Jay kept track of many of his models but lost a few over the years. In April of 2018, Jay received a Facebook message asking if he remembered a young man who sat for him in 1989. A voice from the past.

Jay knew this model as “Singing with Old Men” but he had no other information and titled the sculpture accordingly. Winston posed for Jay in his Grass Dance regalia while Jay prepared his clay. Winston says he did not want to use his name because, according to “traditional ways, I would be giving away part of me. So, I chose to use the name Sings with Old Men (Ómakinnaiks i’ihpóksínihkiimi). I got that name when I was a young boy helping at a wedding, and there were no other singers to help the old man singing for the ceremony. After the ceremony he gifted me with that name Sings with Old Men.” Now Winston is known as “Sings in the Trees” because “in Blackfoot tradition you are allowed to change your name four times within your lifetime. I use the name that my great grandmother gave me when I was one years old, Sings in the Trees (Iitsiistaanskki), and carry that name to this day.”

Winston is married to Katelyn, and they have seven children and five grandchildren. Winston is a traditional artist and teacher. He and Katelyn specialize in hide tanning, quill work, bead work, and pottery. Winston’s
father is from the Blood Tribe or Kainai Nation and his mother is from Tsuut’ina Nation. The family tipi, which is still set up every year for The Calgary Stampede, is in the care of Theresa Big Plume and has been at the Stampede since 1912. Jay was happy to learn that this young man, whose face captured his interest so long ago, is living a fulfilling life.