Waterbird's Nest: Native American Stories

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 21, 2008

Native American Stories

By: Joseph Paige

Native American stories have always been about much more than mere entertainment, and served as a way to transmit faith and culture from generation to generation. While certainly interesting and entertaining, there is always much for the listener to learn, whether that listener is a Native American child learning the proper way to interact with elders and other moral and cultural values, or an anthropologist seeking to better understand indigenous peoples.

As the Europeans seized control of the continent, often they expended a great deal of effort on converting the native peoples from their own faiths, and all too frequently the concept of conversion by the sword or other coercive means was used, making Native American stories essential to the preservation of indigenous culture. Preserved by oral traditions that reached back for generations, Native American stories were able to keep ancient ways of life alive, helping these traditions to survive the constant assault of the continued pressure from the Europeans and the changes they wrought.

However, not all Native American stories were about the past at first telling. Many took current events and placed them within a context that fit the Native American culture, presenting happenings from the indigenous perspective, rather than what became the prevailing European point of view. Native American stories served an important role in recording events and in passing news.

And, like many stories in many cultures, Native American stories also served as a means of instructing children in right behavior, presenting heroes and heroines modeling ideal behavior in often difficult circumstances. From Native American stories, children learned the values and customs of their culture, like children everywhere do through the stories they are told.

Native American stories offer a fascinating glimpse into a culture that endured great stresses and hardships, and still managed to survive, even to grow and blossom with the passing years. Serving as the guardians of faith and tradition, Native American stories have a special place not only in indigenous culture, but also in the American culture as a whole.