Calgary Indian Residential School Memorial

Calgary, Alberta - Ongoing

“The Wandering Spirit” is the winning design for Calgary’s permanent Indian Residential School Memorial, selected through an Indigenous-led design competition. Located at The Confluence Historic Site & Parkland, the memorial creates a place for remembrance, ceremony, reflection, and healing, honouring residential school survivors, the children who never returned home, and the families and communities affected by their legacy.

Led by Siksika artist and residential school survivor Adrian Stimson, the project was developed collaboratively with groundcubed and HEREBY Architecture, with HEREBY contributing architectural design expertise to help translate the team's rich artistic and cultural vision into a cohesive spatial and built form, carefully considering how material, scale, movement, and construction can support the memorial's deeper meaning.

The design is organized around a spiralling journey, guiding visitors through the landscape toward a central ceremonial gathering circle. Along this journey, a monumental wall of children's shoes carries forward the symbolism of Calgary's original temporary memorial, giving lasting physical expression to the immeasurable loss experienced by Indigenous families and communities. A series of vertical steel markers acknowledges the residential schools that operated throughout Alberta, while sculptures of a bison and calf represent spirit, resilience, and the connection between past and future.

Through the integration of landscape, architecture, and public art, The Wandering Spirit creates a powerful sequence of spaces for both individual reflection and collective ceremony. More than a monument to the past, the project establishes a lasting place for truth, cultural expression, and the ongoing journey of reconciliation.