Single exhibit attempts to tackle many subjects

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An artist whose work will be on display until the end of September in a main walkway in the city's busy downtown arts district has drawn on his talents to tell several stories within the single exhibit.

The display entitled The Little Western is located in the busy thoroughfare that joins the EPCOR Centre for the Performing Arts and the Glenbow Institute where the Truck Gallery, among others, has display space.

Terrance Houle made a plaster cast of his niece Ashleigh out of bandages and stuffed it with paper to retain its shape. The cast lays on its stomach on the floor, looking up at a large television, her legs crossed and in the air, typical of a youngster.

"Then I dressed her in pyjamas of cowboys and Indians material, and put a Lone Ranger mask on her face, framed with braids," he explained. A war bonnet made of paper and the pyjama material completed the costume. On the TV screen runs a continuous stream of cartoons, video work done by the artist, and an episode in a series by Warner Brothers which is supposed to teach kids about history.

The episode is called Indian Givers, a game "hosted" by Colonel Custer and featuring Sitting Bull, Geronimo and Chief Joseph as the players. "Of course, the Indians lose the game," said Houle, which is a stereotypical reflection on most games, television shows, and movies that were made by non-Aboriginal film-makers and historians. "People can quickly grasp the significance of what's on the television screen, with the Aboriginal youth experiencing her history as portrayed by an ethnocentric member of another nation, as is too often the case."

Houle admitted there is a lot of autobiographical reference in the image. "It's a twist on the western theme-who is really the bad guy?" The idea has been in the back of Houle's mind for a long time. There were always a lot of western movies around when he was growing up, Houle explained, and kids always played the game "cowboys and Indians." He was usually the only Native kid in his play group, as his father was in the military and the family rarely lived in communities where other Aboriginal children were present.

"I never wanted to be the Indian because they were always labelled as the bad guys and they always had to die," he said. The movies depicted the ugly savage, speaking in monosyllables and much to be feared.

Ashleigh's response to the project was surprising.

"It amazed me how proud she was to portray her Aboriginal roots, and I would like to think that her enthusiastic response was different from my reluctance when I was her age because times have changed somewhat. Today there is more acceptance of Indigenous people, and we can be proud of our heritage," he said. Making the headdress out of paper signifies the artificiality of the typical perception of Aboriginal peoples and their culture as portrayed in the movies and in history books, he said.

"There is a hint of survival of the culture in the fact that a child is wearing it, the passing-down and ultimate acceptance of who we are," he explained. Houle hopes, however, that it is accepted with some humor, and that Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people alike can laugh together at the images, but at the same time absorb the point that is being made. "If we can deconstruct the stereotypes and myths and perceptions, we can destroy them."

Ashleigh's pride in her Aboriginal heritage has been forged by her grandfather, Houle's father. "He is passing on our culture to her, but even more important, he is passing on pride in who we are.

She adores her grandfather. She brought him to school as her show and tell," he said. The elderly gentleman brought his powwow regalia and enthralled the entire class with his presence.

Houle was inspired long ago by Norman Rockwell paintings, TV westerns on Saturday morning, and cartoon westerns.

"Ashleigh is an Aboriginal, wearing traditional head gear, but watching the same TV shows from a Native perspective," he said. The sybolism is obvious to passers-by.

"I don't want to dwell on the past and be spiteful. Maybe the Native perspective has been absent, but I won't let it be a negative force. If anything, the experience has made me a better artist, and I see myself as a link between cultures. We can't change history but together we can experience camaraderie, and our cultures can exist together."