In 2025, artist Linda Duvall orchestrated a new commemorative project to acknowledge the untold histories of trauma and violence that have left an indelible mark on our city.
Duvall invited members of the public to recommend sites that held personal meaning. Working with members of STR8 UP—a Saskatoon organization that offers outreach services, programming, and support to those who have lived or are living criminal street lifestyles—and other collaborators, she marked each location by planting crocuses, a plant associated with spring and renewal.
On a single day in October, the artist and her collaborators planted more than 6,000 bulbs to acknowledge community trauma and promote healing and growth. Below are letters submitted by community members who took part in the planting. Remai Modern will host a public gathering in honour of the project on Saturday, April 18 at 1 PM. Attendance is free.
Click here to explore a map of the sites.
CONTENT WARNING: Some stories below contain references to addiction, overdose, violence, and other potentially distressing subject matter. Please read with care.
Photos by Matt Braden Photography.
New perspectives
What an incredible experience! For myself this whole project was just beautiful, a real tangible way to display some beauty in places around the city where healing is needed after being the site or near the site of some trauma. The whole way this art project was organized was really quite something but the most magical part was the pairing of people from the larger community with individuals connected to Str8up. My life was really changed getting to hang out with Sky last Saturday. It was so easy to visit with her and chat back and forth such that it didn’t take long for the two of us to connect around trauma and other personal issues in our own lives. I was so amazed with this young woman for how bright and articulate she was as she described various parts of her life both present and past. Her honesty and straight forwardness actually compelled me to share a part of my life that I don’t usually share with someone when I first meet them…but the trust she put in me by being honest and open made me want to give her the same respect. And our day together wasn’t all serious talk….we had lots of laughs together! I am a 70 year old man and Sky is in her early 30’s but yet we connected mostly because we found common ground and also because we didn’t judge each other. We accepted each other and it felt safe for both of us to share. Hey what a concept!! Sky has a real human story to share and she is very aware of the power of her story in her own healing and in the healing of others. I felt that. She inspired me to look at my own life and see what is really important. I have to thank everyone including Sky for their involvement in this project. Life changing to say the least.
- Anonymous
Saying a prayer
Thanks again for letting me participate, you have given me a chance to give back to my community. I am looking forward to the spring, when the bulbs bloom. Crocuses hold a special place in my soul because they flourish on my reserve. Therefore, your project brought back such sincere memories for me.
Everytime I placed a flower into Mother Earth, I said a small prayer. I asked for my Ancestors to guard the areas, so they might grow unscathed. I sent my energy down through the soil and felt the hurt where these incidents occurred. This aura that has been damaged was radiating with a pulse of grievance. In turn, it caused me to call out from my heart that the victims may find healing. As well, that the perpetrators may forgive themselves, and somehow seek their own repention.
Feelings of anger, sorrow, confusion and solace followed me that day. Enveloped me like a quilt. When I went home I lit my sage, and I sent more prayers up to the heavens. I sought pity, and asked for the proper weather conditions to aid these bulbs. I felt honoured that I helped bring light to wear darkness once was. It has been a couple weeks, and if I walk by one of the areas, I pray some more.
Recognising the chaos in Saskatoon is not hard, although as humans we tend to be ignorant. We are fast to judge, poke fun, belittle or glamorise the awful deeds in life. I hope this can bring forth a different perspective. One that is open to the smallest gestures, which can have an immense impact toward positivity and kindness.
- Amber KK Pelletier
Remembrance and healing
Today, my family took part in a collaborative project between STR8 UP and the Remai Modern.
Together, we planted 6,000 crocuses throughout the City of Saskatoon, each one honouring a site of trauma and loss: places marked by violence, overdoses, kidnappings, murders, and more.
Nevaeh planted at the site connected to the Starlight Tour, where the tragic death of Neil Stonechild took place. Neil was a 17-year-old Saulteaux youth from the Saskatoon area who froze to death in 1990 after being taken on what became known as a Starlight Tour — when police officers would abandon Indigenous people on the outskirts of the city in the freezing cold. His story became a symbol of systemic racism, injustice, and the ongoing fight for truth and accountability.
Jazz planted throughout the city in memory of youth who lost their lives to gang violence, honouring their stories, their families, and the lessons their lives have left behind.
What a powerful project — one rooted in love, care, and compassion.
So when spring comes and you see random crocuses blooming across the city, remember:
these flowers mark places of pain transformed into places of remembrance and healing.
This is what giving back to community looks like. 💜
- Chantel Huel
Nurturing what grows next
I’m aware that some of the stories connected to these sites may be painful or complex. I want to approach this with respect for the people and experiences that shaped them.
Planting these crocuses feels like a small gesture but a way to honour what has been and to nurture what can grow next.
Through this project, we acknowledged the pain and at the same time create space for collective healing.
This day was significant for my family in a couple different ways. My eldest daughter’s father passed from his meth addiction.
We submitted the location where it happened. We knew she wouldn’t be strong enough to plant in this place herself and are grateful to those that did in his honour. For her, this was a time for us to come together and heal in a measurable way.
For me, a couple years ago my fiancé passed from a meth overdose in another province. Many emotions surfaced throughout the day.
In a way it brought a sense of peace to be able to bring a bit of beauty into this world; that maybe each bulb could represent the hope of renewal.
While I was out planting, a couple of women stopped me to ask what I was doing and I shared a little bit about the project.
One woman then went into detail of how she recently lost her daughter due to overdose and shared her pain with me.
I stood listening to her story before she thanked us for giving back in a way to community.
- Anonymous
Reaching new neighbourhoods
I was paired with Gerald, a grade-twelve student, a young Indigenous man, who does some work with Str8 Up. We got along well and enjoyed each other’s company.
Our map took us to the furthest extremity of Saskatoon: College Park, College Park East, and Brighton. Brighton is a new suburb still under construction, and some of the streets on the map had not yet been built. When we were led to plant on a non-existent block, we found an appropriate alternate spot to place our bulbs in the same area. I found the ground so hard I was unable to penetrate it; Gerald had to do all the digging. Our planting places were often widely separated, and the way to get from one to the next was not always obvious. We probably did more driving than most groups and were among the last to finish. As we started out, it seemed like a mammoth task that would need days to finish. We were happy that it went so quickly.
One man who asked what we were doing, after being momentarily taken aback, thought it was a good idea. Many of the bulbs will have a difficult time growing in such hard conditions. If they make it, they should bring surprise and delight to residents in the early spring.
As an 83-year-old with decreasing energy, strength and stamina, I was glad and relieved to get through the day. The experience will encourage me to see if I can manage a volunteering stint at the Friendship Inn.
- David Edney
New memories
Being paired with a stranger: This was lovely. We got along great, sang little songs, yelled at the train (we encountered at in 3 different spots hindering our ability to move) lots of giggles and random chat. I felt like I walked away with a new little buddy.
Places with meanings- Our first stop was Goerzen St. That street was named after my brother-in-law’s grandfather. Unfortunately, my brother in-law was killed by a drunk driver in 2019. The spot that was shown on the map to plant , was at a church and my brother in law’s father was a pastor. So, this was a very emotional first stop for myself to be at.
Another one was along Lambert Cres. I recently lost my aunt (her last name was Lambert) Again, another small wave of grief hit. However, I was able to tie the new memory with both of these losses together into something beautiful. It felt like I was planting flowers for them in their honor, their memory, even if it was just a memory, I was creating for myself at the time.
Neveah and myself also got to plant out where Neil Stonechild’s body was found. I am a student studying Criminal Justice, and had just recently read a more in-depth version of what had happened during that time. We held space and just looked around. I thought of how much the city had expanded since then, and tried to imagine the sights in the area when Neil was abandoned there. The wind was cold at times, and I shook my head thinking of him walking in the snow trying to get back to the city. I was curious as to what was going on in those officers’ minds as they abandoned someone, they had sworn an oath to serve and protect. How unfair and cruel people and this world can be at times.
All in all, it was a fun project to be a part of. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to participate.
- Misty
Profound realizations
Thank you so much for including me in the This Place Remembers project! It was very well executed, and truly fun and rewarding for me as a participant. The one thought that was, for me, a profound and unexpected experience was a sense I got as Sundance and I “covertly” drove down alleys and odd civic spaces in search of viable locations to plant the bulbs. A sensation of something almost like dread became a part of the experience for me. I will put it bluntly: I felt (or imagined) a white racist gaze.
I felt very self conscious to say the least, and (rightly or wrongly) aware of being observed by – frankly – settler/colonialist eyes as I drove through residential neighbourhoods (particularly alleys) with an Indigenous boy, and looking a bit Indigenous myself, in a way that could not help bring to my mind the Coulten Boushie tragedy (I call it murder or vigilante execution at best) and public-legal debacle that is still raw in my memory, and should be part if public consciousness. This is not something I could comfortably or even ethically share with a boy in grade 9. So I did not mention it to Sundance, but it hung over the entire process for me.
The outing with Sundance was otherwise absolutely comfortable and rewarding.. for me for sure, and I truly believe for Sundance as well. But I experienced a consciousness of a deep dark horrid cultural reality that must be a part of Sundance’s awareness, day in, day out. That he is monitored by white society, power, and police authority, which is ultimately a brazen racist reality that goes unspoken, and even unnoticed by white colonial culture. You read about it, maybe you encounter it, but it is hidden in plain sight, and experienced graphically and violently by Indigenous people regardless of age, gender, and many other circumstances. This is just a quick synopsis of the unanticipated experience your work (or that day of executing your work) generated for me.
I appreciate that this is not directly related to your beautiful piece of social poetry that touches the soul of the community. So I hope this is not too irrelevant, or disturbing for me to bring up.
Looking forward to seeing you again soon. Congratulations on this wonderful work!
- WL
