Dale Auger, PhD., was born a Sakaw Cree from the Bigstone Cree Nation in northern Alberta, Canada. He was a First Nations artist and educator. Although he passed away in 2008 at the relatively young age of 50, he was well known for his visually stunning and spiritually moving works of art. His use of color was phenomenal and the legacy of his artwork tells his story well.

Dale was also fascinated in gathering and passing on knowledge and he utilized both Traditional and Western modes of education as his inspiration. He studied higher education at the University of Calgary and graduated with a doctoral degree in 1999. By combining the traditional with the contemporary, the Native with the non-Native, Dale was able to transcend typical educational techniques, experience and belief in ways that very few artists and educators could or can to this day.

In addition to being a visual artist, he was also a highly talented speaker and educator. He was always in demand throughout Canada and the United States for his visual work, motivational lectures, workshops and keynote addresses. The subject of Auger's lectures and paintings were varied and had evolved throughout his lifetime. Whereas he started out portraying various aspects of Native history, he eventually began working toward capturing the deeper, more spiritual complexities of Native life in the contemporary world. He loved painting and explaining the intricate links between Native spirituality, the natural laws of the land and how knowledge is gained and transferred between all Beings.

His highly provocative paintings captured the attention of art lovers around the world and are found today in numerous high-profile public and well-known private collections. Dale was also well known to viewers of the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network for his documentary, Medicine Walker. This documentary takes viewers on two inspirational medicine walks through his home territory of Wabasca, in northern Alberta and also to the island archipelago of Haida Gwaii where he visited a Haida elder/medicine person.

In addition to all of that, he was also an award winning children's book author and illustrator. His book, Mwakwa – Talks to the Loon: A Cree Story for Children, was illustrated and written in English and Cree and won the award for "Aboriginal Children's Book of the Year" at the Anskohk Aboriginal Literature Festival and Book Awards in 2006. It was also a finalist for Alberta's prestigious Grant MacEwan Author's Award and received the 2007 R. Ross Annett Award for Children's Literature.

Enjoy some of the wonderful examples of his artwork below. His talent and inspiration is well missed not only by those who knew him personally but also in the art and educational fields.

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