RezX mourns the loss of one of our own: Lacy Morin-Desjarlais (while Indigenous Arts Community mourns others lost in tragic car accident)

Indigenous Artist and RezX Writer, Lacy Morin-Desjarlais (Photo by: Janine Windolph)

On behalf of the RezX family which extends to many photographers, reporters, editors, writers and artists, it saddens me to hear that we have lost one of our own in Lacy Morin-Desjarlais. She was one of the five victims that perished in a tragic car accident that happened yesterday morning (read story here) just north of Regina, SK. They were on their way to teach students at a school about a documentary project as they were simply doing what they love – the arts.

The other victims included, Michele Sereda, who was a staple to Regina’s Indigenous arts community and Calgary artists, Michael Green and Narcisse Blood. The other victim, a male, 59, from Cupar, SK was driving a 2005 blue Chevrolet Avalanche has not yet been identified, while two others, a male and female were sent to hospital with injuries, with the man being released. RezX would like to send our prayers to those who survived for a full recovery.

We would also like to send our prayers and condolences to the families of Michele Sereda, Michael Green and Narcisse Blood, who were all important figures to the Indigenous arts community worldwide. Some of our writers have had the chance to work with them and they send their condolences as well.

For everyone at RezX, we met Lacy Morin-Desjarlais through Cowboy Smithx, (another writer for RezX) in the Fall of 2013 and during her time here she covered various Indigenous arts stories as a reporter and writer. A lot of stories she covered were stories she was actually involved in, but as Editor-In-Chief, I wanted her inside perspective. I felt this was one way she could continue to express herself as an artist while also being a writer at the same time for our magazine. The result were some great stories that truly captured the essence of the artist that she was.

In her last days, she began to cover other stories, like a recent basketball tournament and the recent Norval Morrisseau exhibit that is happening right now at First Nations University of Canada’s Plain Red Art Gallery (a story that has yet to be published and was also her final story for RezX). However, we at RezX were simply just a small part of everything she did as an artist, as we were just happy to be involved in her life.

Lacy was also an amazing actor, who was part of the ensemble in the recent play, “Nicimos” produced by the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company. She was also an instructor for a pow wow class offered by the University of Regina Conservatory, where she taught beginners how to dance pow wow, a story captured by Leader-Post’s Kerry Benjoe. She was also working on various projects with local artists, Trudy Stewart, Janine Windolph and the late Michele Sereda.

In her last year, she was also involved in a number of performance pieces, like the International Indigenous Artists Residency held at the 2014 North American Indigenous Games and another project called, “The Making of Treaty 7 (MT7) Project”  that involved a couple of the artists who perished in that car accident, Michael Green and Narcisse Blood (all stories she covered for RezX that we will post soon).

Above all, Lacy was known for her kindness, generosity and beautiful spirit. She was like no one else – a contemporary artist rooted in her culture and traditional ways. She was also educated on traditional teachings of dance and story telling as it was clear in her writing.

RezX would like to send our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Lacy Morin-Desjarlais. She was 29-years old and she will be dearly missed.

Editor’s Note: For our next issue, we are currently working on a tribute to feature many memories from those who worked with Lacy and the artists who perished. If you would like to leave some of your memories of them, please leave a comment at the bottom as we will try to get it into the magazine. Thank you to everyone for your kind words on social media in honouring her, hiy, hiy!

– Chris Tyrone Ross, Editor-In-Chief, RezX Magazine

REZX MEMBERS REMEMBER LACY MORIN-DESJARLAIS

“Lacy was a great Indigenous artist who loved to share with her community. I will honour her memory by promoting Indigenous Art and Artists with my personal life, ambitions, and goals”.

– Jason Bird, Columnist/Reporter/Blogger  

“Lacy was an incredible person, artist, dancer and friend. She touched the lives of everyone leaving a positive impact and a smile. Whether through her dance, paintings or the words she wrote for RezX her voice and vision captured the imagination. The artistic community has lost a great role model and she will be missed by so many loved ones. But still we are artists and we will continue to create – for it’s what she taught us, that creating is the purest form of love, hope, and remembrance. We miss you Lacy.”

– Bill Stevenson, Columnist/Reporter/Blogger

GALLERY OF THE FALLEN INDIGENOUS ARTISTS WE LOST