Napu’saqnuk
Artist: Darren Julian
The St. Mary’s River Association commissioned Artist Darren Julian to do an original painting for their River Associations museum upgrade project. The museum originally offered a colonial type of perspective: a history of white men and angling for salmon on the St. Mary’s River. They will be keeping a bit of this original content, but also adding things like threats to the river and ecosystem as well as a long overdo Mi’Kmaw display. Darren’s painting will be the main piece for this new display. “Napu’saqnuk” is the Mi’Kmaq name of the river we are all fighting to save.
About the Artist
Darren Julian is a First Nation Mi’kmaq artist originally from Afton, Nova Scotia. He now lives in Wagmatcook, Cape Breton. He was inspired by his late father, an artist and began drawing at a young age. He and his wife Amanda have an art gallery where Darren sells his own artwork and his wife’s paintings. He likes to paint faces, people, sceneries and animals and he likes to tell stories of the Mi’kmaq people through his artwork. Julian’s art can be seen all over Nova Scotia art galleries.