Something about my art

Page 5

It's been a while now that I have been writing this column. Every month I choose a photograph and write about it. I feel fortunate because lately a lot of people have been telling me to talk a little bit more about me and what my art means to me. I am a pretty quiet guy, and it still surprises me that I am writing this column. Usually, I let my pictures talk for me. The main message I want to share with the people is to be proud of who they are.

I grew up in Saskatchewan, and, when I was young, I never thought about being an artist. I first started painting in oils. I did not like that a lot. It took too long. Then I discovered photography. Photography gave me the opportunity to create the images I had been thinking about.

All of our children dance powwow. I spend a lot of time working on their outfits. This is art too. It takes time to wrap the feathers and make them look good.

I was reading a book written by Jack Funk. It's called Outside the Women Cried. I have not read a book in a long time. I think everyone should read this book. It tells the story about how our land was wrongfully taken from us. It's a very sad story.

It's the story of the time the Thunderchild reserve was moved from near Delmas to the other side of the Saskatchewan river. In this book there's art that was done by my father,Donald Angus,by my brother, Larry Okanee, and by my relatives James Noon, Marvin Thunderchild and Edward and Joe Horse. I was really excited to find all this art by these men was done when they were young. They are all related to me, and this made me realize that this gift of art I carry is shared around in my family. It's good to feel like you belong.

I was in foster care as a kid, and I grew up in a home across the river from Delmas, at least for a little while. I used to find all these artifacts that the people left behind - arrowheads, buffalo skulls, bones and all kinds of things. I found them, but I never picked them up and bothered them. This is when my art started. In finding all these things, I used to imagine who the people were, what they wore and where they came from. I think all this wondering about the people is when my ideas for my art started coming to me.

It was years later that I found out that where I was, "where Turtle Creek meets the river", was where the Thunderchild people settled after they took treaty. All that time I thought I was far away from my people, but really I was very close to them. This also gave me a sense of belonging.

In one photo of my boy Blake, he is pictured with a hawk the kids named "Mo". My wife (who is a Mohawk. Get the joke?) and the kids found the hawk hurt by the side of the road. He was injured. I burned in (which is photographer talk meaning I put two pictures together) the picture of the hawk beside Blake. I put the two pictures together because I noticed that the shadow in the hawk's picture was the same as the shadow in Blake's picture. I figured the two were meant to be together. They matched. This is why I think artists are important to the people now. We can help put things back together.