. As a portal, it offers regional, national, and international visitors a glimpse into the rich heritage of Our Peoples from the City of Toronto’s ‘front porch’.”
The largest structure in the garden is a Teaching Lodge, a "pre-formed laminated Ash wood structural frame enclosed with a white cedar tongue and groove exterior enclosure and sheathing." Designed in consultation with John Keeshig Maya-waasige, an Anishnaabe Knowledge Keeper from Neyaashiinigmiing First Nation, the oval building is ventilated via operable skylights. An interior passage between east and west doors is lined by tiered benches that can seat about 60. Keeshig Maya-waasige's work aims to preserve "Indigenous knowledge and teachings, which are integral to his creating sacred spaces like the Teaching Lodge." The lodge, which represents "life’s journey and serves as a spiritual home for all First Nations peoples," supports the centrality of family.
Central to the Spirit Garden is a six-foot-tall limestone turtle sculpture, crafted by Anishinaabe artist Solomon King, known for his stone masonry and heritage restoration skills, that represents Turtle Island, a conceptualization of North America that is a foundational element in many Indigenous creation stories. Comprising ten individual pieces that weigh approximately ten tonnes and set within a reflecting pool, the sculpture is aligned with magnetic north. Stainless steel lettering on the pool's northern edge lists the names of 18 residential schools that once operated in Ontario, meant to serve as a poignant reminder of the past and reinforce the message that "Every Child Matters."
Southeast of the turtle is a 36-foot-long stainless steel Spirit Canoe, detailed with laser-cut artwork and painted infill panels. Created by Tannis Nielsen, an Anishnaabe-Red River Métis artist, the canoe pays homage to the Métis Voyageur heritage, symbolizing resilience and the enduring connection of the Métis people to the land and waterways.
A five-foot-tall Inuksuk, created by Inuit artist Henry Angootinmarik Kudluk, embodies Inuit traditions of navigation and community.
Raymond Skye from the Tuscarora Nation has contributed panels for the Three Sisters Garden within the greater Spirit Garden, illustrating the symbiotic relationship between corn, beans, and squash through detailed etchings on Muntz metal.
Speaking at the opening, The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage, emphasized “On the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and beyond, we must all reflect on our history and the experience of the Indigenous Peoples in Canada. Toronto’s Spirit Garden will have an important role to play in this journey as a place of reflection, mourning, and healing.”
With the support of $100,000 annual funding from the Indigenous Arts and Culture Partnerships Fund, administered in collaboration with Toronto Council Fire, the Spirit Garden hosts a variety of activities that respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Call to Action 82. The construction of the site was managed by Buttcon Construction.
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