Dale Auger was a Sakaw Cree from the Bigstone Cree Nation in northern Alberta. He was a talented visual artist whose vividly coloured acrylics captured the attention of many audiences. The subject of Auger’s paintings had varied over the years; where he once sought to portray Native history, he eventually began to capture the deeper, more spiritual levels of Native life, particularly the intricate links between Native spirituality and the natural laws of the land.

Also a renowned comedian and speaker, Auger was much in demand throughout Canada and the United States for his motivational talks. He spoke about the difficulties many Native people face as they integrate into the Western world.

Dale studied education at the University of Calgary for 10 years; he graduated with a doctoral degree in 2000.

When I was a boy, I had a deep love for the land. It used to talk to me. It taught me about relationships with other beings. I think that was the beginning of understanding my journeys. My mother, who was on her spiritual journey at the time, used to take me and put me with people who had great knowledge – the old ones. I remember being very lonely. And I used to say to myself, “Why is she leaving me with these old people?” But today I see the reason for what she was doing: I was being taught in the old way. As a young boy I had learned the traditional way to access knowledge.

When I got older, the old ones told me that I must take a new journey. They told me that if I was to continue my journey of learning, I must go out into that white man’s world and learn about a different form of knowledge. I took their words and went out into that world. I have spent the past ten years learning the Western way of knowledge. I have gone to their house of knowledge and today I have completed my doctorate in education. I now feel that I have obtained two forms of knowledge. I feel blessed. In these journeys of understanding these two worlds, at no time did the old ones tell me anything about where this might take me. They knew that the spirit of the journey would guide me. And I have faith in the journey.

The most powerful part of this journey was something that was with me the whole time. And that was the power to create. The power to access my visions. Then to bring them to life. The Creator has taken me full circle. He had given me the power to create and then sent me on my way to learn. And then he brought me back, which is where I am today.