Mural depicting generations-old Wolastoqey story unveiled at Fredericton airport

For the past year, artist Percy Sacobiehas spent about 1,500 hours creating a massive mural telling a story that's been passed down through 300 Wolastoqey generations a story that will be shared with new generations passing through the Fredericton International Airport.

The mural, which depicts the creation of the Wolastoq, also known as the St. John River,and the giant beavers that used to call it home, was unveiled Wednesday at the departures gate.

Sacobie hopestravellers will take the time to look at the mural, and appreciate the importance of passing on stories both through artand through words.

"It wasn't until probably four generations ago that the story was lost orally," Sacobie said at the unveiling.

"It was saved in the written form and that's where I read it in the story. So hopefully at some point people will be able to tell the story orally again."

WATCH |This giant mural took 1,500 hours to make

Indigenous artist paints mural for Fredericton airport

1 year ago

Duration 1:15

Artist Percy Sacobie's new mural for the Fredericton International Airport tells the story of the hunt for the giant beaver that built a dam at the mouth of the Wolastoq, also known as the St. John River.

To Sacobie, the mural isn't just about the story. It's also about how it has survived generations as a story conveyed orallyin a language the Wolastoqey are trying hard to keep from disappearing.

"I just hope that [travelers] look at our struggle to try to keep our language alive, which is the biggest thing for myself." Sacobie said.

Language loss, Sacobie said, is one of the biggest issues facing the Wolastoqey community.

"Art and all those kinds of things are tangible, and we can recreate that stuff. But a language with fewer than 100 fluent speakers is the most important thing for me right now, and hopefully some people will get that message."

For those people who love doing art for the sake of doing art, I encourage you to keep doing it and some day, people will notice what you've been doing.- Percy Sacobie, artist

The mural is a depiction of the Wolastoqey story Glooscap and the Giant Beaver, an Indgenous knowledge story that Sacobie said describes how the "Wolastoqey valley was created".

And travellers out of the airport weren't the only ones seeing this mural for the first time.

"I never got to see the piece all together," he said.

Sacobiedrawing section by section of the mural by hand and then redrewit on his computer.

"I never had a chance to set up to scale like it is right now. So it was very exciting to see it on the wall."

Hoping to inspire future artists

For Wolastoqey Grand Chief Ron Tremblay, the unveiling was an emotional experience, with the mural representing a public recognition of the Wolastoqey community that is long overdue.

"[This is] a long time coming because we know that this land that we are on is a Wolastoqiyik homeland," he said.

For Tremblay,however, it goes further. He hopes that the piece being displayed in such a prominent space will inspire young people in the Wolastoqey community to pursue their own artistic endeavours.

"That is so crucial that we'll bring more and more of our young people who want to experiment with carving and painting, creating wampum, doing various things they can know their piece can be out and about in the city or within a province or the world in the future," he said.

Sacobie, who said he had struggled to nurture his artist skills, hopes the piece will be an inspiration to aspiring artists as well.

"For those people who love doing art for the sake of doing art, I encourage you to keep doing it and some day, people will notice what you've been doing," he said.

Aside from being a piece on exhibit ina space of high visibility, for Sacobie it is a testament to his abilities.

"I've never done a piece this large before. What this piece has done for me, it showswhat I'm able to do, which I'm grateful for."