Hundreds gather to make Big Medicine for all

By Kim Swaney

MOIESE VALLEY - Getting several hundred people with diverse backgrounds to collaborate for one issue is not always easy nor is it black and white, except for last Thursday. More than 700 students, tribal leaders, educators, volunteers and parents from eight elementary schools across the Flathead Reservation, dressed in black or white t-shirts, drawn together near Flathead River to create Big Medicine for all - an interpretive "Art for the Sky" project.

In this busy world, it is hard enough to get a family of six, or even four to do something together, let alone hundreds, but Daniel Dancer did just that. Dancer, an artist, musical performer and photographer from Hood River, Oregon, has been creating these unique pictures with human drops of paint all across the North American continent with his canvas, the sacred earth.

Dancer's subjects are mainly depictions of revered symbols to the geographical area: the salmon for those along the Pacific coast, the bear for neighboring Blackfeet and Big Medicine, the white buffalo, who made his home here for 26 years.

Gloria Flora, director of Sustainable Obtainable Solutions, a non-profit organization out of Helena, provided key funding for the project. "I love working with tribes because they are in total concert with the land," Flora commented.

Sustainable Obtainable Solutions' goals are to provide an awareness of land conservation and the human relationship with the landscape. "We've forgotten our connection with the land, but tribes are still an integral part," Flora explained.

Prior to the formation of Big Medicine for All, Reuben Mathias, Elmo Tribal Council Representative, greeted the gathering in Kootenai, and hundreds greeted him back in Kootenai, as clear as the day itself.

Mathias reminded everyone of the importance Big Medicine and buffalo have with the Salish and Kootenai people, the sacredness of Flathead River and the vision to keep and protect the area for all the grandchildren to come.

When the Tribal Council was approached with the idea of coming together to create this work of art, they whole-heartedly endorsed the vision of the project and with the help of Keryl Lozar, wife of Polson Tribal Council Representative, Steve Lozar, Keryl solicited help from many, including the Tribal Education Department, Mission Valley Power, Kicking Horse Job Corps and various school principals and area teachers.

From Mission Valley Power's bucket 80 feet in the air, Daniel Dancer orchestrated the masses to paint a picture of Big Medicine that was 165 feet long and 135 feet high.

Dancer, who lives and breathes with respect to the land, then asked everyone to think of what they need, what the world needs and to ask the Great Mystery to send good medicine.

Dancer's collaborative project was unveiled to the public on Friday, Oct. 13. Other interpretive projects can be viewed by visiting the web site at: www.artforthesky.com.