Ayoungman memorial unveiled

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

On the third anniversary of Kristian Ayoungman’s death, on March 17 during his memorial, the Town of Strathmore and Siksika Nation unveiled the monument which now stands to remember him.

“Today we are honouring Kristian’s life and showing how our two communities are moving forward in a good way,” said Astokomii Smith, indigenous liaison for the Town of Strathmore. “We are also premiering the Ayoungman documentary, which tells the story of what happened on March 17, 2019 and how we as a community are moving forward.”

Smith added the unveiling of the memorial was a long time coming, with delays experienced due to COVID-19, as well as patiently waiting for the completion of the Ayoungman documentary, which also premiered during the memorial.

Town of Strathmore operations manager Donna McCallum said although March 17 honoured Kristian’s memory, the Town’s efforts are part of a larger program against racism. 

Last year, a healing garden containing traditional herbs and medicines was planted and blessed, adjacent to the Strathmore Municipal Building.

“It’s been at least a year in the making now. Basically, I started working with Astokomii, we had a similar idea about the Healing Garden,” she said. “As part of the anti-racism campaign, we had talked about doing a memorial for Kristian Ayoungman. She introduced me to Melody (Ayoungman) and then Melody and I started talking from there about what she wanted to see in the memorial.”

Melody Aoungman, Kristian’s mother, said she felt overwhelmed by the amount of support which has come forward from the Town of Strathmore and from Siksika Nation.

Speaking about her late son, Ayoungman described him as being true, genuine and having grown into a fine gentleman.

“My boy was very well known all throughout North America. As a young kid, he was a champion traditional dancer. Everyone knew him all over in Canada and the United States all the way to Arizona,” said Ayoungman. “His friends knew him for his rapping, Strathmore knew him for his hockey, he went to high school here, he played for the Okotoks Bisons and he got his certification as a heavy equipment operator.”

According to McCallum, the original plan with Ayoungman was to have a singular large stone for Kristian’s memorial.

Barring that and after much deliberation, it was decided to have three stones settled upright behind the memorial to represent pillars of change in the community.

McCallum added the hope is that the monument will spread the message that Strathmore cares and racism will not be tolerated within the community.

“My message from this is to the world to learn about each other and for people to learn about First Nations so that this doesn’t ever happen again,” said Ayoungman. “My biggest thing is for everyone to learn from Kristian Ayoungman, my baby boy. To lead by example. To change the world.”