Young students help paint 400 buffalo on Indigenous artist's mural unveiled at Calgary school

Every elementary student at a northeast Calgary school painted a buffalo on a mural unveiled Wednesday as well as learning more about the creature's powerful symbolism in Indigenous culture from the Blackfoot artist behind the project.

The mural painted by Blackfoot artist RyanWillertat Catherine Nichols Gunn School in northeast Calgary was unveiled Wednesday.

"What I did was outline each andevery one of these, so that each andevery student of this school was able to paint a buffalo as well as the faculty and so this gave the school the chance to also be a part of my artwork," said Willert, who's from theSiksikaNation east of Calgary.

"It's great, becausethe children here are like little buffaloes. They're starting life, and there's gonna be many storms."

The mural was commissioned by the school through an Education Matters grant, said principalSteve Wigglesworth.

• MORE FIRST NATIONS NEWS |Siksika Nation struggles to keep roads passable in wake of flooding
• MORE FIRST NATIONS NEWS |Tsuut'ina nation flags concerns over Bragg Creek flood mitigation

"We often look for artists in residence andalso try to honour our Indigenous population within our school,so we were very happy to learn about Ryan, andthe work he's done with other schools andin other cities," Wigglesworth said.

"He's worked with Mount Royal University, so we were really honoured he was able to work with this experience with our school."

School bison mural unveiled

6 years ago

Duration 0:41

Every elementary student at a northeast Calgary school painted a buffalo on a mural unveiled Wednesday.

In addition to creating the new mural, Willert also taught the students a bit about the history and culture of his community.

"It's a wonderful opportunity for students to learn some of the history and Indigenous culture within our society," Wigglesworthsaid.

"There's lots of great teachings for this buffalo and for them to understand the whole piece about being courageous and taking on challenges head-on is a powerful life lesson andunderstanding of the culture andhistory within our country."

Powerful symbolism

Willertexplained the powerful symbolism of the buffalo.

"The buffalo will always run towardthe storm, instead of away from the storm," he said.

"As a child, [students are] going tobe experiencing many difficulties. As an adult, they're going tobe experiencing many difficulties.

"So the buffalo is very good for the children to learn about, and also, in this territory, where the Blackfootwas, this was our spirit animal. And this is what helped us in our life."

• MORE CALGARY NEWS| The new Alberta alienation: Resenting East and West