Memorializing the Albuquerque Indian School

In Ottawa, a monument marks the Indigenous children who perished at Canada's residential schools and were never returned to their communities. The memorial includes of a circle of rocks called the Children's Sacred Forest. The memorial is designed to be expanded over time with the goal or adding additional tree varieties, each representing a distinct Indigenous group. During the opening of the memorial, placards outlining the 94 calls to actions made by Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, trailed throughout the site. 

AIS has had a profound impact on the development of the City of Albuquerque and it is important that this history is recognized. Perhaps, a series of placards could be made and displayed at the AIS cemetery outlining the history of the school and its pivotal role in the greater community.

A memorial has been established at the site of the Rapid City Indian School. The memorial includes a walking path with history boards, boulders engraved with the names of the children who passed at the school, and four sculptures. Families of the deceased, descendants of the survivors, THPOs, community members, tribal leaders, elders, and spiritual advisers all provided input on the development and design of the memorial. 

It is imperative that tribal input guide the development of an AIS memorial.

In Saskatchewan, a Residential School Memorial honors those who attended and died at residential schools. There are several benches on the site designed for contemplation. The center monument is a boulder featuring a map with all of the locations of residential schools within the province. 

A map denoting the location of the four AIS affiliated cemeteries could be incorporated in an AIS memorial.

A Reconciliation Pole stands at the University of British Columbia. In addition to featuring intricate carvings, it is embedded with thousands of copper nails that were hammered by survivors of the residential schools, affected families, school children, and others. Each nail represents the children who died at residential schools. 

An AIS memorial could include an activity that alumni of the school, descendants of alumni, or families of the impacted could complete. 

In Alabama, The National Memorial for Peace and Justice commemorates the lives lost to slavery, lynching, and during the Civil Rights Movement. Each of the monuments displayed in the memorial has a duplicate. According to the MASS design website, corresponding counties are "invited to engage in th[e] process of acknowledgment and reconciliation by claiming their monument and placing it as a marker in their own community.” 

The communities impacted by AIS are spread throughout the Southwest and the U.S. Taking inspiration from MASS Design, an AIS memorial could include a component that is sent to each affected community.