Children's book extends education philosophy

Dale Auger has already secured himself a spot in the pantheon of contemporary art, but can he carve out a niche in contemporary literature? Well, he's sure gonna give it a try.
Mwâkwa Talks to the Loon, written and illustrated by the Sakaw Cree from Bigstone Cree Nation, is his first foray into book publishing. The Cree story for children, written in English with Cree words included, tells the tale of a talented hunter who takes for granted his gift for providing for the community. The hunter prefers praise for his work rather than the work itself and soon loses his special connection with the beings he hunts and the ability that makes him unique and important.
The story is a tale of thanksgiving, and the special way Cree people honor the beings that sacrifice themselves to feed, shelter and clothe them. And while the tale is a simple one, the illustrations are remarkable, sometimes funny, often emotional, but always quintessential Auger.
Sweetgrass talked with Auger at his art salon at the Calgary Stampede Western Showcase, where he said it was important for him to be to dissemble stereotypes about Indigenous peoples, including the image of the majestic warrior on the Prairies greeting the cowboy, which is still a very strong component of the marketing of the festival.
"Being at the Stampede is important because I am bringing a different component to what the Indian is about . . . A lot of my paintings are teachings from a different aspect, the relationship with the land, relationship with the four legged. It wasn't just running around chucking spears bare naked on the Prairie, or else greeting the wagon trains from a distance and saying 'I don't know if these people should be walking on our land.'"
One of the most spectacular pieces in his display is called the traveller, a man dressed in traditional garb with a coke can in a medicine bag tied around his neck. Auger describes the work as coming a little closer to an Andy Warhol approach to expression.
"What it is focusing on is the power of the medicine person and his ability to travel. . . We have always maintained in our medicine world, in our traditional Indian world that we had the ability to travel to the future. So that is based on spirit travel, a very powerful form of spirit travel." Auger explains that his traveller goes to the future and believes the substance that they drink there is medicine, so he brings that back to his time to show the people evidence from where he has been. Auger leaves it to the imagination of his audience to decipher what the traveller means to them.
"We have sources of knowledge we haven't even tapped into . . . I'm opening the door to questions, I'm opening the door to discussion," he said. Over the years Auger's work has made statements on the treaties and the relationship between Indigenous nations and the Europeans, and though he acknowledges his work serves as a means of education, he's not prepared to push too hard too fast so as to alienate his market.
"To be a fine warrior you've got to pick and choose your battles, and I think that this is a very sensitive part of the land."
Just as Auger expects his art to gently educate, so does he hope the story of a northern Cree boy with a gift for hunting will provide food for thought.
The gift, Auger describes in Mwâkwa Talks to the Loon, is the deep level of communication between the human being and the beings that are hunted.
"That's a spiritual relationship that has been with us for thousands of years. It's not just that he knew where they were. He was on the path. That's the teaching I want to pass on, the gift, the higher power, the relationships of the beings and this understanding of this two-legged who could survive on the land, and that's our history... Long before the coming of the white man or the coming of the different belief systems we had a way . . . that's what I think is great knowledge that needs to be passed to our kids."
He says the philosophy behind the book is not so different than what he offers up in his paintings.
"I'm being a good, tactful warrior." He said to deliver a message he tries to find a balance between the "friendly one" and the "fierce warrior." And he delivers it with color, with language and with pride.
"The teachings in that book are so important because our kids really, really need to know," particularly the children who have never had a traditional relationship with the land or with nature.
"A lot of kids, whether they are girls or they are boys, have great, great powers to travel. They are great dreamers."
Mwâkwa Talks to the Loon is published by Heritage House and retails for $24.95.
Auger's next big exhibit, called Auger and Friends, will be in Bragg Creek in October where he will bring 20 Aboriginal artists together for a show.