Digital Monuments: Buffalo Futurism

On a bright, hot summer afternoon, four of the artists collaborating on Common Weal’s Digital Monuments program, Joely BigEagle-Kequahtooway, Rene Dufour-Contreras, Taylor McArthur, and Evie Johnny Ruddy walk through the tall grass at the ceremonial Buffalo effigy in māmowimīwēyitamōwin Park (formerly Regent Pool Park) in Treaty 4 territory. 

Joely and Lorne Kequahtooway created the buffalo effigy as part of a City of Regina public art commission in 2022. The effigy comprises 17 boulders, also referred to as “grandfathers,” which are arranged in the shape of a buffalo larger than a soccer field and only visible from the sky. Coming from a long line of Buffalo hunters, Joely’s main inspiration is Tatanga (Buffalo). Joely is Nakota/Cree/Saulteaux from the White Bear First Nation. She is a fashion and textile designer, visual artist, beader, storyteller, and co-founder of the Buffalo People Arts Institute, which has partnered with Common Weal on the Digital Monuments program. 

For our Digital Monuments program, Joely, Taylor, Rene, Kistin Ballantyne, acâhkos calf child-dubois, and Evie Johnny are collaborating to create an augmented reality (AR) experience, Buffalo Futurism, that people can access via a free app when visiting the Buffalo effigy. Proposed by Evie Johnny, the Digital Monuments program came about after Rene and Evie Johnny consulted with community members and artists in Fall 2021 about the potential use of AR to challenge colonial narratives embedded in Saskatchewan landscapes. People were excited about the ephemeral qualities of AR and the layering aspect, which allows for digital content to be layered onto physical environments, thereby challenging Western conceptions of linear time.

Narrated by Joely, Buffalo Futurism will transport you to an Indigenous futuristic park where tatanga have returned to the land and roam freely. As you walk among baby buffaloes, tipis, crocuses, bones, and zombies, you will learn about the myth of the “disappearing” buffalo and what really happened to them, listen to a story about crocuses and baby buffaloes, and learn about the cultural, emotional, physical, and spiritual significance of tatanga. Audio clips from Jason Chamakese’s songs were used for the project.

Common Weal Community Arts and the Buffalo People Arts Institute will launch Buffalo Futurism in the spring of 2024 in māmowimīwēyitamōwin Park. The free Buffalo Futurism app will be available on the App Store and Google Play after the launch.