Metis Centre mural an eye catcher

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A Metis artists latest work is highly visible in his hometown.

A mural on the side of the Prince Albert Indian Metis Friendship Centre is a lasting testament to team work, Metis culture and artistic expression.

Thanks to a proposal John Hanikenne made to the Friendship Centre a couple of years ago, he was not only able to get help with the huge project, but also teach some of his skills to some of the youth in the community.

The four young people involved with the project were 16-year-old Sara Carrier Burns, 17-year-old Deanine Starblanket, 23-year-old Roddy Michelle, and Karen Sewap, 15, who all applied to get into the summer program.

"We took applications from Aboriginal youth, including both First Nation and Metis kids," explained Hanikenne.

As a part of the summer art program's original plan, he had everything set to a strict time schedule. According to his master plan, the project would take six weeks to complete, which it did. Although a majority of the time was spent up on the scaffolding alongside the friendship centre, some time was taken for basic theory.

"We took one week of study, and five weeks of actual painting," explained Hanikenne. "I taught them a little bit about art concepts. I had to get them to visualize what we were going to paint, and give them a general outline of what we were going to do so they could also picture what was in my mind."

Another integral part of the week-long pre-painting course also involved learning things other than just the technical side of the project.

"We (also) did quite a bit of work on Native healing methods and Native spirituality, traditional things like that. I have knowledge in quite a bit of Indian story legends. (I have) First Nations specialist training and it helped me to begin to go through a lot of the things like what the sage represents and what all the different aspects of the culture are, and what we did in that one week."

The finished mural, entitled The Legends Live On, is on the north-facing wall of the Prince Albert Indian Metis Friendship Centre. Hanikenne had little trouble explaining the painting's story.

"There's an Elder in the picture and he's talking to some youth. It represents the passing down of knowledge and the legends of the people that have passed on in the Aboriginal community. The numerous faces in the mural represent Aboriginal leaders in Canada throughout history. The project was fully sponsored by the friendship centre."

With the outstanding work that Hanikenne managed to get the kids to produce - who had no previous art experience - one cannot help but wonder if any similar projects will take place in the future.

The answer to that query is a resounding yes. Hanikenne explained. "Next year, the rest of the friendship centre (will be painted). I'm hoping to have four (students) again. Four is a nice number," he said.

But will what Hanikenne has started ever evolve into something more than an elite program that only takes in four kids per summer to create a mural?

"Actually, we had a meeting about starting up an Aboriginal artists' co-operative," he said. "We had one meeting for the adults and the youth. Then we had one meeting with the youth, so what we're looking at is having an Aboriginal artists' co-operative. Maybe in the summertime (we might have) a wilderness camp where we could go out into the wilderness, in tipis, and all of us bring some good paint supplies and canvases and go out in nature and paint.

"(We might) have some Elders there to teach about their traditions and their cultures, and what we're hoping to do is have a gallery in town where we could showcase the art and also take (the artwork to sell) on consignment as well, and have a studio space available where we could teach during the winter and work with even the school kids and things like that take a class."

How long would it take for these plans to be made a reality?

"I have no idea," Hanikenne admitted. "We're just in the very start of the process. It ould take anywhere between three to five years."

Hanikenne is also very busy with other projects in the province.

"I'm also working on a project in Duck Lake and that's kind of what our timelines are for there. I put together a proposal for a Metis Cultural village in the town of Duck Lake, so we're working on that with Sheila Copps," stated Hanikenne.

For all of the programs Hanikenne has planned, his goal remains the same.

"I think it's a valuable opportunity for the youth to get some self esteem and show a little bit of their skill and pride in their community," he said. "Just to be associated with this project has given me a lot of pride in what our youth can accomplish when they put their minds to it."