Waterbird's Nest: As U.S. border fence rises, a tribe tightens ties

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

Friday, March 21, 2008

As U.S. border fence rises, a tribe tightens ties

By: Tim Gaynor

CAMPO, California (Reuters) - As U.S. authorities tighten security on the porous Mexico border in this election year, some communities have been caught off guard by government plans to build miles of fencing and barriers.

But members of one Native American tribe whose scattered settlements stud the rocky highlands of southern California and northwest Mexico, saw the build-up coming years ago and have turned something they dreaded to their advantage.

"There was a sense among a lot of people that something needed to be done to prevent us from losing touch ... and so that's what we did," said Mike Connolly, a councilman with the Campo Band of the Kumeyaay nation.

Expecting the wall to come crashing down on their community, the tribes have deepened ties, from cultural exchanges to visa regimens that ensure families can easily cross the U.S.-Mexico divide.

For centuries the Kumeyaay thrived as farmers and hunter gatherers in the borderlands, where there are now 13 Kumeyaay reservations, or "bands," dispersed across the rugged highland corner of San Diego County and four further settlements in Baja California, Mexico.

Their dispersed traditional settlements gave names to many of the cities and towns on both sides of the international line, including Tecuan, which became Tijuana, now the largest city on the border, and Otay, an area of trade parks in southern California.

Members of different settlements in Mexico and California used to cross informally back and forth over the line to visit their kin for decades, often bypassing checkpoints and simply hopping over a cattle fence in the oak-studded highlands east of San Diego.

But as a crackdown on illegal immigration from Mexico placed more border police and taller steel barriers along the line near San Diego in the 1990s, the members of the fragmented tribe realized that they needed to take decisive action if they were to stay together.

"The Kumeyaay were like a broken vase, and we needed the pieces back together again," said Louie Guassac, executive director of the Kumeyaay Border Task Force.

Get the whole article here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/19/AR2008031903086.html