June 24, 2020
Class of 2020: Blackfoot artist sees teaching as a means of healing
A Blackfoot artist and dancer who graduates this year with a combined arts and education degree aims to teach Indigenous culture to youth so her traditions can thrive as students enrich their worldview.
Lori Ann Scalplock, BEd 鈥20,聽has faced challenges that may have forced other university students to abandon their educational journey, yet she has determinedly pushed forward toward her goal of being a teacher.
The mother of five and her husband, Alex Scalplock, Jr., have worked as a team to raise their children and overcome financial hardships to ensure she can graduate, teach and potentially move on to the next step, which is a Master of Education at 草莓污视频导航鈥檚 .
- Photo聽above: Indigenous artist and Class of 2020 graduate Lori Ann Scalplock, right, and her husband, Alex Scalplock, Jr., at the National Indigenous Cultural Expo in Edmonton in 2018. They are wearing dance regalia that features her beadwork.
鈥淚t has been tough juggling family while being a student, but I could not have done it without having a supportive husband,鈥 says Scalplock. 鈥淔amily is important to me, and I want to be a good role model for my students. I want them to take pride in themselves and treat others with respect and kindness.鈥
Art grounded in powwow dances and regalia
Scalplock has applied for a teaching job at Siksika Nation, and she is also applying for the MEd Interdisciplinary Pathway at Werklund, where she would take a one-year certificate program option titled聽Poo鈥檓iikapii: Niitsitapii (Blackfoot) Approaches to Wellness, she says.
I want to support Indigenous education and learn more about my culture. I鈥檓 proud to be First Nations and I believe education can be part of healing.
Scalplock聽and especially her husband聽are accomplished Indigenous dancers, regularly touring to powwows. Much of her art is grounded in powwow dances and the regalia that dancers wear.
She dances Fancy Shawl and her husband is a prize-winning Chicken Dance competitor. These dances are not simply entertainment, but rather expressions of Indigenous culture and history often specific to geographical regions.
Beadwork can be physically demanding
Scalplock has many years of experience as a beadwork artist and seamstress, applying her skills specifically to the regalia that powwow dancers wear. The regalia can include the dancer鈥檚 outfit and accessories, which convey spiritual aspects of the dance, as well as significance for each individual dancer.
The dancing requires the dancers to be in good physical condition, especially during the summer months when there are the most powwows. Even creating the art can be demanding on the body.
鈥淭he challenge doing beadwork is that it is so time consuming that it can be hard on the body when you concentrate too hard,鈥 says Scalplock. 鈥淪ometimes when I push myself, I have to stop for a few days just to rest.鈥
Keeping traditional Indigenous art alive
More recently, Scalplock, who studied fashion design and merchandising at Lethbridge Community College, has been exploring quillwork, which is a traditional Blackfoot practice using porcupine quills to create art.
鈥淣ot many people know how to do quill art and I am trying to keep it alive,鈥 says Scalplock, whose art has been featured in the Art Gallery of Alberta and in the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Travelling Exhibition Program,聽l. 鈥淚 taught myself to do it and I鈥檓 always striving to improve my skills and be better.鈥
, an associate professor in the Faculty of Arts鈥 t, says Scalplock has demonstrated patience, endurance and hard work.
She always sees herself as a young family member and a responsible member of her Indigenous community in all her research projects. Her schooling is the golden opportunity to integrate her experiences in Indigenous consciousness into western knowledge and unique practice and living.
Inclusion and respect important part of teaching
Scalplock鈥檚 great-grandmother聽Margaret Bad Boy, who lived to be more than 100 years old, introduced her to the powwow circle and was a great inspiration to her.
鈥淪he taught me how to speak Blackfoot and helped to really ground me in my culture and identity,鈥 says Scalplock, who hopes to teach her own students about the importance of inclusion and respect.
鈥淪ystems of oppression that exist but are often hidden and they need to be broken down for First Nations people,鈥 she says. 鈥淚f First Nations people can start healing and connecting with their culture, we can have healthier families. I am hoping that by being a teacher, I can help with that healing.鈥
, the 草莓污视频导航鈥檚 Indigenous Strategy, is a commitment to deep evolutionary transformation by reimagining ways of knowing, doing, connecting and being. Walking parallel paths together, 鈥榠n a good way,鈥 草莓污视频导航 will move toward聽genuine reconciliation and Indigenization.
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