'' Dance Your Way ''

is a five-story collaborative mural created by newcomer artist Bîstyek and Indigenous artist Jeannie White Bird, commissioned by Welcome Place in celebration of the organization’s 80th anniversary. The mural honors eight decades of supporting refugees, asylum seekers, and newcomers while grounding that work within the ancestral lands of Treaty 1 territory.

Though separated by different histories, both Indigenous Peoples and Refugees have experienced profound displacement from land, loss of identity, and the struggle to reclaim dignity and community. Indigenous Peoples have endured forced assimilation, the residential school system, and systemic marginalization on their own land.

Refugees arrive in Canada having fled war, persecution, and forced migration. Yet within both journeys lies resilience, cultural continuity, and the courage to rebuild.

At the heart of the mural are two figures — an Indigenous jingle dress dancer and a Kurdish newcomer — dancing together. Their movement reflects a cultural exchange and a symbolic act of bridge-building between newcomer and Indigenous communities.

The Indigenous dancer offers a sacred braid of sweetgrass, symbolizing kindness, while the newcomer returns an olive branch, representing peace.

This mural brings those stories together — not as parallel struggles, but as interwoven experiences that speak to the possibility of healing through relationship and recognition.

Surrounding the dancers are elements deeply rooted in both Indigenous worldview and newcomer resilience:

 Kaahgiigay Binesi (Thunderbird) — Everlasting protector and sacred being who “watches over us all”

 Mikinaak (Turtle) — Spirit animal representing Turtle Island, rising from healing waters and Grandfather Rocks

 The Four Direction Star — Red, Yellow, Black, and White: representing the cycles of life, four seasons, four cardinal directions, and the four original directions of humankind

 Nokomis Dibik-Giizis (Grandmother Moon), guiding and nurturing from above

 Flowing wires — Evoking strength, movement, and the empowerment of newcomers as they rebuild their lives in Canada The mural also features the word “Welcome” in over a dozen languages spoken by newcomer families supported by Welcome Place — including Arabic, Tigrinya, Somali, Kurdish, French, Ukrainian, and Anishinaabemowin — reinforcing the power of language, identity, and inclusion.

With bold colors and powerful symbolism, Dance Your Way is both a visual celebration and a living act of reconciliation — honoring the relationships that define this land and the shared hopes for a more connected and compassionate future.