Now in his seventh decade of life, Steinhauer has been carving stone since 1973, and as a sole source of income since 1991. Steinhauer is not actually an artist, but a cree ceremonialist, in ceremony with the spiritual beings who inhabit the earth’s crust.

In the Cree worldview, spiritual beings inhabit all aspects of the natural world, including the skin of mother earth. The earth’s crust is made up of approximately 70% granite, and in this granite lives the Rock Grandmother and the Rock Grandfather. They are older than creator, who has nothing to say on their behalf. They speak for themselves, and in the Cree world view, have agreed to try to respond to Creator’s request for help, helping fragile humanity with our attempts at communication.

When Steinhauer goes out into his granite carving studio yard, he walks into a ceremonial space where his Rock Grandmother and his Rock Grandfather are waiting for him to join them in ceremony, creating sculpture in the granite which will speak to the struggling humanity for millenia.