In his bio, artist Peatr Thomas states, "Love conquers all."

The mural he painted alongside mentee/youth artist Kaize Roach-Ashoona for Folk On The Rocks this past weekend shows that spirit of love and unity. It tells a story of connectivity between nations. Strong People, Strong Communities hosted Thomas and Roach-Ashoona for this year's large format painting at the Long Lake site.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 basically night and day, with an eagle on each side. Back home, the eagle represents love SA国际影视传媒� and going across both murals is the Slave River, connecting Great Slave Lake to Lake Athabaska," Thomas explained. "Lake Athabaska touches the territory of my ancestors, and from my understanding, this river was our connecting point between the nations. The eagles, representing love, are our nation's coming together and sharing that love. They are reminders of peace and connection with each other.SA国际影视传媒�

Thomas comes from northern Manitoba SA国际影视传媒� the communities are called Pimicikamak and Miskwaa Ziibi, or Cross Lake, and the Bloodvein First Nation. His father is Cree, or Ininew, and his mother is Ojibway/Anishinaabe.

SA国际影视传媒淚 try to understand where I come from, where I am, and where I see myself going. Not just myself, but for anybody interested," said Thomas. "ISA国际影视传媒檓 trying to find connections in having all three being seen as one. There is a lot of disconnect with what we used to be, what we used to have, what we are today, and, I think, what we will be cannot even be imagined, right? We donSA国际影视传媒檛 know. I like to imagine certain things but, with this mural here, I look at rivers as a means of connecting. 

SA国际影视传媒淚n a lot of Indigenous art youSA国际影视传媒檒l see what they call spirit lines. I asked so many artists and read interviews about where they got them from, and they say they got influenced by so-and-so or such-and-such but I would look at petroglyphs [carvings in rock] down on the Bloodvein River and around Cross Lake, basically anywhere in what they call Treaty Five Territory there are a lot of petroglyphs that are very similar. I grew up seeing these, and I just noticed one day, basically, something that resembled a spirit line SA国际影视传媒� resembling a man connecting with, I guess it was, the sun. So, that was a pretty obvious thing where it would have come from.

"When artists started using that, I donSA国际影视传媒檛 think they really thought about why they chose the squiggly line SA国际影视传媒� the way that people would have connected before modern times would have been through rivers, through waterways. So, if we were trying to visualize a connection it would have been by showing waterways. 

SA国际影视传媒淪o, with this mural here, I took that quite literally with showing the Slave River, connecting Great Slave Lake to Lake Athabaska, and recognizing that that was a main waterway for connecting and trading from my ancestors to the people in Chief Drygeese Territory, Dene people around here. That way weSA国际影视传媒檙e all still connected, and all still sharing SA国际影视传媒� sharing what we can with each other.SA国际影视传媒�

SA国际影视传媒淭his mural is basically two eagles coming together, and eagles, where I come from, they represent love. One is night and one is day, I guess, they kind of resemble the length of time we would travel SA国际影视传媒� the entire day, through this river. And in the centre of it is a star, which is actually a symbol from a petroglyph thatSA国际影视传媒檚 been a lot of interest of mine. We donSA国际影视传媒檛 know what it means but I have my own thoughts and feelings about it. In this case itSA国际影视传媒檚 representing the North Star, but it does come from a petroglyph that usually stands by itself, away from other symbols, and shows up repeatedly. Maybe itSA国际影视传媒檚 somebody's signature,SA国际影视传媒� Thomas laughs. SA国际影视传媒淢aybe itSA国际影视传媒檚 my signature from 5,000 years ago.SA国际影视传媒�

Strong People, Strong Communities bring artists together with youth to promote arts in the North. This year, Thomas worked with Roach-Ashoona to complete this work of graffiti art.

SA国际影视传媒淚tSA国际影视传媒檚 always good working with young people," Thomas said. "It doesnSA国际影视传媒檛 seem to matter their personality, or where they come from, who they are, who they donSA国际影视传媒檛 think they are SA国际影视传媒� they are always open, always receiving, always fast learners. And when it comes to painting, maybe itSA国际影视传媒檚 spray painting specifically, they seem to all pick it up really quick, and connect with it. I donSA国际影视传媒檛 know why itSA国际影视传媒檚 like that SA国际影视传媒� itSA国际影视传媒檚 gotta have something to do with it psychologically, when it comes to pressing a button and spraying on a wall, that just draws people. I donSA国际影视传媒檛 know if itSA国际影视传媒檚 just the stigmatism, you know, itSA国际影视传媒檚 spray painting, graffiti SA国际影视传媒� there is just something about it.

SA国际影视传媒淲orking with Kaize was great, because we connected not only just with the passion for painting, but we have a lot of the same taste in music, so our discussions kind of wander off in all these other directions. But even with past mentees when we donSA国际影视传媒檛 have anything in common, we still find that connection through what weSA国际影视传媒檙e doing in the moment. But itSA国际影视传媒檚 been just that extra special because of those common interests. And heSA国际影视传媒檚 been picking it up really great. I havenSA国际影视传媒檛 felt the need to have to check in on what heSA国际影视传媒檚 doing, or what not. He picked it up and heSA国际影视传媒檚 pretty independent with, which is great.SA国际影视传媒�