"I call this smudging table 'The River of Tears'. This name came to me as I thought of the position of the Kamloops Residential School along the banks of the Thompson River, and the 215 unmarked graves discovered there. Then I began to think of all the rivers that cross Turtle Island, how they are all connected and flow through our native communities, symbolizing the many tears shed as a result of Residential Schools, Day Schools, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and the search for Reconciliation." ~ Joseph A. Amato

Features of this table include an epoxy river containing sweetgrass, sage, cedar, and tobacco which flows into a delta of pools and streams that offer touches of luminessence when darkness arrives. The hand-cut and engraved copper bowl is accented by eagle feather details and provides the perfect vessel for containing smudging materials. The table itself is solid Broadleaf Maple with complimenting Broadleaf Maple slab legs.

This table will be presented to Tk'emlups te Secwepemc in the Autumn of 2021 as a gift and symbol of gratitude for their perseverance of truth while committing time and resources to helping their community, and others who have been displaced by the 2021 wildfires, during a time of immense grief.