Beauty of Native people found through spirit - Poitras

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Native artists are beginning to depict more of the power of the spiritual work in their art.

And it's that kind of new development which artist Jane Ash Poitras believes is a trend away from the forceful, negative messages which have appeared in many previous works,

including her own work.

"I can see what we've already done. We've thrown the negative side in there, showed the issue of the residential schools, the exploitation of Indians. People look at it and say: God,

it's so depressing!" Said Poitras, who is Cree.

"You can only talk so much about that. We have to ask what is the answer. And the answer is we have to have a new Bible of spiritual roots."

Poitras predicts the next kind of artistic movement in the Native community is shamanization, depicting the power of the medicine people.

"What happens if you do preserve our culture, our people? You start talking about more spiritual things, philosophies, beliefs in higher powers, in the spiritual world."

Her recent work, submitted to the ASUM MENA Native Arts Festival, reflects that emphasis on finding the spiritual centre within Native people.

Works such as 'Shamanistic Land Spirit', 'Bird Deities' and 'Bird Shaman Deities' are move a way from an earlier body of work whose social statements were as provocative as they

were blatant.

The 37-year-old mother of two has also depicted the power of the family in her new work, especially the kind of relationship which exists between a mother and child.

"Indian people have been treated very badly," notes Poitras.

"Today, people have lost their confidence, their hope and their self-image."

But, Poitras believes that through art, Native people can realize they are a very strong, spiritual and beautiful people.

"I'm trying to let them know they can be proud to be Native, proud of their culture, to go back to the old ways and hang on to their genuine culture," said Poitras.

Poitras said that before the colonization of Indians in Canada, every Native person was always part of a very strong culturally based society.

"Now each one of them has to bring that out. And no one can take that away form them."

"It's really a big job we have to do trying to give back a nation's pride, to try to give back people's soul, their heart and their power," she said, sadly.

"But Native people have gone through the holocaust. And they still are there."

"But as the artist Arthur Schiller once said: The beauty of my paintings is the beauty of my people. I paint their souls because they're so beautiful regardless of how drunk or ugly

they get,"

"They're like children."