From our Advisor: Happy New Year!

From Lyndon Linklater, SaskGalleries Indigenous Advisor

Happy New Year and greetings to SaskGalleries Ayisiniwak (people)! I am very happy about continuing a working relationship with your organization as your Indigenous Advisor. 

As many of you know, it’s been very cold the past few weeks averaging in the -30 degree weather. I remember last year in February, it was in the -40s for two solid weeks in a row! I often wonder how did the First Nation people survive without any electricity or furnaces?  I also wonder why, (sometimes); why do we live here?! (lol)

One of the yearly projects this time of year that keeps me very busy, is teaching red willow weaving. I make baskets and tipis. I put on workshops at Remai Modern for the public, this year on February 6, 2026, as well as go into communities to teach. You can harvest the red willow to weave with late Fall and all Winter. When the willow begins to blossom in the mid Spring and flower in the Summer, you cannot weave with it because it will crack and or break. During late Fall and Winter, it is so pliable you can actually tie it in a knot, and it won’t break.

My teacher was from Whitecap Dakota First Nation. He would tell me stories about being taught as a child. They would make baskets and other red willow crafts all Winter long. In the Spring, they would travel by horse and wagon to Prince Albert via Duck Lake and come back home via St. Louis, and they would sell all that they made. He’s been gone now close to fifteen years. One of his teachings about making the basket, “making baskets, is like how life works.” At the time, I didn’t understand. Today, I get it!

I thank all of you for your understanding and support in this part of our history in Canada with respect to Truth and Reconciliation. In terms of those Residential Schools, none of us can be blamed for what happened in the past. However, we can make a difference in the present and certainly make things better for our future!

Perhaps, one day, you and I will make a basket! 😉

LJL