The bronze sculpture statues of a Stoney Grandmother and her grandchildren that now sit in Airdrie's Nose Creek Regional Park, were anonymously donated by an Airdrie family to the city. The anonymous donors had commissioned Don and Shirley Begg, an artist couple from Cochrane to make the statues.

Begg, speaking on behalf of her husband, said that in crafting the life-sized statues, they engaged with various Indigenous leaders Elders and Knowledge Keepers.

"It really impressed upon us the importance of the oral history and teachings of the Elders; that grandmothers passing on their knowledge goes across cultures; and from time immemorial," she said. "That was the inspiration for the grandmother teaching the grandchildren. It was to be a statue to recognize the Indigenous history and current presence of Indigenous people in Airdrie."

If the style of the statue evokes a familiarity, that is because The Beggs' cast bronze sculptures are featured across the province and country, including at the Calgary International Airport, as well as the Alberta Legislature.

According to the City of Airdrie's social media post, the sculptures depict an “Îethka” or Stoney grandmother around 1909, when Airdrie was established, sharing her traditional knowledge of local vegetation with her grandchildren.

"This artwork was created to honour those Peoples who have been in a relationship with this land since time immemorial and continue to live in the City of Airdrie, in the surrounding rural districts and in First Nations communities throughout the Treaty 7 Region of Alberta, as well as the Métis Nation of Alberta Region 3," the post read.

Begg said that it is indeed timely to recognize Indigenous culture, adding that because their statues are hyper-realistic, she said the only way to truly honour figures in history is to be accurate. Begg said that process from start to finish took nearly two years and began with discussions with the client (donor) about what they wanted the sculptures to evoke. 

"The donor wanted to honour the Indigenous presence, especially in the Nose Creek Valley and Airdrie. The next thing we did, is to consider how we can we portray that... But the most important thing is to listen," Begg said. 

They then started working on life-size clay statues. But it wasn't just the moulding of the statues that was laborious. Once the statues were nearly complete the couple began to contemplate how to place them in relation to the others. Begg said that the way the sculptures face each other, making eye contact is tantamount to conveying family and the bonds that family shares, as well as how this evolves into storytelling that is passed down from generation to generation.

Begg also pointed out that while the grandmother is engaging with the two older children, the youngest child has found something more interesting - underlining family dynamics that almost everyone can relate to.

"The very young little fellow is not that interested and he's found a salamander. Apparently, there used to be a lot of salamanders in the Nose Creek area. The dog came about through consultation with the Circle Connections for Reconciliation Society."

According to Begg, after consultations, it was decided that a dog would also be sculpted, as the animal represents protection.

"The grandmother wouldn't go out with the grandchildren without her dog and the donor very generously agreed for us to add the dog as a symbol of protection."

Once the clay models were approved, the cast bronzing process began. 

"We wanted the sculptures to show emotion. We wanted it to show the love and the caring of the grandmother for her grandchildren," she said. "Everyone we worked with has just been generous - the donor has been very generous with the funding for this statue and all of the elders and knowledge keepers and individual Indigenous people who have participated in this and support it."

When asked from all the statues that she has created which one evokes the most emotion for her, Begg said that it is very difficult to choose, using the analogy that it would be like trying to pick a favourite child. However, she said that the bronze sculpture honouring the spirit of Pioneer Women at the Native Gardens at Bow Valley Ranch (as well as the statue at the Saskatoon Farmers Market at River Landing) is particularly special to her. This sculpture was in fact inspired by another maternal figure - Begg's own grandmother.

"The statue of the farm woman was one that my grandmother actually asked me to create. She was a wonderful pioneer woman and she was concerned when she was in her early hundreds, that the ordinary farm women were being forgotten for their contributions," Begg said. "She said to me, someone should make a statue honouring those early women and she looks across the table at me and said that I made statues!"

With regard to the newly erected statues, The City announced that a dedication ceremony for the sculptures will be held on September 30, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Begg said that she and her husband will be in attendance.

"We are very, very proud of it. We have done statues from all across Canada and that one is one we're particularly proud of and we will be there."