"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

Friday, May 16, 2008

Lawyer criticizes eagle ruling

By: Ben Neary

CHEYENNE -- A specialist in American Indian law says a federal court ruling in the case of a Wyoming man who shot a bald eagle for use in his tribe's Sun Dance follows a pattern of decisions that profess respect for American Indian religion while punishing individual tribal members.

The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week reinstated a misdemeanor criminal charge against Winslow Friday, 23, a Northern Arapaho. Friday shot a bald eagle on the Wind River Indian Reservation in central Wyoming for use in his tribe's 2005 Sun Dance.

"What the opinion does, I think, is sort of give with one hand, while taking away with the other," said Sarah Krakoff, an associate professor of law at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Krakoff said the panel's ruling has some language that is respectful of Indian religions and recognizes the unique situation that tribes are in with regard to the nature of their practices.

However, she said the ruling, in common with other federal cases about Indian religious freedom, ends up "punishing the individual Indian practitioner even while not doing any greater damage to the cause of recognition of the significance of Indian religion.

"The appellate court ruling reversed a 2006 decision by U.S. District Judge William Downes of Wyoming to dismiss the charge against Friday. Downes said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wouldn't have given Friday a permit to kill the bird even if he had applied for one.

If convicted of the reinstated charge, Friday could face up to a year in jail and a fine.

Speaking after the court ruling last week, Friday said he was disappointed in the ruling."I didn't expect this kind of an outcome," he said. "I can't explain it."

Want to know more? Click here: http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2008/05/16/news/wyoming/5756ad1af848de14872574490006fcbb.txt
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