Millennium Park's Nogojiwanong Project Panels Vandalized
/The Nogojiwanong Project Panels in Millennium Park have been vandalized with graffiti on two of its three panels reported on Wednesday morning.
Photo by David Tuan Bui.
The City of Peterborough discovered the vandalism when they visited the area, and community members had already cleaned up a portion of the vandalism prior to their arrival.
Mayor Jeff Leal calls this ‘an act of disrespect’ during National Indigenous History Month.
The project is called Gathering, a public artwork by Michael Belmore. It consists of a grouping of glacial erratic boulders, carved and fitted to sit slightly apart, giving the appearance of heat radiating. The stones are embellished with the Treaty 20 Clan Dodems. It was unveiled to the public on Nov. 10, 2022.
The Nogojiwanong Project is a collaboration undertaken in the spirit of kinship between local First Nations, Indigenous peoples and the City of Peterborough, in recognition of the 200th anniversary of Rice Lake Treaty No. 20. Through this collaboration, a gathering space was created in 2019. The space encourages learning and reflection through a series of interpretive panels highlighting the evolution of local treaties and the inherent rights of Indigenous peoples.
The display is located next to the Trans Canada Trail near the south end of Water Street in Millennium Park. The piece marks the completion of the Nogojiwanong Project.
Photo by David Tuan Bui.