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A West Edmonton Mall candy shop has removed a statue of an Indigenous man wearing a headdress made of lollipops following complaints it was an inappropriate use of a sacred object.

“It’s a native statue and there are lollipops for the feathers in his headdress,” Jacki Zahariuk, manager of Bubble and Gum, said Monday.

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“I have been told to move it and it’s no longer in front of my store … It (is) in a backroom.”

The store opened June 27. The statue had been on display in the shop for the last two weeks, but was moved to the front of the store Saturday, Zahariuk said.

A man complained in person and a woman posted photos on Facebook describing it as inappropriate and unacceptable.

Most of the dozens of comments about her post disapproved of the statue, calling it racist or the misuse of a sacred and spiritual item, similar to wearing a headdress as a costume.

However, other people supported the display and argued opponents are overreacting.

Zahariuk said mall administration contacted the store owner after receiving a complaint and he told her to take it away.

“To me, if it’s a sacred image, why would they make it? It was brought in from the States. It’s a native guy. He has a peace pipe and tomahawk and bow and arrow,” she said.

“It’s a beautiful piece.”

gkent@postmedia.com

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