Edmonton, AB

In 2017 Edmonton’s Reconciliation in Solidarity Edmonton (RISE) developed a Healing Forest that consisted of about 1,000 paper hearts hanging from trees along a trail in Edmonton’s River Valley. Each heart was marked with a message of reconciliation and provided a rich insight into Edmonton’s Indigenous Peoples' history, and the legacy of the residential school system. However, a city clean-up crew inadvertently removed all the hearts without informing RISE.  Over 300 people were involved in the development of these hearts. The city has apologized for the oversight and has budgeted $55,000 for a permanent Healing Forest – $5,000 will be used for public consultation and $50,000 for the actual Healing Forest. The RISE Healing Forest was an excellent example of the many ways a Healing Forest can be created to honour the victims and survivors of the residential school system. News about the new Healing Forest will be posted here when it becomes available.