Art reveals cultural continuity

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It's been 501 years since Native peoples and white Europeans first met on this continent.

During those long, dark years, Native cultures were subjected to extremely powerful white-European, Christian indoctrination. Miraculously, our cultures have survived.

An exploration of the exciting and continuously evolving Native art world (and the more personal ceremonial world) reveals the continuity of our ways as Native peoples.

A Native prophecy, popularly referred to, foretells that futuristic cultures will flourish and that artists, musicians, dancers, writers and other visionaries will lead the

way to cultural renaissance.

I have heard several different versions of that prophecy over the years. But only recently have I understood the wisdom and profound message inherent in those simple words.

Clearly, that prophecy reflects the sophisticated wisdom of Native Elders who understood and recognized the importance of art in the preservation and direction of future cultures.

In the Native art world, there is an excitingly energetic movement under way which respectfully acknowledges the traditions and ways of our ancestors while progressively adapting to more contemporary artistic demands.

Many of these artists are also educating consumers through their work by moving beyond that fictitious, singular, pan-Indian representation to realistic and culturally specific representations.

Numerous artists are celebrating our survival by calling attention to the beauty and strength within their cultures.

Offending delicate white sensibilities, others represent horrific pain and sadness (which too many of us remember and share), as they call attention to historic injustices

like colonial tyranny, forced segregation through the reserve systems and Metis road allowance, residential schools and various forms of abuse.

Still others use their work to explore their cultural roots which have too often been severed by residential schools or the white foster-home experience.

Working as an artist is painful and frustrating for many contemporary Natives who struggle to find balance between cultural ideals and the so-called aesthetic conventions.

Art, in its many different forms, is an affirmation of ourselves, a reflection of our contemporary lives, a snapshot of our history and a testimony of our survival and continuity as people.