red and blue thunderbird native american

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Immediately struck by the genius of Morrisseau's art, he immediately organized an exhibition of his work at his Toronto gallery.

As Pollock did not drive, Susan Ross whom Morrisseau had met in 1961 and Sheila Burnford drove Pollock to visit Morrisseau at his home to view more of his works. The two initially met in 1962 while Pollock was teaching a painting workshop in Beardmore. Jack Pollock, a Toronto art dealer, helped expose Morrisseau's art to a wider audience in the 1960s.

Dewdney was the first to take his art to a wider public. There he met his future wife Harriet Kakegamic with whom he had seven children, Victoria, Michael, Peter, David, Lisa, Eugene, and Christian.Īfter being invited by Ontario Provincial Police Constable, Robert Sheppard, to meet the artist, the anthropologist Selwyn Dewdney, became an early advocate of Morrisseau's and was very interested in Morrisseau's deep knowledge of native culture and myth. Morrisseau contracted tuberculosis in 1956 and was sent to Fort William Sanatorium to recover. Morrisseau recovered after the ceremony and from then on always signed his works with his new name. According to Anishnaabe tradition, giving a powerful name to a dying person can give them new energy and save their lives. Fearing for his life, his mother called a medicine-woman who performed a renaming ceremony: She gave him the new name Copper Thunderbird. He was taken to a doctor but his health kept deteriorating. After two years he returned home and started attending a local community school.Īt the age of 19, he became very sick. The contrast between these two religious traditions became an important factor in his intellectual and artistic development.Īt the age of six, he was sent to a Catholic residential school, where students were educated in the European tradition, native culture was repressed, and the use of native language was forbidden. His grandmother, Grace Theresa Potan Nanakonagos, was a devout Catholic and from her he learned the tenets of Christianity. His grandfather, Moses Potan Nanakonagos, a shaman, taught him the traditions and legends of his people. In accordance with Anishnaabe tradition, he was raised by his maternal grandparents.

#Red and blue thunderbird native american full

His full name is Jean-Baptiste Norman Henry Morrisseau, but he signs his work using the Cree syllabics writing ᐅᓵᐚᐱᐦᑯᐱᓀᐦᓯ (Ozaawaabiko-binesi, unpointed: ᐅᓴᐘᐱᑯᐱᓀᓯ, 'Copper/Brass Bird'), as his pen-name for his Anishnaabe name ᒥᐢᒁᐱᐦᐠ ᐊᓂᒥᐦᑮ (Miskwaabik Animikii, unpointed: ᒥᐢᑿᐱᐠ ᐊᓂᒥᑭ, ' Copper Thunderbird'). Some sources quote him as saying that he was born in Fort William, now part of Thunder Bay, Ontario, on the same date in 1931. He founded the Woodlands School of Canadian art and was a prominent member of the “Indian Group of Seven”.Īn Anishinaabe, he was born Maon the Sand Point Ojibway reserve near Beardmore, Ontario.

His style is characterized by thick black outlines and bright colors. Known as the ' Picasso of the North', Morrisseau created works depicting the legends of his people, the cultural and political tensions between native Canadian and European traditions, his existential struggles, and his deep spirituality and mysticism. Norval Morrisseau, CM (Ma– December 4, 2007), also known as Copper Thunderbird, was an Aboriginal Canadian artist.