Artist deals with own battle to support healing

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William Gruben of Tuktoyaktuk was asked to create a sculpture that would portray the spirit of Healing Our Spirit Worldwide-The Fifth Gathering (HOSW), an international Indigenous conference being held in Edmonton this summer. At the time, Gruben had no idea the challenges he would face as he sought to support the Indigenous communities and the theme of the gathering through his art.

"When I was first asked to do this sculpture I had great visions of creating an eleborate sculpture as requested, but to also engrain my thoughts on the theme of the conference as I see the Aboriginal spirit, which too me means never give up, because we never know." But as fate would have it, Gruben had much less time to spend on the sculpture than he would have liked. As he was waiting for delivery of the stone that he would use to create the sculpture, he was diagnosed with cancer of the nasal passage and has, since that time, been travelling between Yellowknife and Edmonton as he undergoes tests and treatments.

Adversity is not a new thing for Gruben, however.

"I have lived the transition from log houses and dog teams to the age of electricity, the residential school experience, alcoholism and separation from home, language and culture. Yet, because of these challenges, I have become content with who I am, understanding it's OK to be Aboriginal, in particular, Inuvialuk."

He would have only three days to complete his sculpture.

"I worked on a piece of marble with as much determination as the three days allowed me. I did as much as I could, with the understanding that whatever I didn't finish would be completed by each individual who viewed the sculpture upon realizing and understanding that, regardless of challenge, it is the perseverance of effort and the pride in who you are and the grace with which you accept these challenges that allows you to help yourself and, ultimately, others by never giving up."

Gruben presented his sculpture to the planning committee of Healing Our Spirit Worldwide on June 23.

The HOSW conference will be held Aug. 6 to 11 at the Shaw Conference Centre. The first gathering was envisioned by Dr. Maggie Hodgson, who wanted a conference that would focus on substance abuse issues and programs in Indigenous communities around the world. After much lobbying, the first HOSW was held in Edmonton in 1992, which saw 3,300 people from 17 countries attend. It has since been held in Sydney, Australia (1994), Rotorua, New Zealand (1998) and Albuquerque, N.M (2002). The HOSW vision has expanded to include health and governance issues relating to Indigenous peoples? struggles with substance abuse.

For more information about the conference, contact Robyn at (780) 447-4675 or visit the Web site at www.hosw.com.