Waterbird's Nest: Authentic tepee being designed, built in Seeley to honor Blackfeet heritage

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.

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Monday, May 26, 2008

Authentic tepee being designed, built in Seeley to honor Blackfeet heritage

By: Kim Briggeman

Stretched out on the floor of the elementary school gym Thursday morning was what, in the next two days, will become an authentic 20-foot tepee, and a significant tip of the hat to the Blackfeet heritage of the Blackfoot Valley.

“The design we put on this tepee, it gives the spiritual support, the emotional support, the mental support, the physical support that the family requires for healthy living,” said Leonard Weasel Traveller, a Northern Piegan from Calgary.

As grade school and high school classes took turns watching, and locals trickled in to see the progress, Weasel Traveller, his wife Audrey, and Carol Murray of Browning quietly and carefully sketched out the design.

This one will be unique to Seeley, Leonard Weasel Traveller explained.

They'll spend Friday painting it in the gym, then erect it in traditional fashion next to the Seeley Lake Historical Society Museum south of town.

On Saturday, the painters, including Murray's husband John, will don the traditional dress of their people for a Blackfeet Indian lodge dedication ceremony.

The tepee - or, more properly, lodge - will be a permanent fixture at the museum.

“It will be lighted from the inside so it'll show up at night. And we're eventually going to have a brass plaque made that will explain the design that on it,” said Nancy Lambert, secretary of the Seeley Lake Historical Society.

As of Thursday, the design and its significance were still emerging.

Leonard Weasel Traveller gave a few hints. He pointed to circles near the smoke flaps that represented the seven stars of the Big Dipper on one side, and six stars of the Pleiades on the other. Beneath them was the morning star. All along the bottom fringe, figures were sketched to represent stars and mountains.

Before the painting began, the silhouettes of four beavers were added.

“Our way of life is having a relationship with the cosmic, with the flora and fauna and living with that relationship,” Leonard Weasel Traveller said. “And so the design of this particular tepee is a beaver lodge.”

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