Roseau River First Nation is one of seven Manitoba communities to receive outdoor murals to celebrate Manitoba’s 150 years in Confederation, through Mural 150. Each piece will tell the story of the community where it is placed with the aim of inspiring art, storytelling, and a sense of pride for all who see it.

The contemporary artist selected to share Roseau’s unique story is Niamh Dooley, an Anishininew (Ojibway-Cree) and Irish contemporary artist based in Winnipeg. Having grown up in Sioux Lookout, Ontario in Treaty 3 Territory, she moved to Winnipeg in 2012 to study at the University of Manitoba School of Art, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in the Honors Program. Currently a band member of the Teresa Point First Nation (part of the Island Lake communities in Treaty 5 territory), she is now working on a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Dooley got involved in Mural 150 after being approached by Urban Shaman, the Aboriginal Contemporary Art Gallery in Winnipeg.

“I had done a group show back in 2018 with a group of people who had a collective [titled] Roots Above Branches. When they were looking for some artists to do this mural project they thought of my artwork. Actually, one of the pieces that was in that group show is going to be the main focus of the mural.”

Her mural design is rooted in the relationships between Indigenous people, past and present and connecting them with both traditional and contemporary materials in her art practice.

“We settled on this one painting I have, an oil on canvas that is prepped with rabbit skin glue. It's a self portrait of myself wearing my mother’s ribbon dress and there’s actually bead work on the painting as well … red beads coming down from the fingers, resembling flames coming from the heart and going to the ground.”

The piece is titled From the Heart to The Ancestors and the Land.

“Kind of like my journey of reconnecting to my culture from my ancestors on my maternal bloodline,” explains Dooley. “Just continuing the knowledge that I’m gaining to future generations. I think some people can relate to that too, trying to reconnect with their culture in that way just because it has been lost.”

When completed, Dooley’s artwork will be displayed on the outer wall near the back of the Ginew school at Roseau River First Nation, making it visible from the Highway 201.

Murals have also been gifted to the communities of Pilot Mound, Gimli, Falcon Lake, Norway House First Nation, Flin Flon, and The Pas.

Manitoba 150 co-chairs Monique La Coste and Stuart Murray say, through Mural 150, communities across the province will encounter beauty and art on a daily basis, and have new opportunities for telling the story of their people, history, and culture.