Bare, straight-faced stares blend the constructed image of “Indian” with modern consumerism.

Keesic Douglas captures seven piercing, raw images, parodying a controversial United States of Benetton ad campaign from 2008, as part of his Trade Me exhibition on display at the Urban Shaman Gallery.

The naked bodies and deep stares tell stories of sadness, bringing feelings of hurt and sometimes shame to the viewer’s eyes. But what deepens the intensity of the photographs is that each body is draped with the Hudson’s Bay Company signature blanket.

Trade Me, a 22-minute video, is projected on an authentic HBC blanket complete with price tag. The video is a documentary of Douglas and a friend canoeing up the historic Humber River en route to Toronto in an attempt to return the HBC blanket in exchange for his great-grandfather’s pelts.

Watching the video you become aware of the significance of the blanket it’s being screened on, which is carried through each of the seven photographs.

Blanket #3 is a man wearing the HBC blanket like a housecoat, holding a Starbucks coffee. Looking into his eyes builds a relationship between subject and audience.

“So many people have great stories inside of them they are not ready to share. I use my art to push through to tell my stories,” said Douglas, who has been using photography and videos to tell stories for 11 years.

“My grandfather and my father were both storytellers and as kids we were all kind of storytellers. My photography and video work is my way of packaging it into a visual story,” he said.

The venue’s open gallery draws you in to explore the three components of the exhibition: The Blanket series, the Four Rez Food Groups and the Treaty series.

Douglas, an Ojibway from Mnjikaning First Nation, describes the series as being connected through his experiences of living in an aboriginal community and staying connected to his roots.

“ A very honest and controversial component is the Four Rez Food Groups: photos of bulk Wonderbread, Kam canned meat, Cheese Whiz and cherry Kool-Aid that represent Grain, Meat, Milk and Fruits and Vegetables.

A very honest and controversial component is the Four Rez Food Groups: photos of bulk Wonderbread, Kam canned meat, Cheese Whiz and cherry Kool-Aid that represent Grain, Meat, Milk and Fruits and Vegetables.

The Treaty series features beautiful scenery splashed with colour and hints of aboriginal culture.

One piece shows the intimacy of a forest of white birch trees, with a government notice stating, “This is an Indian Reserve,” showing the beauty within a world that is often seen as barren and ugly.

The Trade Me exhibition runs parallel with Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years, the first ever international exhibition of contemporary indigenous art, presented by Winnipeg Cultural Capital of Canada.

Bringing together over 30 local and international indigenous artists, Close Encounters is about creating new ideas for the future of indigenous culture and art, for the artists to say “our culture is not dead, it’s growing.”

Jenny Western, one of the four curators, said it’s interesting to have the event bringing indigenous people from around the world to Winnipeg because of the history associated with the land as a trading point.

She mentioned a quote attributed to Louis Riel, seen now as almost a prophecy:

“My people will sleep for 100 years. When they awake, it will be the artists that give them back their spirit.”

Trade Me is on display at the Urban Shaman Gallery until Saturday, March 19. For more information about Close Encounters, visit www.tinyurl.com/Uniter-Encounters.

Published in Volume 65, Number 19 of The Uniter (February 10, 2011)