Ryan Jason Allen Willert, Black-billed Magpie, 2020, Acrylic painting, 76.2 x 50.8 cm, Courtesy of the artist
Niitsitapi Pi'kssíí (Blackfoot Fancy Beings)
September 2021 – August 2023
Niitsitapi Pi’kssíí (Blackfoot Fancy Beings) is an exhibition featuring artworks that depict animals, or fancy beings, significant to Blackfoot culture by two contemporary Blackfoot artists, Ryan Jason Allen Willert and Kalum Teke Dan. Blackfoot teachings about these animals are a large part of the exhibition, which would not have been possible if not for the generous support of Elder Camille (Pablo) Russell.
To develop an understanding of balance and harmony in nature and the cycles of renewal that affect seasons of life, it is essential to observe the natural world and its animal cohabitants. This fact is well known in Blackfoot culture. According to Blackfoot author Betty Bastien, the knowledge of the Siksikaitsitapi (or, the Blackfoot Nation) is organized according to thousands of years of observation and participatory relationship with the natural world. This knowledge highlights a reciprocal relationship with the land and the creatures that occupy it; four-legged fur-bearing beings, birds, fish, and humans alike share a kinship with the land, the sky, and all the environments we inhabit. It is with this in mind that this exhibition features a small selection of animals, each with its own significance, story, and teachings.
Through a series of consultations with the artists and elders, this exhibition and its educational content has been developed to include accounts from Blackfoot knowledge as well as basic information about each of the animals, including physical descriptions, habitats, diets, and more.
Curated by Ash Slemming and Diana Frost
Touring from the Alberta Society of Artists, TREX Southwest
Artist Bios
Blackfoot Elder – Camille (Pablo) Russell, also called “Shooting in the Air”
Born in 1966, native to the Southern Alberta Blackfoot Blood Tribe, Pablo grew up in the old ways with his grandparents who lived true to the traditional life, where oral traditions of knowledge and wisdom were a vital part of belonging, learning to walk a good road, and cultural preservation. Pablo has pledged his life in service to these ways, spreading deep and simple truths that cut through the modern haze for people all over the world. Pablo possesses very broad historical and practical knowledge concerning the Prairie Indians’ original way of life, and like his grandparents he is an excellent storyteller.
As a young man, Pablo Sun-Danced for eleven years on The Poor Man’s Sundance, led by Morris Crow, Last Tail Feathers. He continued his apprenticeship in the Sun Dance ways with his teacher Morris Crow, and later got the rights to run his own Sun Dance. In 2007, Pablo established the Path of the Buffalo Sun Dance – a piercing Sun Dance which is still held every summer in Southern Alberta.
It was the buffalo who came to Pablo in a powerful vision quest in Writing-on-Stone who asked him to go and teach Europeans about the buffalo and its qualities.
He went on his first trip to Germany in 1994 and since then he has travelled across Europe as an international speaker and facilitator keynoting at conferences and holding workshops and traditional Native ceremonies for both small and very large audiences. Based on the buffalo and the Native traditions, Pablo teaches people about leadership and wholistic wellness, specializing in mental health and personal and spiritual development through storytelling and oral tradition.
Ryan Jason Allen Willert is a professional artist and muralist living in Red Deer, Alberta. Ryan was born and raised in Southern Alberta. Although he was brought up in a non-Indigenous community, he has since reconnected with his Blackfoot roots (Siksika Nation) carrying many titles. Ryan learned the art of black-ink drawing and sales from his father Richard (Dicky) Stimson, another artist from the Siksika Nation, and continues to grow as a traditional Blackfoot artist.
He was one of two artists featured in the best-selling book Colouring It Forward – Discover Blackfoot Nation Art and Wisdom. He has also completed a number of large murals around the province of Alberta. Ryan was labelled Artist of the Year in New Tribe Magazine in 2009. He was also one of the collaborative artists for O Canada Reads colouring book and was selected to participate in “Three Things for Canada,” where Calgary’s Mayor Nenshi challenged Canadians to perform three acts of service to the country in 2017. Later in 2017 Ryan was invited to one of the largest native arts festivals in Canada, the Adäka Cultural Festival, as one of the featured artists. He was then commissioned to complete an installation for the Canada Games in 2019. You can find numerous published articles about Ryan’s career, including the Red Deer News Now article pronouncing him as one of Alberta’s most prominent Blackfoot artists. Some of Ryan’s more personal work can be found on the award-winning documentary Sacred Transitions, sponsored by TELUS, or in the 2019 special segment featured on APTN about Ryan’s life story and success as an artist.
Kalum Teke Dan’s ancestry is of the Blood Tribe in Southern Alberta. It is his connection to his traditional, spiritual, and cultural background that has inspired this body of work. Dan grew up in Calgary with his mom, Joanne Dan, who has been supportive throughout his career that began in his teens. Dan is primarily self-taught, developing skills through observations, practice, and dedication to his craft. He works in oil, acrylic, and watercolour, choosing themes that reflect his unique perceptions of his spirituality and being Indigenous in modern-day society. His designs represent his own conceptualizations of the subjects he paints, whether it is an individual, a group, animals, or a compilation.