Star Blanket

My name is Rebecca Baird. I'm a Cree/Metis artist and I'm the one who created the Star Blanket, which is in front of you. It's for part of the King and Liberty pedestrian bridge. So there's two piers, there's a north and a south pier.

So Star Blanket, the original story is the Cree people we believe we came from the stars, the Pleiades. And so the story is there was a spirit up there who wanted to come down to the world. So she talked to the other spirits ‎and they agreed and said, "Yes you're welcome to go down, you can't stay for very long and you have to bring a gift". So that part of the story is that's why we don't live very long. Like a life span on this earth walk the native people say isn't that long. And then the star blanket was a gift. And it's wonderful when you're a young baby when you're born you're wrapped in a star blanket, if you graduate you're wrapped in a star blanket, when a couple get married they're, wrapped in a star blanket, and then also when you pass away, you're wrapped in a star blanket,

 So, let's look at the design‎. You can see it’s a circle in the centre and then there's these‎ concentric diamonds all interlocking together to form a star. And in the Indigenous world we know everything in nature and the whole world, the earth is in a circle, the universe. And it's talking about inclusiveness and interconnectivity. The idea is that it's dynamic. It's a motion of relationships. And then you can see there's all these lines coming out. And it's supposed to suggest visual connections between the streets and bridges, railway tracks, the highway lanes, all guiding people to important destinations. You know, the pedestrians, people walking their dogs, people going to work, people coming home in the evening. 

So I, to give someone a star blanket is to recognize that they're part of the community and they're part of this larger community that also includes the sun and the moon and the stars, the plants, the animals. But most importantly, the people around you when you're given a star blanket, it's a sign of wanting you to know that you have a community that cares about you and is willing to support you. Just like how the universe and the earth supports us. Like and everyone.