WEYBURN – Students from two schools listened to a presentation by Indigenous artist and activist Danii Kehler at the Weyburn Public Library on Friday, as part of Indigenous Storytelling Month.
A resident of Kawacatoose First Nation, Kehler spoke about her art, as well as being a part of an international expedition to Antarctica.
She showed examples of her paintings, and noted she began to introduce beading to her paintings as she expressed her emotions and thoughts through her art.
One painting was of an old woman in the Northern Lights, and Kehler explained the significance of both the Northern Lights and the subject, who was her kookum, or grandmother.
She made the painting in 2017, then in 2020, her kookum got sick, and she and some relatives travelled up to Stanley Mission to be with her.
She found out once she arrived there that her kookum had passed away, and one night she and her relatives were outside watching the Northern Lights dance.
“We have a lot of teachings, as we believe we are all interconnected. We believe that when the Northern Lights come out and dance, that’s when our loved ones are going up to our ancestors, and they’re dancing and celebrating because they’ll be together,” Kehler explained.
She noted while watching the Northern Lights, “for a split second that picture came up in the sky, and it wasn’t just me who saw it. My mom and my aunt saw it too. I could see it years before it happened.”
Another painting she showed was of a young woman in a red dress, walking away from the viewer into some woods. She explained that she created this painting, taking about five days to create the background, and then did beading for the red dress part of it.
She sold the painting to the FSIN, in support of a fundraiser for the families of missing and murdered girls and women, and they were able to use the image from the painting in many of their fundraising efforts.
“She’s one of my favourites, and she’s done a lot of good,” said Kehler.
Moving on to how she ended up going to Antarctica, she noted she had been in Hong Kong and did an interview, and one of the people who saw the interview contacted her and asked her to be involved in the 2041 ClimateForce Antarctic Expedition.
Kehler had to do fundraising of $26,000 to pay for her trip, and was able to sell nine of her art works, raising about $11,000, plus her tribal council provided some money, and many people donated as they wanted her to be able to go on this trip.
She had to travel to the southern tip of Argentina where she boarded a boat, and made the journey with 150 people from 38 countries from around the world. She was the only First Nations person from Canada to be on the expedition.
She met Robert Swan, who was the founder of the 2041 expedition, and he has since become her mentor as an environmental activist.
The year referred to is when a current international agreement protecting Antarctica runs out, and the group is putting their efforts forward to encourage nations to continue protecting the region from development or exploitation.
