The Sacred Circle

“April” by Moses Bignell

When I saw that the paintings done by Sydney Kirkness and Moses Bignell were circular, a favorite passage from Black Elk Speaks, first published in 1932, came back to me. Before I carry on with Sydney Kirkness’s story, I wish to draw readers into the compelling and beautiful world view implied by the circle. As Black Elk tells us:

“You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation, and so long as the hoop was unbroken, the people flourished. The flowering tree was the living centre of the hoop, and the circle of the four quarters nourished it. The east gave peace and light, the south gave warmth, the west gave rain, and the north with its cold and mighty wind gave strength and endurance….”

“May” by Moses Bignell

Black Elk continues: “This knowledge came to us from the outer world with our religion. Everything the Power of the World does is done in a circle. The sky is round, and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball, and so are all the stars. The wind, in its greatest power, whirls. Birds make their nests in circles, for theirs is the same religion as ours….”

“June” by Moses Bignell

Black Elk explains further: “The sun comes forth and goes down again in a circle. The moon does the same, and both are round. Even the seasons form a great circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were….”

“July” by Moses Bignell

Black Elk reveals more to his listeners: “The life of a man is a circle from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. Our teepees were round like the nests of birds, and these were always set in a circle, the nation’s hoop, a nest of many nests, where the Great Spirit meant for us to hatch our children (Black Elk Speaks, as told through John G. Neihardt, a Bison Book, University of Nebraska, 194-196).”

“August” by Moses Bignell

Walking through Joe A. Ross School every day, as I proceeded to classrooms to teach students, I was gently affected by the circles of the seasons, created by the two native artists, Moses Bignell and Sydney Kirkness. The children of the school, whether they think consciously about the art or not, are likewise affected. As I read onward in the articles about Sydney Kirkness’s art, I found that once he returned to his path and to the creation of art, he also returned to the culture that had been taken from him. Journalist Jim Mosher pointed out that Sydney now saw “art as a medium to communicate that heritage to others, aboriginal youth in particular (The Interlake Spectator, Dec. 12, 1994).” Every day, students take in the vision of their cultural heritage.

“September” by Moses Bignell

All of the above images, of April, May, June, July, August, September, are the beautifully rendered work of Moses Bignell. Like Black Elk, he honours the changing seasons. I note the ties at the edge of the circles in April and June, like the ties of the drum that delivers the heartbeat of Mother Earth. In April, the geese come flying back, while snow lies on the ground. In May, the pond comes to life, and frogs swim again. From roots in the earth come flowers, and the generative force is in action. By June, geese are nesting, and into their circular nests comes the new life that is evident in July, where baby loons swim with their parents in the watery world. Moses paints August with an enigmatic symbolism, a goose with the sun at its heart, the sacred circular centre, the vibrant life of summer, around which leaves circle. September, and the greenery of summer begins the transition into fall colours, burgundies, rusts, browns, tans, while the moose, the big animals, traverse the rugged terrain. Such are the gifts that Moses Bignell brings to students and staff at Joe A. Ross school.

In my next entry, I will carry on with what I learned from reading on the art of Sydney Kirkness….