Gerald is a member of the Siksika Nation. At the time he was a model for Jay Contway, he was 36 years old, a director of the Siksika Cultural Centre, and a tipi owner at what was then called the Indian Village of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede. He was known as a hoop dancer and was a champion fancy dancer and prairie chicken dancer. He was also a pow wow emcee and a member of Brave Dog Society, the Prairie Chicken Society, and the Blackfoot A1 Club Singers.

In the years following, Gerald was chair of the Stampede’s First Nations Events Committee, a national leader for the First Nations and Inuit Cultural Education Program, a faculty member of the Calgary Indigenous Court and a founder of the Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park, and he served six terms on the. Siksika Nation Council.

The Yellow Otter tipi was transferred to Gerald from his grandfather, Sitting Eagle in 1976 with the help of Ben Calf Robe. In 2013, Gerald transferred the tipi to his son Hutch.

“I went over to the Indian Village and talked to several men sitting outside their tipis. They did not know me. They did not understand what I was asking them. When I told them this was a project to raise money for children’s programs, several people were interested and would have come to sit as my model. I chose Gerald because he had a very authentic headdress and a strong Indian face. He arrived on time, and we had a good conversation while I worked on his sculpture.

I do not have pictures of Gerald and me. I worked for one hour, as the art committee instructed. The clay was shown at the auction with a guarantee that a bronze would be cast for the buyer. Who knew that this tradition of sculpting a face from the crowd of The Stampede would lead to 27 years of work? The money from the sale of my sculptures went to the Youth Scholarship Program.”

– Jay Contway