Eugene Arcand Whitecap Dakota First Nation, SK
When Eugene entered my studio the day of his sitting, he was jovial and huge! A former hock- ey player, Eugene towers over me and is quite an imposing. He is deeply committed to educa- tion around the history of residential schools and sharing his experiences in that interest. He also has a connection to the Jewish community, being acquainted with Robbie Waisman and having taken Cree classes with Jewish Saskatoon community member, the late Chan Katzman. Eugene jokes that Chan was better at Cree than he was for a while! Eugene had one caveat in agreeing to sit for this project. He always carries with him a photo of his classmates at residen- tial school, as they are close to his heart. To grant permission for me to paint him, he asked if I could include them in some way. I collaged the very photo Eugene was carrying that day into his portrait so they will accompany the portrait everywhere.
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