Burnaby Mountain, Canada / Turtle Island
To celebrate twenty years of the sister-city relationship between the twin cities of Burnaby, Canada, and Kushiro, Japan, a delegation from Kushiro arrived in Burnaby in May 1986. Kushiro is part of the historic homeland of the Ainu people, called ‘Ainu Mosir’, and so the Ainu carver Toko Nupuri was a member of this delegation.
While visiting Simon Fraser University, which sits on top of Burnaby Mountain, Nupuri wandered away from the rest of the delegation towards the mountain’s western side, which offers a sweeping view of Vancouver and the Salish sea. Moved by its beauty, Nupuri wanted to build a sculpture there in honour of the relationship between Burnaby and Kushiro.