"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, June 2, 2008

Tribes work to reverse corrosive effects of boarding schools

By: Jason Stein

TOMAH, Wis. — Chloris Lowe Sr. didn’t teach his children to speak the language of their Ho-Chunk ancestors.

But today, in a small tribal day care, he and his great-grandson chatter happily in Ho-Chunk. Lowe, 80, a tribal elder who lived through the era of English-only Indian boarding schools, is now helping to undo the effects those institutions had on his people.

“These kids here, the way they understand Ho-Chunk, before they even talk, my gosh!” said Lowe, a native speaker of the language who is helping teach it to the toddlers here. “You could almost go to tears because they’re really picking it up.”

Around Wisconsin, tribes are working to reverse the lingering effects of the long-closed boarding schools by helping children learn the languages and cultures the schools once discouraged.

The Lac du Flambeau tribe, for instance, is seeking to turn a dormitory in a former boarding school on the reservation into a center to promote the tribe’s Ojibwe language as well as traditional skills such as mat-making.

Part of the project will also involve restoring the dormitory to its 1907 condition and turning it into an interpretive center on the boarding school era and its legacy, said Kelly Jackson-Golly, the tribe’s historical preservation officer.

“The ultimate reclamation is to have a place that by design was built to take away cultural traditions and flip that around and have a place that’s actually giving back something and promoting healing,” Jackson-Golly said.

Lowe, a former truck driver and the last member of his family born in a wigwam, brought his children up to be college-educated professionals in careers like law and engineering. But something was missing.

Get the rest of the story here: http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2008/06/02/news/z04language0602.txt
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