Moneca Sinclaire

Living Healing Quilt Project
Promoting Healing – One Stitch at a Time

My colonial name is Moneca Sinclaire and I was raised as a person who attended residential school, even though I never attended. After much thinking I pulled together these quilt pieces to depict how my life was affected by mom’s life in the residential school, tuberculosis sanatorium and the institution of marriage. My mom’s life was very much right or wrong or black and white. I had initially wrote a poem about my observations of my mom’s life and was originally going to submit that as my written piece however after speaking to many people they encouraged me to send the poem in as a piece to be put next to the quilt piece I made. For me the process, although difficult, was a very good process as it has enabled me to put my mom’s spirit to peace.

It was a difficult piece to put together but I think it speaks to the life she had from her residential school experience. Unfortunately my mom left into spirit world without ever having spoken about her life…the stories I learned from her attending residential school were from residential school conferences where I met who knew my mom. They shared with me what they (and my mom) went through in the residential school they attended. My mom’s life was a quiet one and I truly believe it was us, her children, who kept her spirit alive to keep living in this world despite what she had endured.

I am grateful for having her as my mom as I did learn a lot from her in terms of how I want and am raising my son, her grand-son. I also learned about bravery, gentleness and love from my mom who near the end of her life she began to get out of her grief as she began to shine and get out of the house.

Kinaskomitin Ekosani Moneca Sinclaire