Many of our Elders and ancestors ran away from harm they experienced at the children’s work camps during the century that this ruthless assimilationist system was strictly enforced by government policy. Some of the children did not survive their journey home, which often involved travelling hundreds of miles by foot in unforgiving weather and rugged terrains. The tender-aged children in Study for The Going Home Star are depicted navigating their escape. The Going Home Star—kîwêtin acâhkos in Cree astronomy, known to some as Polaris, the North Star—stands still in the night sky, acting as a guide for travellers. Using traditional knowledge, the children plot their way home while the shadows of thunderbirds—their protectors—pass over them in the approaching dusk.

— Kent Monkman