"Secwepemc First Nations" by Pat Gauthier. One of many pieces on display at the Omineca Arts Centre

By Tommy Osborne

Indigenous Artists

11 local Indigenous artists featured in newest exhibit

Jun 13, 2024 | 3:19 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The Omineca Arts Centre’s exhibit for June is an Indigenous artist showcase. With a theme of “Ancestral Manifestations, Past, Present, and Future,” 11 Indigenous artists of varying styles are displaying their work, all tied to the history and culture of Indigenous people.

Métis artist Dawn Garcia is one of the artists being featured, and she explains her art is a way for her to connect with a heritage she didn’t grow up with, as she was not raised in a Métis environment.

“Growing up there was that disconnect, which I think is quite common in Indigenous families. Being alienated from culture is quite common, dealing with external as well as internalized racism within our communities,” Garcia said.

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“Being Métis, just the misguided and misconstrued definition of what that means, has almost completely eradicated our culture. We had been taught you have to pick a side like: ‘are you Indigenous? Are you white?’ Where does that fit? No, we’re neither, being Métis, you’re a fully realized culture,” she continued.

As Garcia has continued her journey of self-discovery as a Métis adult, she explained art played a key role in not just helping her find her identity, but also connect her to the Métis community.

“When I heard the words that Louis Riel had said about ‘my people will sleep for 100 years, but when they awaken, the artists will be the ones who bring their spirits back.’ That really resonated with me,” Garcia said.

One of her works, “Awakening,” highlights Garcia’s exploration of identity, as she explained during the creation process she was able to “really unravel and discover these aspects of self that I may not realize in the moment.”

“Awakening allowed me that sense to realize that despite the trauma, maybe the intergenerational trauma that I may carry based on how my ancestors grew up, how I grew up, and having to rediscover things that I hadn’t learned through my upbringing because of Colonialization,” she said.

“Awakening” by Dawn Garcia

Wet’suwet’en artist Satsi Naziel is also featured, and they say their art style is Northwest Coast Native. Having studied this art style during their time at the Freda Dieising School of Northwest Coast Art, Naziel says their appreciation of tradition has certainly grown.

“I’m still studying the art form from old designs that our ancestors have been making for thousands and thousands of years, and I keep going further and further into that and discovering, like, how did they create this without tracing paper, without digital art form? They were true masters of the art, and it was a very fine art,” Naziel said.

One thing Naziel enjoys about the Northwest Coastal style is the fact that they’re still learning how they can combine the shapes and experiement with their work, while still following the rules of the style.

One of Naziel’s pieces, created digitally

Like Garcia, Naziel says art plays a huge role in connecting them with their Indigenous roots, and continues to enjoy practicing a style that has been done for thousands of years.

“We had a lot of projects to look back at our ancestors. We had academic portions of the class where we would research our nation and gain pride in that,” she said when describing her time in school.

You can view Garcia’s Naziel’s, and nine other talented artists’ work at the Omineca Arts Centre, as the exhibit will run until the end of the month.

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