Take a step back in time from an Indigenous perspective.
Gordon Wesley, an acclaimed Stoney Nakoda artist, brought his talents to Okotoks for the creation of a mural depicting the Sheep River as it looked before colonization, complete with bison and tipis along an expansive natural landscape.
"We wanted to go back in time in this area," said Wesley. "I wanted to do something with a bison roaming in this valley long ago, plus our people, our ancestors."
Across from the main landscape mural is a smaller one depicting a night sky above the valley.
"That one's a night scene, this one's early morning," said Wesley. "I wanted to tie in both murals together, like a morning and night scene."
Wesley is one of 19 artists commissioned by the Town of Okotoks to paint murals throughout the community, with Wesley's mural located at the Arts & Learning Campus Plaza beside the Ethel Tucker Centennial Park play space.
With its focus on an Indigenous perspective, his piece is in support of the 2015 Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Call to Action 83, which encourages Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists to produce works that contribute to the reconciliation process.
"I've already got a lot of good compliments while I was working on this mural," said Wesley, who spent the month of September working on the project with the help of his family. "People stop by, say hello and ask me questions... Okotoks is a pretty good town. I like this town, how friendly people are, it's been an honour."
Hailing from the Big Horn reserve, Wesley's project at the Arts & Learning Campus Plaza is one of many he has publicly exhibited: he has had his art displayed at the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary as part of a year-long rotating art exhibition series from the City of Calgary and his murals are permanently on display at the Canmore Civic Centre and Banff National Park's Cave and Basin National Historic Site.
The mural is the latest Indigenous artwork to be completed in the Foothills, following a traditional Indigenous tree carving unveiled in High River on Sept. 28 by Jared Tailfeathers.
