A Warrior's path
A Fine Art Exhibit by: Mike J A Holden
A Warrior’s Path is a collection of various works by Mike Holden that explore spirituality, traditions, and knowledge systems within the context of indigenous warrior culture, from the 1800s, through to World War II, and up to present day. Various First Nations tribes of Turtle Island are depicted in his work, telling stories that express the warrior mentality, warfare itself, peace, spirituality, love, victory, and the evolution of the warrior in an ever changing world. Featured works:
Geronimo by: Mike J A Holden
Description:
Apache warriors are honored for the courage of their nations which fought with unparalleled bravery against the United States between 1849 and 1886, when Geronimo surrendered, and to a lesser extent for another 38 years after. The tendrils of lightning encasing the warriors are a depiction of how the first peoples saw the lethal power of gunfire that struck men dead with a thunderous flash. The serpent with the many tentacles strangling Geronimo and piercing through the skin of the Apache warriors depicts the mass genocide inflicted by the US.
The Apache helicopter, the most lethal helicopter in the world, was named after the Apache Warriors for their ferocity in battle. Some of the weapons used by the Apache warriors have been adopted by the US military such as the Tomahawk and several combat knives. And as early as 1940, American paratroopers of all ancestries adopted “Geronimo” as a battle cry for jumping into combat.
Today the Apache warrior tradition continues as a proud and disproportionate number of patriotic Apache men and women who serve in the American military. For this reason the red, white, and blue of the American flag appears in the background—a flag countless Apache veterans have heroically fought under for nearly a century
Fine-Day by: Mike J A Holden
Description:
Fine‐Day was one of the most fierce, well known and respected Plains Cree warriors of his time. He was involved in dozens of battles and horse raids. He was the head/lead warrior of the Rattler society, one of the many Plains Cree tribes of the powerful Iron Confederacy. He was a skilled warrior; hunter; trapper; and, in later life a powerful shaman and elder.
On May 2nd 1885 near Battleford Saskatchewan a battalion of North West Mounted Police and 350 Canadian Troops led by William Dillon Otter set foot to obliterate the massive Cree Assiniboine encampment led by Poundmaker. They had 2 cannons and a Gatling gun. A scout early in the morning spotted the approaching soldiers and quickly sent word to the camp. Fine‐Day immediately organized a counter attack. The Cree fought in small groups. One group would run forward, attack the soldiers then rush back to the ravine before the soldiers could get them. As soon as the soldiers tried to attack the warriors on one side, another group of warriors would rush out of the second ravine and attack them from behind. All other warriors guarded the women and children. Otter could not attack, because he had no idea where the enemies were nor of their numbers. After six hours of fighting, Otter decided to withdraw and retreat. Many of Fine‐Day's men wanted to chase the retreaters down and kill them but Poundmaker asked the warriors to let them leave and live. The warriors respected Poundmaker and Otter so the men safely escaped. Had Chief Poundmaker had not asked his warriors to let the troops escape the battle may have turned into a massacre, just like the Battle of Little Big Horn. Some People compare this battle, the Battle of Cut Knife, to the Battle of Little Big Horn.
It is estimated that Fine‐Day had only 50‐100 warriors and Canada had nearly 400 troops two cannons and a Gatling gun. The Cree still won. Thus the destroyed cannon burning on fire at the bottom of the painting is present.
Wandering Spirit by: Mike J A Holden
Description:
Wandering spirit was the most military accomplished Cree warrior of the entire 1800's, earning a total of 12 scalps in his lifetime. He had several dozens of victorious battles with the fierce Blackfoot people and most notably the victory of the battle of Frenchman’s Butte.
Frenchman's Butte was a battle fought between Canada and a starving, fed up, and enraged Force of 200 Cree warriors led by War Chief Wandering Spirit. Canada had a force of 400 soldiers, with a mix of cowboys, NWMP and settlers led by Thomas Bland Strange. The battle was a victory for the Cree, but a hollow one. The rebellion was hopeless for other Cree factions and tribes throughout the prairie's were forced to surrender. The Métis uprising was also over and with all the remaining Cree were then forced to sign the treaties due to starvation, which was caused by the government killing and slaughtering the buffalo to near extinction. Canada was now free to conquer the rest of the great, beautiful land called the Canadian prairies.
Wandering Spirits fate was a terrible one. Having been filled with rage towards the expanding Canadian Government Wandering Spirit gathered about a dozen warriors all under the influence of alcohol, including Wandering Spirit. They went on a killing spree, killing an Indian Agent and two priests. Wandering Spirit was later arrested and hung, along with 7 other warriors. Before he was hung he sang a love song to his wife. Wandering Spirit is seen as a menacing villain, often misunderstood and hated, he was actually a loving gentle man, later told by his wives. Among the Cree Wandering Spirit was not different nor menacing, all the Cree were terrified and mad at what the future looked like with the buffalo gone and the Fire Water (alcohol). It was a scary and sad time. Wandering Spirit will always be remembered with a good heart amongst all Plains Indian Tribes.
Dreaver by: Mike J A Holden
Description:
Chief Joseph Dreaver (1892-1978) was a decorated veteran of both WWI and WWII. While serving as a sapper in the 1st World War he was awarded the Military Medal for bravery at Ypres.
He reenlisted at the age of 48 when WWII broke out. Because of his age he remained in AB serving as a guard of POWs.
Dreaver's accommodations included: 2 Coronation Medals, a Confederation of Canada Medal, a Second World War Medal, a Voluntary Service Medal, the Military Medal, and the Great War for Civilization Medal. He served for more than 40 years as Chief of the Mistawasis Cree Band and was a lifetime member of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indians.
Impossible Odds by: Mike J A Holden
Description:
A Warrior is not only one of strong physical capabilities, and cunning instincts. A warrior also trains his mind to be at one with his spirit, so he can see beyond the illusions of this world. Here, a lone warrior stands against the enemy, singing his death song and meeting his fate. When overrun by the enemy, Dog Soldiers did not retreat, but rather staked their sashes to the ground with an arrow and sang their way home to the Creator, to ensure a good death. A good death is where one’s life is given with courage and selflessness for his people. Death is seen as only one phase of eternal life, just as birth. Fear in warrior traditions belongs to illusion, as every fate that meets us is bringing us what we need to pass through in this physical realm as spiritual beings
Thunderbird Warrior by: Mike J A Holden
Description:
The coming of thunder in the spring is a gift from the Thunderbeings, a promise of renewal, an awakening. The return of the thunder in the spring is a spiritual salve for the losses of the past year, and throughout the harsh and unforgiving winters. It is a time for warriors to heal, and to grow strong again, and to prepare. The Thunderbeings bring with their return, the recharge needed for a warrior to rise again and to hold a place of courage and selflessness for the people. Artist Mike Holden carries Coming of Thunder, as his traditional spirit name. He is also the son of a lightning strike survivor who carries a name to honour the Thunderbeings. The Thunderbird is depicted in this painting to show us the unseen bringers of the thunder and lightning, and the rifles represent the harnessed power of the Thunderbeings that they were believed to contain when they were first introduced, being powerful instruments to provide for and protect the people. Behind the warrior is the sun, which returns along with the thunder to renew the warrior’s strength.
Six Nations by: Mike J A Holden
Description:
The Iroquois Confederacy is composed of six Haudenosaunee nations. The traditional homeland of the Haudenosaunee is a region along the south shores of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River in what are now the states of Pennsylvania, New York, and Vermont where the Haudenosaunee lived by cultivating corn, squash, and beans as well as hunting. Prior to confederation the initial five nations of the confederacy; the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca were in a state of vicious warfare with each other. During these conflicts two men, Hiawatha and Deganawida managed to broker a peace between the warring nations and create what was to become one of the most dominant military and political forces in the Eastern Woodlands. During the early 18th century the people of the Iroquoian Tuscarora nation were displaced from their homeland in present-day Virginia and North Carolina by English colonists, causing them to migrate north and settle with their relatives, thus becoming the sixth nation of the Iroquois Confederacy.
After the arrival of European colonists and traders the Iroquois began to trade beaver furs to the Dutch, and then British for firearms. This sparked a conflict during the 17th century known as the Beaver Wars. During this conflagration the Iroquois Confederacy and their British allies fought the Huron and their French allies. The result of the Beaver wars was the near destruction of the Huron and a massive expansion of Iroquois territory into the south of what is now Ontario and much of the Ohio River Valley. The Iroquois absorbed many other groups of people such as the Tobacco, Petun, Neutral, and Eerie nations through warfare, capture, and adoption. Afterwards these groups ceased to be distinct nations. After the Beaver wars were over the Algonkian allies of the Huron had re-taken southern Ontario, but the Iroquois Confederacy had de-populated much of the Ohio River Valley and held it as their personal hunting grounds for years afterward.
During the 18th century the Iroquois Confederacy fought many wars with the aid of the British allies against the French and later Americans. The American War of Independence was particularly bloody as it occurred in the homeland of the Confederacy and resulted in the destruction of many of their major towns. During the treaty of Paris the British all-but abandoned their Iroquois allies, leaving some to the mercy of the Americans to be confined to small scraps of reserve land, a fraction of their homeland. Others, particularly the Mohawk and Oneida were given reserves in southern Ontario and Quebec. In the following centuries the Iroquois continued to fight for their lands, aiding the British in the War of 1812 at the Battle of Queenstown Heights, and fighting the Canadian state in the 1990 Oka Crisis.
The Iron Nation Confederacy by: Mike J A Holden
Description:
This was one of the most thriving, territorial massive, political and military alliance of Plains Indian tribes of what are now Western Canada and the northern United States.
The tribes in the confederacy were allied together against common enemies. The tribes that made up the Confederacy were the Plains Cree, Woods Cree, the Saulteaux (Plains Ojibwe), the Assiniboine, the Nakoda as well as the Iroquois and Métis that were involved in the fur trade. The Confederacy was formed when Ojibwe tribes traveled west and asked the Plains Cree if they could live with them. The Cree taught them everything on how to survive on the plains. The Ojibwe later came to be named Saulteaux, The Assiniboine joined in shortly after, And they then had a serious ceremony to unite them and to have prosperity and the strength and power to fight their enemies, they had four sweat lodges for four days and thus the Iron Confederacy was formed.
The Confederacy's prosperity rose to its greatest predominance during the height of the North American fur trade when they operated as middlemen controlling the flow of European goods to other native nations. They were notorious for stealing horses and later selling them back to them at expensive prices. The Cree drove the Dene and Blackfoot out of their own territory and lived there for a time close to the end of the inter tribal warfare era in Canada.
After the 1860's The Confederacy's power was sapped due to the collapse of the bison herds and disease. The allied tribes were thus no longer a military match for the expanding Canadian and American Society's In 1885 many Cree and Assiniboine leaders were dissatisfied with how the Canadian government was living up to its treaty obligations. Many tribes were starving so many assembled together and set foot to Fort Battleford to speak with the Indian Agent Rae for better supplies and food. The gathered tribes chose that the leader of this assembly was to be Poundmaker and thus he was.
Word hit the towns near Fort Battleford that a large number of Cree’s were headed their way. Many people saw this as hostile and everyone in the area abandoned their homes and farms to take shelter at The North‐West Mounted Police Fort Battleford. As the Cree and Assiniboine made it to the abandoned town, they looted everything including all the clothes, food and supplies. Poundmaker was upset and did everything he could to stop it, but a starving people would not listen.
The police at the fort called for reinforcements from the government and on April 24th 1885 a force of over 700 soldiers led by Lieutenant Colonel William Otter arrived. Otter and his men were furious to see the surrounding towns and farms destroyed, they took action and set foot towards the Native's encampment to scatter their forces and ultimately send them away. At the dawn of May 2nd, Otter's column arrived at the encampment which had over a thousand people including women and children. A battle ensued. As was Cree custom, the war chief Fine‐Day replaced Poundmaker (the 'political chief') as leader until the fighting was over.
Fine‐Day and the warriors that fought beside him were out numbered and out gunned drastically, but many of the warriors had been at war for a better half of their lives with the Blackfoot. They knew the land and terrain and how to fight on it. The battle went on for hours but it was quick to know that Otter's men were losing and by mid day Otter ordered a retreat. Many of the warriors were going to mount their horses, chase down the retreating soldiers and massacre them all. Poundmaker told the warriors to not go after them and let them have this day.
The warriors respected Poundmaker and did not chase down the retreating men. It was Poundmaker’s decision that stopped The Battle of Cut Knife to end like the Battle Of Little Big Horn (Custer's Last Stand.) Later in the following months Poundmaker surrendered and was convicted of treason in 1885 and sentenced to three years in Stony Mountain Penitentiary. As was custom in jail to cut the hair, Poundmaker's hair was not cut because of his relationship with a Blackfoot chief named Crowfoot. Crowfoot had adopted Poundmaker as his son which was a huge aiding factor to the end of the Cree‐Blackfoot wars. Crowfoot warned the government that if you cut my sons hair we will destroy every fort, house and trading post in all of Blackfoot country. They took his warning very seriously and never cut Poundmakers hair. Poundmaker's stay in prison devastated his health and led to his death in 1886 at the age of 44 after serving 7 months in prison.
Buffalo by: Mike J A Holden
Description:
The buffalo is a sacred animal to Sun Dance Warrior traditions. It was White Buffalo Calf Woman who brought us the gift of the sacred pipes we use to conduct ceremonies and to pray for the people. The lesson we learn, as warriors, from the buffalo is to face into the storm. Where all other animals will turn away from the storm, the bison turn their heads into it. As warriors, we face into adversity, discomfort and danger. The buffalo also seeks strength in its numbers as a loyal herd animal. Every part of Sun Dance involves the buffalo, from the skull that sits on the alter in front a sweat lodge, to the string of skulls dragged by warriors in piercing rituals, to the red of our prayer flags and medicine wheels representing the North. Big Bear by: Mike J A Holden
Description:
Big Bear, or Mistahi-maskwa, Plains Cree of Saskatchewan, was born c.1825. He became chief at the age of 40 after the death of his father. He is most noted for being one of the few chiefs to object to Treaty 6, as it would end his people’s nomadic way of life and largely impact their wellbeing. He is also known for fighting in one of the last battles between the Cree and the Blackfoot in 1870, near present day Lethbridge. It is believed to be the largest plains battle recorded. In 1882, feeling he had no other choice, because all other chiefs had signed Treaty 6, he conceded and also signed, having held out in hopes of negotiating a better deal for his people as long as he possibly could.
She Dances For Our Stolen Sisters by: Mike J A Holden
Description:
Although not overly common, women have always been a part of warrior culture, historically. In modern times this has shifted, and women have taken the lead as warriors, through land defense and through protecting and finding justice for our stolen sisters against the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls epidemic. As mothers, women are the knowledge keepers and the ones who have the most responsibility to pass on cultural traditions and ways. While facing genocidal fallout, the reclamation and resilience of culture is one of the most vital acts of resistance. Where bows and arrows were once used to defend the people, now songs, stories, ceremonies, and dances have taken over. All across Turtle Island young girls and old women and mothers can be found dancing in the streets, at powwows, in ceremonies, and on government building lawns, in prayer and recognition for their stolen sisters.
The Blackfoot Confederacy by: Mike J A Holden
Description:
The Blackfoot Confederacy today is comprised of five nations, the Algonkian, Blackfoot speaking Siksika (Blackfoot), Kainai (Blood), Piikani (Piegan), Amskapi Piikani (Blackfeet or South Piegan), and the Athabascan speaking Tsuu T’ina (Sarcee).
Traditionally the Blackfoot Confederacy held sway over a vast territory stretching north to south from the North Saskatchewan River to the Yellowstone River and east to west from the Cypress Hills to the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains. The Blackfoot Confederacy hunted buffalo across this vast homeland and frequently defended it against a number of enemies the Iron Confederacy (Plains Cree, Assiniboine, and Saulteaux), Crow, Shoshone, and Kutenai to name just a few.
Prior to the numbered treaties the Blackfoot Confederacy was a force to be reckoned with, feared by European settlers and other Native nations alike.
During the fur trade the Confederacy permitted the Hudson Bay Company to maintain trading posts on the frontiers of their territory, notably at Fort Edmonton and Rocky Mountain House, but did not permit trading posts in the interior of their territory. However, in the early 19th century American traders from the south began to trespass in the south of Blackfoot country in search of beaver pelts. One of the first attempts to establish the Missouri Fur Company was completely thwarted by the Blackfoot. The first trapping expedition of the company was ambushed on the Yellowstone River in 1822, most of the expedition being killed or wounded by Blackfoot warriors who proceeded to reclaim all of the expedition’s beaver pelts. This delayed American fur trading in the region from gaining a foothold for another decade.
The last great battle for Blackfoot Country occurred in the fall of 1870 when the Iron Confederacy attempted to surprise the Blood who were recovering from a smallpox epidemic. The attack did not go as planned. The Iron Confederacy underestimated the Blood, who, supported by other nations of the Blackfoot Confederacy drove the Cree and Assiniboine warriors into the Oldman River and laid down a withering fire with their new repeating rifles, slaughtering so many of the enemy that the river ran red with blood. After that battle the Iron Confederacy never again launched a major attack on Blackfoot Country. Peace by: Mike J A Holden
Description:
Having lived through war, having taken lives and watched many of his friends and family die, the warrior is given a new enlightenment from the spirits and sets out on a different path. With only a blanket, a horse, and his sacred bundle containing his pipe, the warrior travels into enemy territory to build new relationships of peace. He invites a chief from an enemy tribe to smoke with him, and the chief accepts. Times are changing and new ways must be found, built on peace between once warring nations. All throughout Turtle Island today this can be seen, as enemies of eons such as the Blackfoot and the Cree conduct ceremony together, children of all nations learn the dances of each other’s customs and proudly dance them at powwows, and teachings and philosophies are shared between nations for the betterment of all.