Indigenous landmark at Nose Hill Park defaced

CALGARY (660 NEWS) — A well-known landmark on Nose Hill Park honouring Indigenous nations in southern Alberta was vandalized this week, and it will be repaired.

On Tuesday, Dave Anderson witnessed somebody lying on the ground in the middle of the Siksikaitsitapi Medicine Wheel, which is an arrangement of rocks built-in 2015 by elders in the Blackfoot Confederacy.

Anderson said he was biking in the area with his kids when he saw the man, and noticed that many of the rocks were moved around but he was not sure if it was this man who had done it.

“My boys were adamant, ‘no, no he’s taking it apart, he’s ruining it!’ So, I just calmly spoke up and said hey, this isn’t yours to touch, you shouldn’t be here. You shouldn’t be destroying this, this is culturally significant to someone else and you don’t have the right to be here.”

The Siksikaitsitapi Medicine Wheel in #yyc Nose Hill Park was vandalized today by him.

My kids were taught its significance in school. Seeing the wilful destruction in-person made them cry.

cc: @Crackmacs @nenshi @DruhFarrell @seanchucalgary @CalgaryParks @Tommy_Slick @klaszus pic.twitter.com/MPQ0DkMjU3

— Dave Anderson (@electrobarn) October 7, 2020

Anderson said he didn’t resort to getting mad at the apparent vandal and stayed outside the circle while he spoke to him and took pictures. Eventually, the man left the scene.

“As I talked to him and encouraged him to leave, he wandered around and moved things and picked things up and then he started scooping up artifacts and small pebbles from the area and put them in his satchel, and filled up his satchel with things from the medicine wheel,” he said.

He added that his kids were very upset about what happened, as he taught them to respect the wheel and told them how to properly enter and exit it. People are encouraged to walk through the wheel and use it as a source of meditation, and there is a clear walking path that goes from east to west.

This photo from Google Maps shows how the medicine wheel is supposed to look, as well as the walking path that cuts through the middle.

Anderson said he frequently ventures in the park and has never seen anything like this happen before, as people understand to respect the medicine wheel. But he is hopeful that some more signage could be installed that informs people about what it is and hopefully prevents any further vandalism.

Ward 4 Councillor Sean Chu also tweeted about the incident and said it would be repaired.

An update on the Siksikaitsitapi Medicine Wheel in #yyc Nose Hill. #yyccc #ward4 #ableg pic.twitter.com/wGRVECZ1Lc

— Sean Chu (@seanchucalgary) October 7, 2020

“The Wheel will be fixed by members of the (Blackfoot) Confederacy on Friday,” Chu said. “This needs to be respected and to the individual who did this, shame on you.”

660 NEWS has also reached out to the Blackfoot Confederacy for more details.