​Louis' mural, mumslx – to have a little hope, was the centre of a May 23 blessing ceremony at BC Cancer – Kelowna to introduce Louis' vision to the public.

Louis is no stranger to the impact cancer has on families, having lost his mother, grandfather, aunt, uncle and father-in-law to the disease. When his father, Gerry, was diagnosed with cancer on Jan. 31, 2024, the grief Louis experienced when losing his mom came flooding back.

Father and son spent 30 days travelling from the Syilx Okanagan Nation territory in the Vernon area to BC Cancer – Kelowna for treatment. During those trips to the cancer centre, Louis said, he saw the strength and hope in other patients and noticed the family support throughout, all of which later helped feed his creative process when designing the mural.

"I wanted to capture that love and support, and I only knew it from one point of view – our family's battle," Louis said.

The mural follows a series of window vinyl designs Sheldon created earlier for the cancer centre to represent the Syilx and other Indigenous peoples and help them feel seen as they undergo treatment or accompany loved ones on their cancer care journeys.

When his father decided he was going to fight the cancer "for the grandbabies so we have time together," Louis had his design inspiration. The result is the eight-foot-by-12-foot mumslx – to have a little hope mural.

The design shows Louis' father wrapped in a Pendleton blanket, which represents him overcoming his battle with cancer. Behind his father are grandchildren, each with a hand on each other's shoulders to represent the sharing of youthful energy, love, prayers and support, to illustrate that the battle of cancer is not fought alone. The energy of the grandchildren is shown with the outline of siya (Saskatoon berry), which is one of the timxw (four food chiefs) in Syilx culture. Also featured in the mural is the tree of life, in this case a fir tree used in ceremony.

Pictured: Artist Sheldon Pierre Louis and his father (sixth and fourth from left), and friends and family in front of the The mumslx – to have a little hope mural at BC Cancer – Kelowna.

The mural's predominant colour is purple, Louis said, because it represents the colour of our siya berries. 

"Siya is representative of youth," he said. "I was, in essence, trying to call that spirit of youthfulness and strength to our father to help him fight, as it was very draining and very difficult fight." 

As of today, Louis' father is navigating the after-effects of the chemotherapy and regaining his strength.

Pictured: Artist Sheldon Pierre Louis and son Suʔkncut Estikw Manuel with Sheldon’s father, Gerry. In the mural, Louis' father is shown wrapped in a Pendleton blanket, which represents him overcoming his battle with cancer.

A key goal within B.C.'s 10-year Cancer Action Plan, BC Cancer is working with our Indigenous Cancer Control team to deliver culturally safe and equitable care for Indigenous cancer patients through a range of initiatives, including the addition of new Indigenous patient navigators at all of our centres, increasing cultural competency training among all staff and providers and improving the collection and tracking of Indigenous healthcare data.

"We developed cultural safety plans for all six of our regional cancer centres and those plans had a wide range of actions and priorities, but one of them was facilities and specifically incorporating indigenous design into our centres," said Rosy Hartman, manager of Indigenous design and cultural safety with BC Cancer's Indigenous Cancer Control team. "The In Plain Sight report has a recommendation – recommendation No. 10 – which speaks directly to that work, to the importance of healthcare facilities being reflective of local territories. Within the past two-and-a-half years, we've done a wide range of projects now at all six centres, working with artists from those local territories to bring design and territorial acknowledgement into those centres."

Warren Clarmont, executive director, Indigenous Health & Cultural Safety at BC Cancer, said the work BC Cancer is doing to make services and facilities safer for Indigenous patients and families starts the moment they walk up to the entrance. 

"Incorporating Indigenous visual representation throughout our facilities is one of the ways we can do that," Clarmont said. "This includes building relationships with community artists to support wall murals, paintings, carvings and new signage to acknowledge First Nations' traditional and unceded territories where our facilities are situated. We are extremely grateful to Sheldon Louis for the mural he completed for BC Cancer – Kelowna to represent his father's cancer journey and how he has made that relatable for other Indigenous patients and their families while they are receiving treatment."

Having gone through cancer care journeys with family members, and particularly his involvement with his father's treatment, is there any advice Louis might have for others who are helping loved ones in similar situations?

"I would say it's good to have a team of family to help manage and delegate duties to help the loved one who is fighting the cancer," Louis said. "The physical, emotional, mental and spiritual impact affects everyone and having the ability to step back and take time for self-care and have other family members step in to carry some of the duties is very helpful."

Louis added that it is beneficial for people to understand they and their loved one fighting cancer may enter into a process of grieving – even without a physical loss – and to be aware of the emotional, physical, and cognitive experiences.

"Learning about the seven stages of grief may be helpful so that we are not taking things personal during that time," he said. "This might help people show up and understand what heir loved one may be going through."