Remembering Stoney Nakoda Elder, artist Roland Rollinmud

Elder Roland Rollinmud at his cabin in Stoney Nakoda First Nation in October 2019. (RMO FILE PHOTO)

ÎYÂRHE NAKODA — A gentle spirit and warm smile beaming under his signature black brimmed hat, elder and artist Roland Rollinmud wasn’t one to take no for an answer.

Whether it was starting Nakoda Bus lines or championing the younger generation through his artwork, there was hardly a pocket of Stoney Nakoda left untouched by his visionary lens and humble, easygoing demeanor.

Known as White Bear in his Îyârhe Nakoda community, Roland died on Aug. 31 at the age of 74.

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“He was soft spoken, easygoing; he was welcoming. He was always willing to share his knowledge with anyone, even people who aren’t nation members like us. He was always wanting to help build bridges,” said Roland’s daughter Trisina Rollinmud.

A man of many talents but best known for his work as an internationally renowned artist, Roland’s life-like paintings lined the walls of the Calgary Central Library, the Stoney Nakoda Resort and Casino, Mînî Thnî Community School, Banff Cave and Basin, Banff Gondola and the homes of many across Canada.

“I think through his painting he wanted to tell the story of his people,” said Trisina.

Studying art at the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT) in 1971 and later graduating from Banff School of Fine Arts, Roland had the gift of conveying “spirit” through his hands and onto a canvas.

“His work was very culturally important. He learned the best of the European masters who he was influenced by and then he conveyed his culture, the Ȋyethka Îyârhe Nakoda culture,” said longtime friend and fellow artist Paul Rasporich.

“We both felt that art was what was missing for children – art and outdoor education, and art and nature is what he was all about.”

In his oil paintings and pen and ink drawings, he captured the stories of his ancestors, always aiming to represent his Stoney culture to the world.

“I think that what Roland opened up is the next chapter in Truth and Reconciliation in schools because that’s where the problem started with the cruelty in the school system and I think that he’s opened a door there, talking about nature, learning about nature, Indigenous culture and solutions that have always been there … and the importance of art,” said Rasporich.

For Roland, it was important to empower the up-and coming-generation by passing on the stories and cultural practices once passed on to him by his grandfather, John Hunter.

“He would say [youth] are the future. Don’t hold knowledge back. You need to share if you want to continue with our culture,” said Trisina.

“He [would] say, everybody has a talent. No one’s talentless. Everybody’s capable of something.”

While Roland walked through most of life lightheartedly, always one to crack a joke and often laughing to the point of crying, he was serious about passing on advice to his children and inspiring them to pursue their talents.

“To describe [him], if someone had an idea my dad was willing to say, ‘OK, well let’s see what we can do. He’s like, I’ll help you do the research,” said Trisina.

Before his work as an artist, Roland spent his early days hunting and fur trapping with his father until he started work as a carpenter.

With the intent of providing more jobs and opportunities for the community, Roland introduced Nakoda Bus Lines to the reserve in the 80s, the first nation-owned school bus company.

Using his artistic abilities, he became a cartoonist and photographer for the Stoney Scep and went on to serve as a Chiniki band councillor from 1990-92.

In all his endeavours, there was scarce a task that Roland didn’t take on wholeheartedly.

“One way he would say it is, you have one life, so you might as well try everything,” Trisina.

“My dad was an early bird, sometimes [waking up at] 5:00 a.m. He was like, ‘You get up early, you get a lot of things done.’ Don’t waste a day kind of thing.”

Carrying with him this same “trailblazing” spirit, Roland was responsible for restarting the Banff Indian Days in the early 2000s.

“What he was trying to do was reestablish that sacred meeting place at the base of Cascade Mountain and he was successful,” said Rasporich.

“To bring that back was to kind of like reclaim [it]. It was the one time where we were all able to come together to celebrate,” added Trisina.

Early days in Mînî Thnî

Born and raised in Mînî Thnî alongside 13 siblings, Roland was raised by his father after his mother passed away when he was young. Contracting tuberculosis shortly after, he would spend the next three years at a hospital in Edmonton.

“By the time he came back, he had lost the language … so I think with his mother’s death and coming back to relearn the language [that] really inspired him that regardless of how many tragedies you have in your life, you can overcome it,” said Trisina.

“I think that inspired him to be a better parent and [he] wanted to be a better teacher.”

Roland was also a residential school survivor, said Trisina.

“Everybody suffers in this life. Everybody gets grief and trauma and all that, but him, he really had it with compound interest,” said Rasporich.

“I really admired the man because of the challenges he did what he did with. You would think they were almost insurmountable, but he kept [going] and he kept being a kind person and a nice guy.”

“I will remember him for his absolute tenacity and not giving up,” added Rasporich.

Recalling that his dad didn’t speak much about residential school, Orneil Rollinmud said it was there, with a discovery of the record player, that his “second art form” and love for music began.

Enthralled by rock ‘n’ roll sounds and his biggest influence, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Roland eventually hit the road for a kind of “Alberta tour”, playing at rodeos, bars and wherever he and his friends were welcome with his first band Rolly and the Rollies.

While mastering the bass and acoustic guitar, it was the fiddle that stood out to Roland, said Trisina.

“His brothers were into fiddle and one of them taught him. … Fiddle was more of his signature in the community because at one point he was the only fiddler in the community, so he had to teach people to play,” she recalled.

“But he’d always come back to art. He was like, that’s my first love.”

Cave and Basin memorial

In classic Roland style, sporting their black-brimmed fedoras, family members gathered at the Banff Cave and Basin on Oct. 3 for a smudge, prayer and memorial service in Roland’s honour.

“Obviously he’s not with us anymore, but he definitely would’ve loved it,” said Trisina, recalling the memorial.

Often speaking of the significance of the Cave and Basin as a sacred site to the Stoney Nakoda people, Roland’s painting Cave and Basin, completed in 2011, tells the story of the cave and the importance of its waters to the Stoney Nakoda First Nation.

“That was like full circle to know that we got to honour him in the exact cave as his ancestors [in the stories] he used to tell us,” said Trisina.

Sharing a tribute to his longtime friend during the service, Rasporich recalled learning from Roland that in the Nakoda language there is no word for ‘goodbye’, only ‘hûchimagachach’ meaning ‘see you later.’

“I’m very, very honoured and grateful to have known him,” said Rasporich.

“I’ll miss him, but he’s here with me, right here, right now.”

The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. The position covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country.