During the event, one student was caught on camera dumping water on Flanagan. Calgary police say that person was brought in for questioning, but was not charged.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Artists take a stand\u00a0<\/p>\n
The artists, seth cardinal dodginghorse (who only uses lowercase letters in their name) and their mother, Glenna Cardinal, collaborate as an artist duo called t\u012bn\u00e1 g\u00fay\u00e1\u0144\u00ed, translating to Deer Road in Tsuut’ina.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Individually and together, the duo had seven pieces at the university\u2019s Nickle Galleries. <\/p>\n
They spoke at an artists\u2019 talk on campus on Oct. 1, before they had learned about the Sept. 29 event.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have people use the topic of residential schools and use it as a way to debate \u2014 like we have family that went missing in these schools,\u201d cardinal dodginghorse said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have people debate that any type of genocide took place and occurred from these schools \u2014it’s being wilfully ignorant.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2022, the House of Commons backed a motion<\/a> recognizing Canada\u2019s residential schools as genocide.\u00a0<\/p>\n After learning of the event on campus, cardinal dodginghorse said the \u201cweight of what had taken place both hit us,\u201d and after a discussion, the two decided to remove their art.\u00a0<\/p>\n In its place, they left a letter to the school and sage for smudging.\u00a0<\/p>\n On the left, a silkscreen piece called Xigogu (yesterday) by the artist duo t\u012bn\u00e1 g\u00fay\u00e1\u0144\u00ed. On the right, sage and a letter to the University of Calgary that the artists left after removing their artwork. (seth cardinal dodginghorse\/Facebook)<\/p>\n \u201cI didn’t feel safe. I didn’t feel our work was safe at the university, and I felt like we had to go get it and bring it home,\u201d said Cardinal, who is also a U of C alumnus.\u00a0<\/p>\n Response from the gallery was positive, cardinal dodginghorse said, as was response online, including from other artists.\u00a0<\/p>\n In their letter to the school, the pair expressed their support for a demand that student protesters have made: to remove Flanagan’s professor emeritus title.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone like that shouldn’t be celebrated in a school that is meant to inspire and also meant to educate others,\u201d cardinal dodginghorse said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Flanagan responds<\/p>\n In an interview with CBC News, Flanagan says discussions during the event were \u201ccalm and respectful on both sides\u201d for about the first hour and a half.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then the mob showed up,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n He\u2019s filed a complaint with the university against two students: one who Flanagan says was shouting obscenities, and the one who threw the water. He says their actions went against the U of C\u2019s free speech policy by disrupting the event. <\/p>\n As for the timing of the event, Flanagan says it was not his decision, but it\u2019s not one he disagrees with.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI personally don’t think that you should refrain from holding a legitimate discussion because it’s the day before, the day after or whatever. I think it’s a good time to try and attract attention to your discussion,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Universities cannot become places where ideas are shielded from scrutiny.University of Calgary statement<\/p>\n Flanagan said the suggestion of removing his professor emeritus title is \u201can outrageous demand.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIt’s an academic rank and it’s part of the contract with the professors\u2019 union. So the university can\u2019t unilaterally remove that rank from me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI would imagine that the teachers\u2019 union would come to my defence, and so the university would be provoking a legal battle with the union. So I don\u2019t expect anything to happen there.\u201d<\/p>\n In a statement on its website, the Democracy Fund, the registered charity that runs Canadian Students for Free Speech, defended the event.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cUniversities exist for the purpose of testing contested ideas through argument and evidence. Whether residential schools meet the legal definition of genocide is a serious historical and legal question on which reasonable Canadians disagree, and it is precisely the kind of question a university should welcome,\u201d the online statement said.\u00a0<\/p>\n What the university is saying<\/p>\n In a statement, the University of Calgary said it stands with the Indigenous community and is committed to truth and reconciliation.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"On](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792676418_155_default.jpg\")
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