Waterbird's Nest: What Would You Say?

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

Sunday, July 13, 2008

What Would You Say?

By: Pamela Waterbird Davison

What would you say if I told you this smile I wear isn’t real, that it hides the hurt I feel every time I think of the damage done because someone thought my motives were less than sincere? People who’ve known me for quite some time did not see fit to give me the benefit of the doubt, merely allowed malicious lies to taint the way they saw me. They forgot who they were seeing and saw only what they chose to believe.

What would you say if you knew the angry front I present is to protect the “me” who, at seventeen, believed the world was filled with goodness no matter how dark and miserable people made it seem? I think of myself back then and remember the young woman who saw in people things they couldn’t see in themselves and I want to mourn for her because she refuses to give up faith in the essentialness of humanity.

What if I told you there was a time when I trusted in people to be whom they were with all their righteousness and believe in me as I believed in them? I thought everyone was equipped with the ability to do what is right. It’s sometimes hard for me to think I ever existed in that way since I no longer trust most people at all. The slightest kindness extended to me is met with suspect and I rarely trust kindness in its simplest form.

What if you knew how much I hated feeling this way, that for all the lies, gossip, and backstabbing, I still want to believe? I keep telling myself there will come a day when everyone will see the truth for what it is, but I’m losing hope, and feel helpless to make things different.

What if you knew what it felt like to be in such conflict? I wonder if you can imagine. Then I wonder if any of us ever let ourselves really believe in anything? If we genuinely look at ourselves and each other in the way we’re supposed to, I can imagine greatness. Greatness as we were intended to be. There would be respect of tremendous magnitude and our Creator, in whatever way we chose to imagine the Omnipotent One, would surely be pleased. The universe we live in would be one of harmony and we would know heaven on earth, even if the streets aren’t paved with gold.

Why must we be determined to destroy each other? Why must we seek to find the most indignant ways of humiliating ourselves and our family? Why must we demean our relationships in order to make them mean something to us?

What if we all acknowledged that none of us has an answer? What if we all understood we’re all in this together? What if we knew none of what has come to pass is an accident? What if we all said we don’t have a clue? What if each of us realized the other was doing the best they could with what they had, even if we couldn’t relate? It wouldn’t excuse any of us, but it sure would make day to day life a little easier to swallow.

I desperately want to believe in the things I see breathing through our existence together. It can’t all be a mistake! It can’t be all one way or the other! It just can’t. Maybe the one thing Jesus, Buddha, Geronimo, Chief Seattle, Mother Theresa, and Pope John Paul, III ever wanted us to know was this: there are some things worth being mad about…passion is a vital part of life, but so is compassion for the things we can’t or won’t understand until we’ve walked in the path of others. We may think we know a lot of things yet we’ll never truly know what it’s like to be someone else, to live with the demons others face without facing them ourselves.

I can’t say with any certainty that I’ve lived a life without regret. Certainly, I have regrets. But it is human to be regretful and to seek forgiveness where it can be found. Now, if only I can be forgiving, then maybe I will find heaven on earth buried deep within the ruins we’ve all created! I think above all the teachings of every religion or spiritual path, forgiveness is probably the most difficult to achieve and the highest calling any of us can make.

What if I told you I’m not there yet, but I’m working on it? Would you believe me? Would you believe IN me? Would I believe in you?

What if you knew what was really in my heart, could feel it in my words and see it in my eyes? Would you believe in what you could feel and see? It’s not a lie. It’s a life. What would you say?