Tara Beaver watches the cattle graze near her home in Mînî Thnî, the Îyârhe Nakoda community nestled in the shadow of the Rockies, where the quiet strength of matriarchal herds inspires her latest work — a painted cow skull adorned with flowers and a dreamcatcher, now hanging in Canmore’s Three Sisters Gallery. Here, her sculpture shares space with eight other powerful voices in Resurgence: Honouring Indigenous Strength, an exhibition that pulses with renewal, identity, and the deep-rooted resilience of Indigenous artists from the Stoney Nakoda, Tsuut'ina, Dene, Saddle Lake Cree, and Métis Nations. The show, open at Elevation Place until September 28, is more than an art display — it’s a living dialogue rooted in what Jeanie Macpherson, Canmore’s arts and culture supervisor, calls “two-eyed seeing”: the ability to hold both Indigenous knowledge and contemporary expression in balance.
For Beaver, motherhood reshaped her understanding of purpose, which she channels into themes of spring, rebirth, and care — emotions mirrored in her poetry and sculpture. Her work invites viewers to see the land not as backdrop, but as kin. Similarly, Cheyenne Bearspaw’s watercolour and digital pieces, Indigi Tattoo and She Protects, are acts of reclamation. Indigi Tattoo challenges the exploitation of Indigenous designs in mainstream tattoo culture, instead drawing from Bearspaw’s own beliefs and heritage. She Protects, a luminous portrait of Mother Earth, reflects a personal and collective journey of growth. Once hesitant, Bearspaw now experiments with paper mache and collage, their confidence nurtured by spaces like this gallery that honor Indigenous presence.
The exhibition opened June 2 with a ceremonial dance, marking the start of Canmore’s National Indigenous History Month. It’s a month filled with intention — culminating in a powwow demonstration, drumming, singing, and an Indigenous market at the Civic Centre on June 13. These events aren’t just celebration; they’re steps toward trust, truth, and relationship-building. “Putting your artwork and your voice is vulnerable,” Macpherson said, underscoring how visibility fosters reconciliation. For artists like Beaver, inspired by the legendary Indigenous Group of Seven, the gallery is more than a venue — it’s validation.
Resurgence doesn’t ask viewers to dwell in historical pain, but to witness what has grown from it. It’s an invitation to curiosity, to listen, and to recognize that healing is not a destination, but an ongoing act of creation — one sculpture, one poem, one dance at a time.