Blackfoot artist Kristy North Peigan designs drone show imagery celebrating Indigenous storytelling at Stampede

Blackfoot artist Kristy North Peigan is bringing Indigenous storytelling to the Calgary Stampede's nightly drone show, lighting up the sky above the Grandstand with illustrations rooted in Treaty 7 culture, Alberta's landscape, and the region's ranching heritage.

North Peigan, who grew up at Elbow River Camp, has worked with the Stampede Foundation since graduating as a professional artist. Her involvement with the drone show evolved naturally. For last year's Stampede, she created illustrations to accompany headliner Carolyn Dawn Johnson's performance. "That was really cool, because I grew up hearing her songs on the radio," she said. The imagery included a golden eagle, figures doing a friendship dance, and teepees with designs reflecting Alberta's shifting landscape—from mountains to foothills to plains.

This year's drone show follows an agriculture and rodeo theme. North Peigan designed two frames: bison illustrated in Blackfoot pictograph style and a relay horse painted in the colours of the Old Sun Relay team. She consulted with Allison Red Crow, owner of the Old Sun relay team, for authenticity. "He got to see one of his horses in the sky with his colours. He thought that was really awesome," North Peigan said.

She described seeing her digital designs projected live at full scale as surreal. "A lot of times, I'm only really seeing pictures and videos of a completed piece that I've done. When I do get the opportunity to see my pieces in real life... seeing it in full, real-life scale in front of me is such a strange" experience.

Teepee owners and knowledge keepers approve every design before it reaches drone programmers. For visitors to Elbow River Camp, the connection between the tent designs in the sky and the cultural knowledge they represent becomes tangible. The drone show runs nightly during the Stampede.