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Raymond R. Skye

Six Nations Artist

Six Nations Grand River Territory
Ontario, Canada

Raymond Skye (Tuscarora/Seneca) drawing a Clan Mother.

About Raymond R. Skye

Born in 1947 at Six Nations Grand River Territory in Southern Ontario, Raymond has worked diligently to distinguish himself as an artist of talent and ability. Self taught and self disciplined, he has chosen the drawing media and techniques with which to express his fascination for the real image. His appreciation of wildlife, portraiture, architecture and still life has given him a tremendous range of imagery. He juxtaposes and blends reality and illusion to present to the viewer his passion and romance for history.

Raymond's earlier works are reminiscent of the much disciplined developmental period in which he limited himself to pencil and charcoal to conquer line and tone. He still enjoys the challenges that art brings to him as he evolves into pastels, watercolour, acrylics and coloured pencil. An articulate draftsman, his images possess such detail that they become almost surrealistically photographic.

His father was a member of the Seneca Nation, and his mother was Tuscarora. Raymond says his father was very knowledgeable in the ways of his people. He credits much of the inspiration for his artwork to the traditional teachings of his parents. He firmly claims those teachings have given him a strong cultural foundation from which to work from. Raymond now lives in Brantford Ontario, which borders the Six Nations Grand River community. There, in a small studio he continues to pursue his artwork and other projects relating to his culture.

Tom Hill, Museum Director, Woodland Cultural Centre

Accomplishments & Projects

Although praise has been directed many times at Raymond's drawings and paintings, he finds it most gratifying as his work evolves towards a more educational perspective. This has been the case now for the last ten years or so. For instance, back in 1990, he produced a series of drawings and paintings on Emily Pauline Johnson. Pauline Johnson was born in 1861at Six Nations Grand River territory. She was one of four children born to a Mohawk father who was also a Confederacy Chief. Her mother was English. She grew to become one of Canada's most beloved poets and toured across Canada for almost seventeen years including the United States. Her journey even took her to London England.

Raymond's artwork of Pauline caught the eye of a lady named Sheila Johnston, who at the time was doing a presentation on Pauline's life, poetry and prose. This meeting soon led to a partnership that took on the title of "Buckskin & Broadcloth, A Celebration of E. Pauline Johnson - Tekahionwake." This audio/visual presentation had Sheila providing her voice as the audio, talking about Pauline's life and reciting some of her poems, with Raymond providing his artwork as a visual back drop. As part of the presentation Raymond also spoke to the audience on the history of Iroquois culture.

In the summer of 1991, in Toronto, Raymond and Sheila met up with a Russian scholar who at that time was also doing research on Pauline Johnson. After a lengthy meeting, this scholar extended an invitation to both of them to come to Moscow and present Buckskin & Broadcloth to some Russian audiences. It took Sheila and Raymond almost a year of fund raising, but they finally managed to raise enough money to bring their presentation to Moscow Russia in the summer of 1992. After five years of presentations across Canada, Raymond and Sheila finally retired the Pauline project in 1995.

As time progressed, Raymond once again found himself involved in yet another project. This time the idea came from a triptych (three panels) he had produced. The inspiration for this artwork came from a dream. The title of this triptych "The Great Peace...The Gathering of Good Minds" opened up the door for the creation of an educational CD-ROM of the same title. Along with a close friend Richard W. Hill Sr., a well known artist and historian, Ray initiated this community project back in 1996 and it took over three years to complete. The result was a CD-ROM that presents the history, culture and spirituality of the Iroquois/Haudenosaunee people.

Raymond is currently working on another community project which began in 2002. This project delves into the history and origin of wampum. The title of this project is: "WAMPUM-A Record of Iroquois/Haudenosaunee History." With this pilot project, Raymond, along with his project partners, proposes to establish, develop and maintain what is termed as a "Six Nations Virtual Archive" on Six Nations/Iroquois history. A series of multi-media productions will be produced that will enable Six Nations community members to have increased access to historical documents, maps, photographs, artwork, charts and interpretive essays on significant events in Iroquois history. Educators, students and writers alike will definitely benefit from such a comprehensive teaching resource.