"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

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Sacred mound returned to Choctaw tribe

By: Carver Rayburn

More than 1,000 people attended a ceremony on Friday officially marking the transfer of Nanih Waiya Mound and Cave back to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians in what was billed as a celebration of the return of "Our Mother Mound."

The ceremony featured traditional food, dancing, remarks by officials, storytelling of the Choctaw's rich culture and history and a proclamation by Miko Beasley Denson, chief of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

Denson declared the second Friday in August "Nanih Waiya Day," a holiday celebrating the occasion when the Tribe's "Mother Mound" was restored to its people.

"Nanih Waiya is the cultural and religious center of the tribe and is the birth place of the Choctaw people," Denson said. "Our mother mound was taken from the Choctaw people long ago, but it has now been restored to her children."

Denson talked about the importance of the ceremony bringing all the communities within the Choctaw tribe together as one people. He also stressed the importance of preservation of the mound and asked anyone who witnessed destruction or defamation to report it to Choctaw authorities.

Ownership of the Nanih Waiya Mound, which rests in the corners of Winston, Kemper and Neshoba counties, was given back to the Tribe by the state of Mississippi when Gov. Haley R. Barbour signed the deed in August of this year.

Nanih Waiya, which means "leaning hill" or "place of creation" in Choctaw, is the cultural and religious center of the Tribe and is thought to be the birth place of the Choctaw people. It was built over one thousand years ago and its construction is thought to have taken two or three generations to complete.

There's more here: http://www.neshobademocrat.com/print.asp?ArticleID=17790
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