"We did not think of the great open plains, the beautiful rolling hills, and winding streams with tangled growth as "wild". To us it was tame. Earth was bountiful and we were surrounded with the blessings of the Great Mystery."

Luther Standing Bear - Rosebud Sioux

Guardian of the Water Medicine

Guardian of the Water Medicine
Dale Auger

Dale Auger

Dale Auger: On Art, Blood and Kindred Spirits
by Terri Mason

Defining Dale Auger in one sentence is akin to releasing the colours of a diamond in one cut. It can’t be done. It’s the many facets that release a diamond’s true brilliance, as it is the many facets of Auger’s life, education, ancestry, experiences and beliefs that have shaped and polished his work into the internationally acclaimed and collected artist that he is today.

Born a Sakaw Cree from the Bigstone Cree Nation in northern Alberta, Auger’s education began as a young boy when his mother would take him to be with the elders. “I used to say to myself, ‘Why is she leaving me with these old people?’ – but today I see the reason; I was being taught in the old way.”

Auger’s respect for traditional teachings led him on a journey to study art, opening the door to a doctorate in education. He is a talented playwright, speaker and visual artist whose vividly coloured acrylics have captured the attention of collectors that reads like an international ‘Who’s Who’ spanning English to Hollywood royalty. The essence of his work is communication, and now Dr. Auger has come full circle, interpreting the life of his culture – from the everyday to the sacred - through the cross-cultural medium of art.

Read the rest here:

http://www.daleauger.com/printversionbio.cfm

Monday, January 28, 2008

Indian Country Could Back Obama on Super Tuesday

By: Ketaki Gokhale

Barack Obama is big in Indian Country, even though he’s done everything wrong.

He hasn’t attended the annual National Congress of American Indians meet, or rolled out a comprehensive Native American agenda, or even addressed the rumors of his own Native heritage—but he has still, somehow, managed to capture the imagination of Indian Country, say Native American commentators and community activists.

Whether that wave of goodwill is enough to carry him to “Super Tuesday” primary victories in the states of Alaska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Arizona, remains to be seen.

“Obama represents a break from the old—something fresh and new,” says Paul DeMain, managing editor of the Northern Wisconsin-based newspaper News from Indian Country. “Native people are looking at him as someone who can empathize with other people of color.”

DeMain has a hunch that those coming out in support of Obama are the young and the highly educated. The younger generation is trying to define itself in new political terms, he explains. “When I looked at who’s on his list, I saw lots of family names I recognized,” he says. For example, the daughter of LaDonna Harris, an outspoken Comanche leader who donated to New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson’s presidential campaign last year, is now involved with the Obama campaign, says DeMain.

Want to know more? Click here: http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=4522817d4da4721f47cfbe6b0fa7fd7f

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