7 Professional Native Indian Artists Inc.

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7: PROFESSIONAL NATIVE INDIAN ARTISTS INC.

curated by

Michelle LaVallee with essays by

Joseph Sanchez Tom Hill Barry Ace Lee-Ann Martin Cathy Mattes Carmen Robertson Viviane Gray Michelle LaVallee

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For the artists . . .

Daphne, Alex, Joseph, Carl, Jackson, Eddy and Norval, and their families.

For my daughter Xóchil Elena and the next 7 generations . . . that our heroes, stories and histories remain strong and present.

Pour les artistes . . .

Daphne, Alex, Joseph, Carl, Jackson, Eddy et Norval, ainsi que pour leurs familles.

Pour ma fille Xóchil Elena et les sept prochaines générations . . . que nos héros, nos récits et nos histoires demeurent forts et présents.

TABLE OF CONTENTS / TABLE DE MATIÈRES

foreword / avant-propos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

acknowledgements / remerciements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

lenders to the exhibition / prêts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

introduction / introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

7: professional native indian artists inc. / 7: professional native indian artists inc.

Michelle LaVallee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 / 318

the artists

Daphne Odjig . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Eddy Cobiness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Alex Janvier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Carl Ray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Jackson Beardy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Joseph Sanchez . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Norval Morrisseau . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

73 81 89 99 107 117 129

plates

Storytelling: History & Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137 Storytelling: Personal Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Storytelling: Supernatural Beings & The Spirit World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

the native group of seven a.k.a. professional native indian artists inc. / le groupe autochtone des sept autrement dit la professional native indian artists inc.

Joseph Sanchez

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canadian indian art, its death and rebirth (1974) / l’art indien au canada : disparition et renaissance (1974)

Tom Hill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193 / 331

reactive intermediates: aboriginal art, politics, and resonance of the 1960s and 1970s / intermédiaires réactifs : art et politiques autochtones et résonance des années 1960 et 1970

Barry Ace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197 / 332

early adventures in the mainstream: alex janvier, norval morrisseau, and daphne odjig 1962–1975 / premières aventures dans le courant dominant : alex janvier, norval morrisseau, et daphne odjig 1962–1975

Lee-Ann Martin

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“winnipeg, where it all began”—rhetorical and visual sovereignty and the formation of the professional native indian artists inc. / « winnipeg, là où tout a commencé » — souveraineté rhétorique et visuelle et formation de la professional native indian artists inc.

Cathy Mattes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219 / 341

paper trail: pniai artists in winnipeg newspapers, 1966–1977 / traces écrites : les artistes de la pniai dans les journaux de winnipeg, 1966–1977

Carmen Robertson

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the new group of seven: a reaction to the state of indian art in canada in the sixties and seventies / le nouveau groupe des sept : une réaction à la situation de l’art indien au canada dans les années 1960 et 1970

Viviane Gray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233 / 346

one hundred years of indigenous art, culture, and politics in canada, 1885–1985: a timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

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Spirituality & Ceremony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267 Duality & Conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283

The Natural World & The Everyday . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295

list of works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352 selected bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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contributor biographies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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FOREWORD JEREMY MORGAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

My own theory is that four pillars exist in our country’s foundation: the English, the French, the Contemporary Immigrant, and the First Nation. Each plays a vital role in supporting and explaining who and what we are.

— Joseph Boyden, author of Three Day Road and Through Black Spruce.

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n 7: The Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., Michelle LaVallee, the MacKenzie’s Associate Curator, has gathered together a brilliant and comprehensive selection of the works of the members of the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. (PNIAI). This original exhibition provides us with examples of their individual vision and artistry and also prompts us to reflect on the place of these artists in what we call Canadian culture and how we have viewed and understood the work of Aboriginal artists in our academies, our public agencies, and our individual and public imaginations.

The title of the exhibition, 7, plays with the name often applied to the group: the “Indian Group of Seven.” This comforting and superficially appealing term appears to make a statement about the importance of the group, but ultimately subordinates it to another range of cultural values and experiences. It asks us to relate the accomplishments of these artists not to their own intentions and experiences, but to something from an aesthetic and a world far away.

This exhibition helps to build a fresh narrative. Only a few of the names of these artists are household words, but all bear witness to the existence of unique visions and skills in cultures that are often conflated into the deceptively simplifying, homogenizing, and plainly awkward term “Aboriginal.” In this meeting of Indigenous knowledge and contemporary art practice, we are exposed to ways of knowing and creating

that for many Canadians are still alien, whereas for Indigenous people this exposure may be a welcome affirmation of their identities and their own imaginative worlds. 7 contributes to the possibility of a richer and more reflective sensibility relating to relationships with the original people of this land.

The artists of PNIAI are of a generation following the Massey-Lévesque Commission report and the creation of the Canada Council for the Arts. As Lee-Ann Martin observes in the essay “Contemporary First Nations Art since 1970: Individual Practices and Collective Activism,” in The Visual Arts in Canada (2010), these artists came together in the early 1970s partly in response to the way in which the Government of Canada supported contemporary Aboriginal art. Or didn’t. In “The Secret’s Out; Our Artists were Subversive” (Eaglefeather News, April 2011), Molson prizewinner Maria Campbell locates the members of the PNIAI at the onset of an emerging line of Aboriginal artists of all disciplines in Canada: trailblazers, perhaps, clearing a long and broadening path in Indigenous cultures.

We do know something of the impact that individual members of the PNIAI have had on the subsequent generation of artists and on the public’s perception of the art of Aboriginal people in Canada, most obviously Norval Morrisseau and the Woodland School. I do not believe anyone has fully explored the impact of the members of PNIAI on subsequent generations of visual

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artists. Moreover, one wonders if their cultural impact is confined to the visual arts or if it extends to the explosion of contemporary art that Maria Campbell articulates. Is it part of the emergence of a much larger and to some extent still unexplored pattern of artistic development, resulting in growing public recognition and support? It would be important to know more about the impact of the PNIAI not only on contemporary visual arts practice but also, more broadly, on the development of contemporary culture itself.

vital to enjoy and celebrate. For a province like Saskatchewan with a large, youthful Aboriginal population, it is more important than ever that the creative narratives of Indigenous people, among others, are made available to all citizens and that young people can see something of themselves and their cultures in our public cultural institutions. The MacKenzie has an important role to play in articulating matters of identity and cultural change and in engaging with the public in its deep concerns and aspirations.

It is our conviction that people should have the

7 is opening just over three decades after the University of Regina’s Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery (now MacKenzie Art Gallery) opened New Work by a New Generation in association with the World Assembly of First Nations held in Regina in 1982. That exhibition, organized by the gallery with the involvement of Carol Phillips, Bob Boyer, and Robert Houle, signalled the commitment of the MacKenzie to contemporary Indigenous art. Even so, New Work was not the first major statement by the gallery in this area. That distinction belongs to a much earlier exhibition, also developed by Bob Boyer, in 1975: 100 Years of Saskatchewan Indian Art: 1830–1930, which treated traditional work as art, rather than ethno-cultural specimen.

7 contributes to this tradition, and the gallery’s Board of Trustees has endorsed the MacKenzie’s plan to become a centre of excellence in Indigenous art. We are proud of this commitment while recognizing that this work is never done.

Above all, this exhibition honours artists whose identities are complex and literally multi-faceted, and gives us something rich and

opportunity to know about these artists and to appreciate their work, individually and in collective exhibitions such as 7. We believe this exposure contributes to the development of a healthier, more equitable community.

The MacKenzie Art Gallery is very thankful for the cooperation and generous spirit of those who have so willingly made work available for the exhibition. We hope we have done justice to the trust you placed in the gallery by lending us these works. Thanks as always to the Department of Canadian Heritage for its very generous support through the Museums Assistance Program, which made the scope and quality of the exhibition possible, and to our colleagues in galleries across the country who are partnering with us. I reserve special thanks for the staff of the gallery, led and inspired by Michelle’s scholarship, vision, diplomatic skills, and love for the work of these fine artists. Ultimately we owe our profound thanks to the artists and their families for so generously making these works available to the people of Canada.

They call it sharing. It’s one of our ancient tribal principles as Ojibway people, they say. Many hearts beating together makes us stronger.

— Saul Indian Horse in Richard Wagamese, Indian Horse.

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AVANT-PROPOS JEREMY MORGAN, DIRECTEUR GÉNÉRAL

Ma propre théorie, c’est que notre pays est fondé sur quatre piliers : les Anglais, les Français, les Immigrants contemporains et les Premières Nations. Chacun de ces piliers joue un rôle capital parce qu’il étaye et explique qui nous sommes et ce que nous sommes.

— Joseph Boyden, auteur du Chemin des âmes et des Saisons de la solitude.

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ans 7 : The Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., Michelle LaVallee, conservatrice associée de la MacKenzie, a réuni une sélection brillante et exhaustive des œuvres des membres de la PNIAI, une association professionnelle d’artistes autochtones. Cette exposition originale nous fournit des exemples de la vision et du talent artistique de chacun des membres. Elle nous incite aussi à réfléchir à la place qu’occupent ces artistes dans ce que nous appelons la culture canadienne et à la façon dont nous avons envisagé jusqu’ici l’art autochtone autant dans nos académies et nos organismes publics que dans notre imaginaire personnel et collectif.

Le titre de l’exposition, 7, joue sur le nom que l’on donne souvent à l’association, le « Groupe indien des sept ». Cette appellation en apparence intéressante et réconfortante apparaît comme voulant faire état de l’importance du groupe mais elle ne fait que subordonner celle-ci à une autre gamme de valeurs et d’expériences culturelles.

Il nous est demandé de rattacher les réalisations de ces artistes non pas à leurs intentions et expériences personnelles, mais à une esthétique et à un univers lointains.

L’exposition favorise l’établissement d’une nouvelle approche. Si seuls quelquesuns des artistes nous sont connus, tous témoignent toutefois de l’existence de visions et de talents uniques dans des cultures trop souvent regroupées sous le terme faussement

simplificateur, homogénéisant et tout-à-fait maladroit qu’est celui d’« autochtones ». Dans cette confluence du savoir indigène et de la pratique artistique contemporaine, nous sommes exposés à des formes de connaissances et de création qui sont encore étrangères à beaucoup de Canadiens, alors que pour les peuples autochtones, cela peut constituer une affirmation positive de leur identité et de leur propre imaginaire. 7 nous permet d’être plus sensibles à nos relations avec les premiers habitants de ce pays.

Les artistes de la PNIAI appartiennent à la génération postérieure au rapport de la commission Massey-Lévesque et à la création du Conseil des arts du Canada. Comme l’observe Lee-Ann Martin dans son essai « Contemporary First Nations Art since 1970: Individual Practices and Collective Activism » [Art contemporain des Premières Nations depuis 1970: Pratiques personnelles et activisme collectif] dans le livre The Visual Arts in Canada : The Twentieth Century (2010), le groupe se forme au début des années 1970 en partie en réaction au soutien que le gouvernement du Canada apporte à l’art autochtone contemporain. Ou plutôt à l’absence de soutien. Pour la lauréate du prix Molson Maria Campbell, dans l’article « The Secret’s Out; Our Artists were Subversive » [Ce n’est plus un secret : nos artistes étaient subversifs] (Eaglefeather News, avril 2011), les membres de la PNIAI sont

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les premiers d’une lignée émergente d’artistes autochtones canadiens de toutes disciplines : des pionniers, peut-être, ouvrant une large voie d’accès aux cultures autochtones.

Nous connaissons quelque peu l’influence que tous les membres de la PNIAI ont exercée sur les générations d’artistes qui les ont suivis. Nous savons aussi que le groupe, notamment Norval Morrisseau et son mouvement artistique de l’école des Woodlands, a changé la façon dont le grand public perçoit l’art amérindien au Canada. Je ne crois pas qu’on ait véritablement étudié l’impact

dans ce domaine. Cette distinction revient à une exposition antérieure, datant de 1975, préparée, elle aussi, par Bob Boyer : 100 Years of Saskatchewan Indian Art : 1830–1930 [Un siècle d’art indien en Saskatchewan] qui traitait les objets traditionnels comme des œuvres d’art plutôt que comme des spécimens ethnoculturels.

7 s’inscrit dans cette tradition et le conseil d’administration de la MacKenzie a entériné le projet de faire du musée un centre d’excellence en art autochtone. Nous sommes fiers de cet engagement mais nous reconnaissons que c’est un

que la PNIAI a eu sur les générations suivantes d’artistes visuels. Au demeurant, on peut se demander si son impact se confine aux arts visuels ou s’il s’étend aussi à l’explosion d’autres formes d’art contemporain comme l’affirme Maria Campbell. Participe-t-il à l’émergence d’une tendance artistique plus générale mais dans une certaine mesure encore inexplorée, entraînant la reconnaissance et l’appui croissants du public? Il serait important d’en savoir plus à l’égard de l’influence de la PNIAI sur la pratique contemporaine des arts visuels et, en général, sur le développement de la culture contemporaine en tant que telle.

7 ouvre, un peu plus de trente ans après New Work by a New Generation [Nouvelles œuvres d’une nouvelle génération], une exposition organisée par la Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery (devenue MacKenzie Art Gallery) de l’Université de Regina à l’occasion de l’Assemblée internationale des Premières Nations, tenue à Regina en 1982. Cette exposition, à laquelle ont participé Carol Phillips, Bob Boyer et Robert Houle, marquait l’engagement de la MacKenzie envers l’art autochtone contemporain. Toutefois, New Work ne constituait pas elle-même la première intervention du monde des musées

travail de longue haleine.

Par-dessus tout, l’exposition rend hommage à des artistes à l’identité complexe et littéralement polymorphe et nous permet d’apprécier et de célébrer la richesse et la vitalité de leur œuvre.

Pour une province telle que la Saskatchewan, où les jeunes autochtones sont nombreux, il est plus important que jamais que les formes d’expression créatrices des peuples autochtones, entre autres, soient accessibles à tous et que les jeunes puissent se reconnaître, et reconnaître leur culture, dans nos institutions culturelles publiques. La MacKenzie a un rôle important à jouer dans la formulation des questions d’identité et de changement culturel et dans l’instauration d’un dialogue avec le public au sujet de leurs préoccupations et aspirations. Nous sommes convaincus que ce dernier devrait avoir la possibilité de découvrir ces artistes et d’apprécier ce qu’ils ont créé, individuellement et dans des expositions de groupe telles que 7. Nous croyons que ce contact contribuera au développement d’une communauté plus saine et plus équitable.

La MacKenzie Art Gallery est reconnaissante de la coopération et de la générosité de ceux et celles qui ont volontiers offert leurs œuvres pour l’exposition. Nous espérons que nous avons

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justifié la confiance qu’ils nous ont témoignée en nous les prêtant. Et comme toujours, je remercie le ministère du Patrimoine canadien de son généreux soutien. C’est son Programme d’aide aux musées qui nous a permis d’organiser une exposition d’une telle envergure et qualité. Je suis reconnaissant à nos collègues des musées à travers le pays qui se sont joints à nous. Je tiens

à remercier tout particulièrement le personnel du musée, animé et inspiré par l’érudition, la vision, les talents de diplomate de Michelle et par son amour de l’œuvre de ces artistes de talent.

Finalement, nous exprimons nos plus sincères remerciements aux artistes et à leurs familles qui ont mis ces œuvres à la disposition du public canadien.

On appelle cela le partage. Comme le disent les Ojibwés, c’est un de nos vieux principes tribaux. Beaucoup de cœurs battant ensemble nous rendent plus forts.

— Saul Indian Horse dans Indian Horse de Richard Wagamese.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS MICHELLE LAVALLEE

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: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. is not a retrospective exhibition, a simple look back, but rather a retro-active exhibition. This is what could have happened, and should have happened, forty years ago. This exhibition and publication acknowledge the joy and inspiration that this Group has brought, and continues to bring, to so many people. Their coordinated efforts and the deep feeling manifest in their art are the reasons for this exhibition. It is with great respect and pride that I undertook this project, and I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the many people who provided support, encouragement, and inspiration along the way.

First and foremost, I would like to acknowledge the artists. One of the greatest pleasures in my life and career thus far was having the opportunity to spend time with four of these seven artists, including Norval Morrisseau shortly before he left this world. I am deeply grateful to Daphne Odjig, Alex Janvier, and Joseph Sanchez for their support and enthusiasm, and especially for the many conversations over the years. I was humbled and appreciative merely to be a fly on the wall, but you welcomed and included me in the laughter and storytelling; you have given me memories that will last a lifetime. Thank you for your generosity in sharing your time and knowledge. Thank you for being who you are.

I also want to acknowledge the artists’ families and estates, commercial dealers, and loyal supporters who offered advice and assistance in locating and securing works for the exhibition, or other information and materials throughout my research, in particular: Jacqueline Janvier, family and staff at Janvier Gallery, Phillip

Gevik of Gallery Gevik and Gallery Phillip, Stan Somerville, Barbara Newton Vedan, Stewart Turcotte at Hambleton Galleries, Pauline Beardy, Louise Thomas at Ahnisnabae Art Gallery, Jackie Bugera of Bearclaw Gallery, Veronica Adetuyi at Bay of Spirits Gallery, Ann Sanchez, Jessica Wilson at Westerkirk Works of Art, Margaret Burke and Xoco Sanchez, and Gabe and Michele Vadas. Thank you also to the staff at the many galleries and institutions that gave me access to works, artist files, and other archival material.

A special thanks also to Byron Beardy, Jackson Beardy III, and family for their contributions to the opening weekend celebration.

Major funding to the MacKenzie Art Gallery for the research, production, and touring of the exhibition was provided by the Museums Assistance Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage, a contribution that made possible this testimony to the lasting impact of the PNIAI efforts and work.

I extend my deepest gratitude for the early and ongoing support of my professional colleagues: Timothy Long, the late Kate Davis, Lee-Ann Martin, Robert Houle, Barry Ace, David Garneau, and Carmen Robertson. Their interest, mentorship, and critical advice was invaluable.

Without the commitment and co-operation of the many lenders, an exhibition of this scale would not have been possible. Thank you to the many public institutions that lent works, and to the enthusiastic private collectors across Canada and overseas for their generosity. I am particularly grateful for the hospitality with which I was received, as well as for the generous loan of works for such an extended period of time.

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The success of the exhibition is due to the collective efforts of my co-workers. I thank the entire MacKenzie staff for their collegiality and interest in this exhibition, particularly executive director Jeremy Morgan for his support and enthusiasm. I am so happy to be part of an expert curatorial team whose committed attitude and professionalism continue to impress me: Brenda Smith for the substantive and meticulous conservation; Bruce Anderson for the coordination of shipping; and the incredible preparation and installation team led by Ralph

less than a curatorial colleague, he has afforded me the freedom and encouragement to pursue big ideas without fear or pressure, including the exhibition 7 and this, the biggest publication in the history of the MacKenzie.

Even to begin to address all those who have contributed to this complex and intertwined chapter of art history is daunting. It is a privilege to work alongside colleagues for whom I have the greatest respect and admiration. I want to thank the writers and contributors to this publication for their expertise and for their

Skanes and Colby Avrams, including Leevon Delorme, Michael Hamann, Brendan Schick, and Peter Brass. Many thanks also to Marie Olinik for maintaining the massive database and files of information that kept this project organized, and for the multi-year number balancing by Jackie Lindenbach that ensures our ability to maximize limited resources.

This publication would not be what it is without Hilary Knutson. I cannot thank her enough for the tremendous assistance she has been on this project since my daughter was born, from spending time cuddling and holding XĂłchil so that I could write or attend to the myriad of organizational details, to coordinating elements big and small related to the installation and national tour. I thank her for the dedication, attention to detail, and superior organizational skills with which she has efficiently coordinated the production of this catalogue.

Once again, I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to ‘boss man’ and chief editor of MacKenzie curatorial publications, head curator Timothy Long, for his invaluable advice and remarkable attention to detail in all aspects of my projects. It is a privilege to have his mentorship and guidance. Never treating me as anything

scholarly and insightful essays, which enhance our understanding of the PNIAI and the era that gave rise to its creation.

It has been a privilege to work alongside editor Sherry Farrell Racette. I am grateful for her generous insights and editorial comments on each of the essays, and for her knowledge, contributions, and assistance in compiling and assembling information for the timeline. My thanks also go to David Garneau for his feedback on the introduction and curatorial essay.

Over the years I have had the pleasure of working with several curatorial research assistants whose diligent work throughout the research and production phases of the exhibition have assisted me greatly: most recently, Lydia Miliokas and Blair Fornwald. Thank you for your assistance in assembling, organizing, and formatting information for the list of works, timeline, extended labels, biographies, and bibliographies. Thanks also to Ntawnis Piapot, especially for transcription of interviews, and to Natasha Peters for organization and assistance during the early research phase.

No catalogue would be complete without the detailed eyes of a copy editor. I thank Anne James for her time and proficiency. Thanks are also due

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to Brigitte Haguès and Françoise Stoppa for their patience, genuine enthusiasm, and thoroughness in translating the English essays into French. I also want to thank Melanie Kennedy at Aboriginal Languages of Manitoba Inc. for coordinating the Indigenous translation, and Roger Roulette, Alderick Leask, and Carl (Geoff) Bussidor, who translated the artists’ English words into Ojibway, Cree, and Dene respectively. For the beautiful images of artworks that adorn the pages to follow, I thank Don Hall for his expert photography.

It has been a great pleasure to work with

Grebinski, Linda Grussani, Tom Hill, Greg Hill, Maria Hupfield, Kate Johnson, Sheila Klotz, Bill Lobchuk, Steve Loft, Jim Logan, Crystal Massier, Cathy Mattes, Josh MacFadden, Raoul McKay, Gerald McMaster, Marion Meadmore, Joseph Naytowhow, Edward Poitras, Jacob Pratt, Diane Pugen, Stuart Reid, Rodger Ross, Carol Schick, Gary Scherbain, Adrian Stimson, Barbara Stimpson, Doreen Vaillancourt, and Alfred Young Man. To my family, friends, and extended family (you know who you are), thank you for your love

Russ Portigal of Rio Saxon Design on the overall design and layout of the catalogue. The striking, retro-inspired “7” logo and catalogue cover design have given a truly distinctive branding to the exhibition. His inspired catalogue design resonates with the feel of the seventies and reflects a keen appreciation for the artists and their works.

For interviews, informal conversations, shared personal stories, and advice on a host of topics, I would also like to thank the following individuals: Jason Baerg, Leiland Bell, Patricia Bovey, Jean Blodgett, Joane Cardinal-Schubert, Alan Corbiere, Brenda Croft, Marcia Crosby, Elizabeth Curry, Patricia Deadman, Blake Debassige, Michael Dennehy, Bonnie Devine, Norma Dinniwell, Virginia Eichhorn, Joe Fourhorns, Kevin Gibbs, Viviane Gray, Leisha

and support. Thank you to my daughter Xóchil Elena for arriving during this exciting exhibition and for her amazing inspiration, patience, and understanding. Thanks also to my sister-in-law Gery Villalobos for spending time with Xóchil during the final weeks of catalogue production.

Finally, and most of all, to my husband, Ramsés Calderón, thank you for your patience and love. I could not have done this without your continuous and unwavering support in every way, your shared enthusiasm and cheerleading, or your culinary and parenting skills.

Last and not least (as I write this I fear I have forgotten some), I ask forgiveness of all those who have been with me over the course of the years and whose names I have failed to mention.

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REMERCIEMENTS MICHELLE LAVALLEE

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: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. n’est pas une rétrospective ni un simple retour en arrière. C’est une exposition rétroactive.

C’est qui aurait pu arriver, et aurait dû arriver, il y a quarante ans. L’exposition et l’ouvrage reconnaissent la joie et l’inspiration que le Groupe a procurées, et continuer de procurer, à nombre de personnes. Les efforts coordonnés de ses membres et le sentiment profond qui se manifeste dans leur art sont la raison d’être de cette exposition.

C’est avec grand respect et fierté que j’ai entrepris le projet et je voudrais exprimer ma profonde gratitude aux nombreuses personnes qui m’ont appuyée, encouragée et inspirée tout au long.

Je voudrais avant tout rendre hommage aux artistes. Un des plus grands plaisirs de ma vie et de ma carrière jusqu’ici a été de pouvoir passer du temps avec quatre de ces sept artistes, dont Norval Morrisseau peu de temps avant qu’il nous quitte.

Je suis très reconnaissante à Daphne Odjig, Alex Janvier et Joseph Sanchez de leur soutien et de leur enthousiasme, et tout particulièrement, des nombreuses conversations que nous avons eues au fil des ans. Si déjà vous ne m’aviez acceptée que comme simple observatrice, j’aurais été profondément touchée, et l’aurais énormément apprécié, mais vous m’avez aussi accueillie et vous m’avez permis de partager vos rires et vos histoires. Vous m’avez donné des souvenirs qui sont inoubliables. Merci de votre générosité, d’avoir mis à ma disposition votre temps et votre savoir. Merci d’être qui vous êtes.

Je tiens aussi remercier les familles et les successions ou héritiers des artistes, les galeristes et les fidèles soutiens qui m’ont conseillée et aidée à trouver et à obtenir les oeuvres de

cette exposition, ou qui m’ont fourni d’autres documents et renseignements pendant ma recherche. Je remercie en particulier : Jacqueline Janvier, sa famille et le personnel de Janvier Gallery, Phillip Gevik de Gallery Gevik et de Gallery Phillip, Stan Somerville, Barbara Newton Vedan, Stewart Turcotte à Hambleton Galleries, Pauline Beardy, Louise Thomas à Ahnisnabae Art Gallery, Jackie Bugera de Bearclaw Gallery, Veronica Adetuyi à Bay of Spirits Gallery, Ann Sanchez, Jessica Wilson à Westerkirk Works of Art, Margaret Burke et Xoco Sanchez, ainsi que Gabe et Michele Vadas. Je n’oublie pas non plus le personnel des nombreux musées et institutions qui m’ont donné accès aux œuvres, aux fiches d’artiste et autres archives. Un remerciement particulier à Byron Beardy, Jackson Beardy III et à leur famille pour leurs contributions aux festivités du weekend du vernissage.

Le financement majeur que la MacKenzie Art Gallery a reçu pour la recherche, la réalisation et la tournée de l’exposition a été fourni par le Programme d’aide aux musées du ministère du Patrimoine canadien, contribution qui a permis de témoigner de la portée des efforts et de l’œuvre de la PNIAI. J’exprime ma profonde gratitude à mes confrères et consoeurs qui, dès le début et de manière constante, m’ont appuyée : Timothy Long, la regrettée Kate Davis, Lee-Ann Martin, Robert Houle, Barry Ace, David Garneau et Carmen Robertson. Leur intérêt, leur mentorat et leurs avis critiques sont inestimables.

Sans l’engagement et la coopération de nombreux prêteurs, une exposition de cette envergure n’aurait pu être possible. Je remercie

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les nombreuses institutions publiques qui ont prêté des œuvres ainsi que les collectionneurs privés, canadiens comme étrangers, qui ont fait preuve d’enthousiasme et de générosité. Je suis particulièrement reconnaissante de l’accueil chaleureux que j’ai reçu et de la libéralité dont ils ont fait preuve en prêtant aussi longtemps les œuvres.

La réussite de l’exposition tient aux efforts collectifs de mes collègues de travail. Je remercie tout le personnel de la MacKenzie pour l’esprit de collégialité et l’intérêt dont il a fait preuve

petits et grands, ayant trait à l’installation de l’exposition ou à la tournée nationale. Je la remercie du dévouement, de l’attention aux détails et du sens supérieur de l’organisation avec lesquels elle a coordonné la production du catalogue.

Une fois de plus, je suis extrêmement redevable au « patron » et directeur des publications de la MacKenzie, le conservateur en chef Timothy Long, de ses conseils inestimables et de sa remarquable attention au détail dans tous les aspects de mes projets. Je considère

envers cette exposition, tout particulièrement Jeremy Morgan, le directeur général du musée, pour son appui et son enthousiasme. Je suis si heureuse de faire partie d’un commissariat d’exposition dont l’expertise, l’engagement véritable et le professionnalisme continuent de m’impressionner : Brenda Smith, pour son travail de conservation méticuleux et substantiel; Bruce Anderson pour la coordination du transport; et l’incroyable équipe de préparateurs et d’installateurs dirigée par Ralph Skanes et Colby Avrams et dont font partie Leevon Delorme, Michael Hamann, Brendan Schick et Peter Brass. Un grand merci aussi à Marie Olinik qui a tenu la base de données et les énormes dossiers d’informations, assurant ainsi l’organisation du projet, et finalement à Jackie Lindenbach qui pendant plusieurs années a géré les finances pour nous permettre de maximiser des ressources limitées.

Cet ouvrage ne serait pas ce qu’il est sans Hilary Knutson. Je ne la remercierai jamais assez de son aide précieuse pour le projet depuis la naissance de ma fille, du temps qu’elle a passé à tenir et à cajoler Xóchil pour que je puisse écrire ou m’occuper de la myriade de questions d’organisation, de la coordination d’éléments,

comme un privilège l’encadrement et les conseils qu’il m’a prodigués. Me traitant toujours d’égal à égal comme commissaire, il m’a donné la liberté et l’encouragement de poursuivre de grandes idées sans peur ni pression et cela comprend l’exposition 7 et son catalogue, le plus important de l’histoire de la MacKenzie.

Mentionner tous ceux et celles qui ont contribué à ce chapitre complexe de l’histoire de l’art est un défi de taille. C’est un privilège que de travailler aux côtés de collègues pour lesquels j’ai le plus grand respect et la plus grande admiration.

Je veux remercier les rédacteurs et les personnes qui ont collaboré à cet ouvrage de leur expertise et des essais savants et pénétrants qui nous permettent de mieux comprendre la PNIAI et l’époque qui a donné lieu à sa création.

Je suis consciente du privilège qui m’a été accordé de travailler avec l’éditrice Sherry Farrell Racette. Je lui suis reconnaissante de sa contribution généreuse en termes d’idées et de commentaires pour chacun des essais ainsi que de ses connaissances et de son aide pour compiler et rassembler l’information pour la chronologie.

Je remercie aussi David Garneau pour ses commentaires sur l’introduction et mon essai.

Au cours de ces dernières années, j’ai eu le

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plaisir de travailler avec plusieurs adjoints à la recherche. Leur diligence pendant les phases de recherche et de réalisation de l’exposition m’a été d’un réel secours. Je remercie Lydia Miliokas et Blair Fornwald qui m’ont aidée dernièrement à assembler, organiser et formater l’information pour la liste des travaux, la chronologie, les cartels, les biographies et bibliographies. Un grand merci aussi à Ntawnis Piapot, particulièrement pour la transcription des entrevues, et à Natasha Peters pour son organisation et son appui pendant la première phase de recherches.

une foule de sujets, je voudrais aussi remercier les personnes suivantes : Jason Baerg, Leiland Bell, Patricia Bovey, Jean Blodgett, Joane CardinalSchubert, Alan Corbiere, Brenda Croft, Marcia Crosby, Elizabeth Curry, Patricia Deadman, Blake Debassige, Michael Dennehy, Bonnie Devine, Norma Dinniwell, Virginia Eichhorn, Joe Fourhorns, Kevin Gibbs, Viviane Gray, Leisha Grebinski, Linda Grussani, Tom Hill, Greg Hill, Maria Hupfield, Kate Johnson, Sheila Klotz, Bill Lobchuk, Steve Loft, Jim Logan, Crystal Massier, Cathy Mattes, Josh MacFadden, Raoul

Que serait un catalogue sans le regard critique d’un réviseur de textes? Je remercie Anne James pour son temps et ses compétences.

Je dois également remercier Brigitte Haguès et Françoise Stoppa pour leur patience, leur véritable enthousiasme et leur rigueur dans la traduction des essais en français ainsi que Melanie Kennedy d’Aboriginal Languages of Manitoba Inc. pour avoir coordonné la traduction en langues autochtones ainsi que Roger Roulette, Alderick Leask et Carl (Geoff) Bussidor qui ont traduit les paroles des artistes en ojibwé, cri et déné respectivement. Pour les magnifiques images des œuvres d’art qui ornent les pages qui suivent, je remercie le photographe Don Hall, expert du domaine.

J’ai eu beaucoup de plaisir à travailler avec Russ Portigal de Rio Saxon Design à la conception d’ensemble et à la mise en page du catalogue. Le look rétro frappant du logo 7 et de la couverture a donné une image de marque d’exception à l’exposition. Le design inspiré du catalogue rappelle les années 1970 et traduit une vive appréciation des artistes et de leurs œuvres.

Pour les entrevues, conversations à bâtons rompus, récits personnels et conseils sur toute

McKay, Gerald McMaster, Marion Meadmore, Joseph Naytowhow, Edward Poitras, Jacob Pratt, Diane Pugen, Stuart Reid, Rodger Ross, Carol Schick, Gary Scherbain, Adrian Stimson, Barbara Stimpson, Doreen Vaillancourt et Alfred Young Man. À ma famille, mes amis et ma famille étendue (vous savez qui vous êtes), merci de votre amour et de votre appui. Merci à ma fille Xóchil Elena d’être née pendant cette passionnante exposition, de m’avoir inspirée et d’avoir fait preuve de patience et de compréhension. Merci aussi à ma belle-sœur Gery Villalobos d’avoir passé du temps avec Xóchil pendant les dernières semaines de la réalisation du catalogue. Enfin, et surtout, je remercie mon mari, Ramsés Calderón, pour son amour et sa patience.

Je n’aurais pas pu faire tout cela sans ton appui continu et indéfectible en tout, ton enthousiasme et tes encouragements, tes talents culinaires et, surtout de tes qualités de père.

Dernier point, et pas le moindre — en écrivant ces mots, je crains d’avoir oublié quelques personnes — je demande pardon à tous ceux et toutes celles qui m’ont accompagnée au fil des années et dont j’ai oublié de mentionner le nom.

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LENDERS TO THE EXHIBITION / PRÊTS We gratefully acknowledge the following institutions and individuals whose generous loans made this exhibition possible.

Nous exprimons notre gratitude aux institutions et aux personnes suivantes pour leurs prêts généreux sans lesquels l’exposition n’aurait pu voir le jour.

Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada / Affaires autochtones et Développement du Nord Canada Art Gallery of Ontario / Musée des beaux-arts de l’Ontario Richard H. Baker Bay of Spirits Gallery Bearclaw Gallery Canada Council Art Bank / Banque d’œuvres d’art du Conseil des arts du Canada Canadian Museum of Civilization / Musée canadien des civilisations Dr. Wayne Carman Centre culturel franco-manitobain Nancy and Don Cranston Sunita D. Doobay Ermi Tano Collection Gallery Gevik Government of Ontario Art Collection, Archives of Ontario

Janvier Gallery Jones Family Collection Jim Kresta MacKenzie Art Gallery McMichael Canadian Art Collection / Collection McMichael d'art canadien Edward Morassut National Gallery of Canada / Musée des beaux-arts du Canada Warren Nickel Dr. Luigi Rossi Ann Sanchez Joseph Sanchez Stan Somerville Mike Strobel Thunder Bay Art Gallery Barbara A. Newton Vedan Winnipeg Art Gallery / Musée des beaux-arts de Winnipeg Woodland Cultural Centre

Renate and Ludwig Hendricks We would also like to extend our sincere appreciation to those who prefer to remain anonymous.

Nous aimerions aussi exprimer notre appréciation aux personnes qui ont préféré garder l’anonymat.

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INTRODUCTION MICHELLE LAVALLEE

If our work as artists has somehow helped to open doors between our people and non-Native people, then I am glad. I am even more deeply pleased if it has helped to encourage the young people that have followed our generation to express their pride in our heritage more openly, more joyfully, than I would have ever dared to think possible.

— Daphne Odjig 1

O

ne of Canada’s most important artist alliances, the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. (PNIAI) made history by demanding recognition for its members as professional, contemporary artists. In the words of Alex Janvier, they set out to “change the world, the art world, for Natives of Canada.” 2 Gathering

informally in the early 1970s, the Group pushed for the recognition of contemporary First Nations art at a time when Indigenous artists were routinely invalidated, marginalized, and excluded by the dominant art world. By challenging old constructs and stimulating a new way of thinking about the lives and art of First Nations people, they signalled a new course for the exhibition and reception of contemporary Indigenous art. By the end of 1972, the “Group of Seven”—Jackson Beardy, Eddy Cobiness, Alex Janvier, Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig, Carl Ray, and Joseph Sanchez—constituted the first self-organized, autonomous First Nations artists’ advocacy collective in Canada.

Addressing the history of the PNIAI through an exhibition and catalogue at this moment makes a timely contribution not only to art history but also to a broader social history. The Idle No More movement reminds us that there is an intimate connection between Indigenous art and politics. The desire for self-determination and positive change that emerged in the 1960s

and 1970s responded to conditions that are little altered today after decades of denial regarding the deplorable conditions, oppression, and discrimination faced by many First Nations.

While the targets of this movement have been chronic underfunding, theft of land and resources, and environmental degradation—some of the same issues that were at the centre of political activism forty years ago—the underlying issue remains the same: the dysfunctional relationship between the government and First Nations. This issue was understood all too well by members of the PNIAI. In the words of curator Greg Hill, our art “can be a celebration of culture and identity as well as a tool for education and renewal.” 3 Even as PNIAI members focused on advancing their own careers as artists, they never lost sight of their larger political goal of raising the profile of Native people. Theirs was a political consciousness that was fuelled by and in turn gave energy to the Indigenous rights movements at that time. The First Nations philosophy, aesthetics, and world view that permeated the PNIAI in the course of their struggles continue to inform the work of many Indigenous artists and curators today.

It takes courage to make work that differs from the work of those before you and not assimilate into the mainstream art world. The visual impact of the works in this exhibition will

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hopefully reacquaint viewers with the excitement and newness of the images and styles that these seven artists produced—an excitement shared by the many artists who built on their artistic innovations.

My own interest in the Group began when I was curating in Toronto at two artist-run centres, the Association for Native Development in the Performing and Visual Arts (ANDPVA) and A Space Gallery (2005–2007). As a curator of Anishinaabe/Ojibway descent, I felt both obligated and empowered to make room for those

experimentation of the individual artists during this significant period of production. Within these parameters, I was determined to take advantage of this once-in-a-generation opportunity and exhibit as much work by each artist as space would allow. The 120 works in this exhibition exemplify the range and diversity of their work, and include a number of recently uncovered masterworks. 7 provides a glimpse of a vision that flourished despite the struggles these artists faced within the context of mainstream Canadian society. It is my hope that an intergenerational

who had been left out and to look back and honour those who had come before me—those artists whose commitment, efforts, and sacrifices had opened doors for me and who were responsible for the position I now held. I became even more eager to do this after memorable meetings with Daphne Odjig, Alex Janvier, Joseph Sanchez, and Norval Morrisseau. Unfortunately, the resources of those smaller institutions did not allow me to produce the scale of exhibition and catalogue that was warranted by these groundbreaking artists.

Working at the MacKenzie over the past seven years, I have been fortunate to see this ambitious project come to fruition. I am particularly pleased to acknowledge the efforts of the PNIAI and to recognize the contributions of these artists to the history of First Nations aesthetic production and to the history of art on Turtle Island while three of the original seven members are alive and able to recount their stories. My aim has been to do this with care and respect.

This exhibition focuses on that crucial decade during which the seven artists were active as a group, beginning with their initial meetings in 1971 until their dissolution as a legal entity in 1979. The exhibition considers their collective artistic impact as well as the distinctive styles and

and cross-cultural audience will benefit from the opportunity to view the assembled works.

The significance of the PNIAI in the history of Canadian art cannot be underestimated. As a cultural and political entity, they ignited a renaissance that gave subsequent Indigenous artists, arts advocacy organizations, and collectives energy and momentum that continue through today.4 Yet scholarly attention given to

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the PNIAI is sparse and widely dispersed. To date, there has not been a comprehensive examination of the Group’s importance to Indigenous art in Canada. In recent years, retrospective exhibitions of Norval Morrisseau and Daphne Odjig, both circulated by the National Gallery of Canada, and of Alex Janvier at the Art Gallery of Alberta, have recognized individual contributions of members of the Group.5 The Group itself has received a welcome increase in attention through two recent exhibitions: Frontrunners (2011), curated

by Cathy Mattes for the Winnipeg artist-run centre Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art Gallery, which featured works by the seven members of the PNIAI alongside works by Louis Ogemah, Jackie Traverse, Lita Fontaine, and Darryl Nepinak; and a large group exhibition, My Winnipeg: There’s No Place Like Home (2012),

at Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art in Winnipeg, which included a section devoted to the PNIAI.6 However, 7: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. is the first full-scale exhibition and publication focused solely on the PNIAI. Highlighting their national importance and impact, 7 is the materialization of what this Group of Seven fought for over forty years ago.

As the first monograph devoted to the PNIAI, this publication provides access to new and revisited research and writing on the Group’s contributions. My essay, “7: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc.,” originated with extensive interviews and conversations with Alex Janvier, Daphne Odjig, and Joseph Sanchez, as well as with prominent individuals who hold the knowledge concerning the Group’s formation. It sets the stage by piecing together various stories related to the development and incorporation of the Group. Reflecting further on the complex context, reception, and influence of the Group are essays written by seven Indigenous scholars and curators: Joseph Sanchez, PNIAI cofounder, artist, and former Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Tom Hill, curator, art historian, and former Director of the Woodland Cultural Centre; Barry Ace, artist, curator, writer, and co-founder of the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective; Lee-Ann Martin, former Curator of Contemporary Canadian Aboriginal Art, Canadian Museum of Civilization; Cathy Mattes, independent curator and Lecturer, Visual and Aboriginal Arts Department, Brandon University; Carmen Robertson, independent curator and Associate Professor of Art History, University of Regina; and Viviane Gray, artist and former Director of the Aboriginal Art Centre, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development

Canada (AANDC). PNIAI artists and co-founders Alex Janvier, Daphne Odjig, and Joseph Sanchez have also contributed personal memoirs.

The first four essays examine the Group’s impact and legacy in the context of the political and historical climate of the 1970s. In his essay, “The Native Group of Seven a.k.a. Professional Native Indian Artists Inc.,” the youngest member of the Group, Joseph Sanchez, recalls their formation forty years ago and provides an account of the atmosphere and nature of the dialogue at those early meetings. “Canadian Indian Art, Its Death and Rebirth (1974)” by Tom Hill, Canada’s acclaimed first Aboriginal curator, is reprinted here to provide an overview of the work that was being produced by First Nations artists leading up to the early 1970s. Written at a time when Hill would have just heard about the formation of the PNIAI, the article discusses the members of the Group, their contemporaries, and the then emerging generation of “Indian artists.” The PNIAI coalesced on the cusp of an important new wave of Aboriginal social and political activism. While the Group is often revered as the “first activist aboriginal artist coalition,” 7 there were several other artists and a few groups operating in tandem with PNIAI activities. These peripheral artistic and political spheres of influence are the subject of Barry Ace’s essay, “Reactive Intermediates: Aboriginal Art, Politics, and Resonance of the 1960s and 1970s,” which provides a framework for understanding the Group’s formation. Integral to this history is an understanding of the overt and often contradictory federal government policies and economic development strategies that, as Ace argues, continually disrupted, intervened in, and ultimately shaped this period of Indigenous art history in Canada. In “Early Adventures in the

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Mainstream: Alex Janvier, Norval Morrisseau, and Daphne Odjig 1962–1975,” Lee-Ann Martin details common experiences and tensions that the three artists encountered in the art world, experiences that underpinned the formation of the PNIAI. Even more importantly, she recounts the coups and groundbreaking exhibitions that set in motion a trajectory of inclusionary strategies that continues today.

The next two essays look specifically at the Group’s activity and reception in Winnipeg. In her essay, “‘Winnipeg, Where It All Began’—

Following these essays is Viviane Gray’s “The New Group of Seven: A Reaction to the State of Indian Art in Canada in the Sixties and Seventies.” Having had recent discussions with Janvier and Sanchez, Gray offers a look back at Aboriginal visual culture and the roles First Nations artists played in maintaining artistic self-determination through to the present day.

She considers attitudes prevalent in the 1960s and 1970s, the government programs and policies that were the source of many struggles faced

by First Nations artists, and some of the pivotal

Rhetorical and Visual Sovereignty and the Formation of the Professional Native Indian Artists, Inc.,” Cathy Mattes uses the concept of sovereignty to discuss the self-determination of the PNIAI in becoming instigators of social change while navigating many personal and external challenges. She maintains that the Group’s work is a vital expression of aboriginality, which created a new energy and inspired upcoming generations of artists in Winnipeg.

Portrayals of Native peoples in the media often serve the overarching colonial agendas of government interests. Mainstream media misrepresentation of Aboriginal people in Canada extends to Indigenous arts coverage, of which progressive interpretive efforts during the 1960s and 1970s were few. With a focus on the role of press coverage of Indigenous arts, “Paper Trail: PNIAI Artists in Winnipeg Newspapers, 1966–1977,” by Carmen Robertson, explores the presence of Odjig and her gallery in Winnipeg in local print media. Her analysis reveals the entrenched ideas regarding both modern art and colonial standards that informed press coverage of the formation of the PNIAI.

events that helped the PNIAI artists and their contemporaries change attitudes about First Nations people and solidify a foundation for contemporary Indigenous art.

This catalogue is the result of a concerted effort to gather into one volume information from disparate sources, including previously undocumented aspects of the Group’s history.8

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The essays, together with the timeline and artist pages, reveal the complexity of the Group’s struggles for individual and collective agency during a truly rich and catalytic period in history.

Though their personal aspirations were diverse, the collective vision of the PNIAI made them frontrunners in the development of contemporary Indigenous art. That being said, this catalogue is by no means definitive or all-inclusive. The intent is not to establish a master narrative of the PNIAI, but rather to create a polyphonous archive that reflects multiple narratives about the Group, its members, and the difficult era that gave rise to its creation. My hope for this publication is that it can serve as a substantial starting point and that it might inspire others to undertake further research and begin to fill in the gaps in the recording of our complex and eventful history.

A NOTE REGARDING NOMENCLATURE USED IN THIS CATALOGUE: The terms “Indigenous,” “First Nations,” “Native,” “Aboriginal,” and “Indian” refer to the original inhabitants, and their descendants, of the land now called North America. Most Indigenous peoples would prefer to be referred to by their First Nation, band, or even clan names, in their language. It is important to remember that most terms are the product of colonial discourses and a history of subjugation, and are designations that have been assigned and legislated. These “official” terms are often contentious. Grouping nations together for designation as “Indian,” for example, is a colonial practice and not a preferred self-designation. Nevertheless, at various times Indigenous peoples have gathered under the umbrella of various English terms in order to have a collective political voice. This essay employs these historical terms, when appropriate, with the knowledge that they are not always the contemporary preference. Where possible, tribal affiliations are used; however, in most cases references are to groups composed of various nations and, as such, the aforementioned terms are used somewhat interchangeably.

While the term is widely used, no legal definition of “First Nations” exists. However, "First Nations peoples" refers to Status and non-Status “Indian” peoples in Canada. The “status” of status is patrolled by the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs. As such, “Indian” is most often used in legal contexts related to the application and enforcement of the Indian Act (1876). The term has also been employed to reflect the common parlance of the 1970s when “Indian” was used almost exclusively. Since the 1980s, this term has fallen into disfavour. While many artists

and curators have continued to use the term to identify themselves or to reclaim political agency, others, particularly scholars, have rejected it as outdated and pejorative because of its obvious origin in error. Today, it has been commonly replaced by the seemingly more neutral “Aboriginal.” As a blanket term that includes First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples of Canada, “Aboriginal” is often used in reference to the history of Indigenous peoples in North America, or in contemporary governmental contexts (most recently “Indian Affairs” has become “Aboriginal Affairs”).9 However, many Indigenous people also find this term objectionable because the prefix “ab” seems to qualify “original” peoples negatively—as in “abnormal.”

“Native” is another collective term, like “Aboriginal” or “Indigenous.” While seemingly redundant in the PNIAI title, the term was part of 1970s discourse and was used in an effort, particularly in British Columbia, to distinguish First Nations people from people whose ancestral origins are from India. While not a legally recognized term, it was used widely, and today it seems to be on the comeback in certain regions.

However, its acceptance in contemporary contexts varies.

“Indigenous” and the related term “First Peoples,” for the moment, are terms gaining more acceptance and popularity especially when referring to transnational contexts and the collective international struggles of subjects of colonization. “Indigenous,” the contemporary term preferred worldwide, received a boost when it was adopted by the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007.

(Interestingly, Canada’s use of First Nations, with its implied sovereignty, is increasingly being adopted in Australia.)

27

The ongoing and intense debates about the suitability of each term mean there is no consensus on which term(s) best recognize sovereign, independent nations without imposing homogeneity. Hence, choice of terminology is based upon personal and political preferences as

guided by our inherent right to self-definition.

The use of terminology in this publication reflects my respect for the individual writer’s and artist’s choice to use the term(s) they feel are most appropriate throughout this publication.

notes 1 2 3 4

5

6

7

28

Daphne Odjig, Odjig: The Art of Daphne Odjig (Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2001), 78.

Alex Janvier in The Life and Work of the Woodland Artists, DVD, directed

by Raoul McKay (Vancouver, BC: Moving Images Distribution, 2003).

Greg Hill, “Afterword: Looking back to Sakahan,” in Sakahan: International Indigenous Art (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2013), 137.

It is important to acknowledge that in addition to the seven members of the PNIAI there were many First Nations artists producing work and contributing to a nationwide Indigenous renaissance; for example, Bill Reid and others were important trailblazers on the West Coast. The decolonizing spirit that took hold through art as a first line of defence is one that continues through to the present and was described by art historian Carmen Robertson as a “Red Renaissance” during a talk, January 21, 2008, at the University of Regina and again as part of a keynote address, “Art of the Flatland: Aboriginal Contemporary Arts,” at the International Association of Philosophy and Literature Conference in Regina, May 24–27, 2010.

Norval Morrisseau: Shaman Artist (2006), curated by Greg Hill for the National Gallery of Canada; The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig (2007), curated by Bonnie Devine for the Art Gallery of Sudbury, circulated by the National Gallery of Canada; Alex Janvier (2012), curated by Catherine Crowston for the Art Gallery of Alberta.

My Winnipeg was displayed in four successive chapters in 2012–2013, coalescing as the My Winnipeg Project, following an initial tour in France in 2011–2012. The My Winnipeg Project was co-curated by Paula Aisemberg, Sigrid Dahle, Hervé di Rosa, Noam Gonick, Anthony Kiendl, Cathy Mattes, and Cassidy Richardson. It was co-organized by Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, la maison rouge, Musée international des arts modestes (Sète), School of Art Gallery, University of Manitoba, and the National Arts Centre (Ottawa).

Lee-Ann Martin, “First Nations Activism Through the Arts,” in Questions of Community: Artists, Audiences, Coalitions, eds. Daina Augaitis, Lorne Falk, Sylvie Gilbert, and Mary Anne Moser (Banff: Walter Phillips Gallery in association with Banff Centre Press, 1995), 77–89.

8

9

The combination of fading memories and the loss of key participants has resulted in a number of variations, and in some cases contradictions, within the writings and remembered history of the PNIAI. The federal administrative structure for governing the affairs of “Indians” or Aboriginal peoples in Canada has gone through several changes. The Indian Affairs Branch (IAB), which had been part of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration since 1950, was transferred to the Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources in 1965.

In 1966 the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) was created. While this name remains the legal title of the department, the applied title, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), was in general use until June 13, 2011, when a new applied title, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC), was introduced. The new title was intended to better reflect the scope of the Minister’s responsibilities with respect to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis. See “Indian Affairs Annual Reports, 1864–1990,” Library and Archives Canada, http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/ aboriginal-heritage/first-nations/indian-affairs-annual-reports/pages/ introduction.aspx; and “Change to the Department’s Name,” Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, http://www.aadnc-aandc. gc.ca/eng/1314808945787/1314809172051.

INTRODUCTION MICHELLE LAVALLEE

Si mon œuvre d'artiste a aidé d'une façon ou d'une autre à ouvrir les portes entre notre peuple et la communauté non autochtone, alors je suis contente. Je suis encore plus profondément heureuse si elle a aidé à encourager les jeunes gens de la génération suivant la nôtre à exprimer leur fierté de notre héritage plus ouvertement, plus joyeusement que je n'aurais jamais osé le croire possible.

— Daphne Odjig 1

U

n des plus importantes alliances d’artistes au Canada, la Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. (PNIAI) est entrée dans l’histoire en revendiquant la reconnaissance de ses membres comme artistes contemporains professionnels. Pour reprendre les propos d’Alex Janvier, ils s’étaient donnés comme mission de « changer le monde, le monde artistique, pour les Autochtones du Canada. »2 Le groupe, qui se

réunit tout d’abord informellement au début des années 1970, pousse à la reconnaissance de l’art autochtone contemporain à une époque où les artistes autochtones sont constamment invalidés, marginalisés et exclus du monde artistique dominant. En remettant en question les anciens construits et en stimulant une nouvelle réflexion sur la vie et l’art des Premières Nations, ils donnent une orientation nouvelle à la présentation et à la réception de l’art autochtone contemporain.

Fin 1972, le « Groupe des Sept », c’est-à-dire Jackson Beardy (1944–1984), Eddy Cobiness (1933–1996), Alex Janvier (né en 1935), Norval Morrisseau (1932–2007), Daphne Odjig (née en 1919), Carl Ray (1942–1978) et Joseph Sanchez (né en 1948), constitue le premier collectif autoorganisé et officiellement autonome de promotion des artistes des Premières Nations au Canada.

Une exposition et un catalogue sur l’histoire de la PNIAI sont opportuns à ce point parce qu’ils contribuent non seulement à l’histoire

de l’art, mais aussi à une histoire sociale plus vaste. Le mouvement Idle No More nous rappelle qu’il existe un lien très étroit entre l’art et la politique chez les Autochtones. Le désir d’autodétermination et de changement qui voit le jour au cours des années 1960 et 1970 est une réaction à des conditions qui, malgré les décennies qui se sont écoulées depuis, n’ont guère changé.

Le refus de tenir compte des conditions de vie déplorables, de l’oppression et de la discrimination auxquelles font face de nombreuses Premières nations se poursuit. Bien que ce mouvement ait pour cibles un sous-financement chronique, le vol de terres et de ressources et la détérioration de l’environnement—certains des problèmes qui déjà étaient au cœur de l’activisme politique il y a quarante ans—le problème sous-jacent reste le même : la relation dysfonctionnelle entre le Gouvernement et les Premières nations. Les membres de la PNIAI comprenaient parfaitement le problème.

Comme le déclare le commissaire d’exposition Greg Hill, notre art « peut être une célébration de la culture et de l’identité tout autant qu’une voie vers l’enseignement et le renouveau ».3 Même lorsque les membres du Groupe se concentrent sur l’avancement de leur carrière d’artiste, ils ne perdent jamais de vue leur objectif politique ultime qui est de rehausser le profil des peuples autochtones. Ils trouvent leur conscience politique

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dans les mouvements en faveur des droits autochtones de l’époque et, en même temps, leur insufflent de l’énergie. La philosophie, l’esthétique et la vision du monde des Premières nations qui sous-tendaient la lutte des membres de la PNIAI continuent à influencer les travaux de nombreux artistes et commissaires aujourd’hui.

Il faut du courage pour faire quelque chose de différent de ceux qui vous ont précédé et pour ne pas vous laisser assimiler par le monde de l’art dominant. J’espère que l’impact visuel des œuvres de cette exposition va permettre aux visiteurs

particulièrement heureuse de reconnaître les efforts de la PNIAI ainsi que la contribution de ses membres à l’histoire de l’esthétique des Premières nations et à l’histoire de l’art de l’île de la Tortue, alors que trois des sept membres fondateurs sont encore parmi nous et capables de nous raconter leurs souvenirs. J’ai souhaité le faire avec soin et respect.

L’exposition se consacre à la décennie essentielle pendant laquelle le groupe des sept artistes a été actif, commençant par les premières rencontres de 1971 jusqu’à sa dissolution en tant

de renouer avec l’enthousiasme et la nouveauté des images et des styles que ces sept artistes ont produit—ce que partagent nombre d’artistes qui se sont inspirés de leurs innovations artistiques.

J’ai commencé à m’intéresser au Groupe quand j’organisais des expositions à Toronto dans deux centres d’artistes autogérés : la Association for Native Development in the Performing and Visual Arts (ANDPVA) et A Space Gallery (2005-2007). Étant donné mes origines (Anishinabé/Ojibwé), j’avais à la fois l’obligation et le pouvoir de donner une voix à ceux qui avaient été marginalisés ainsi que d’honorer ceux qui m’avaient précédée—les artistes dont l’engagement, les efforts et les sacrifices m’avaient ouvert des portes et à qui je devais le poste que j’occupais alors. Après des rencontres mémorables avec Daphne Odjig, Alex Janvier, Joseph Sanchez et Norval Morrisseau, je me suis sentie encore plus motivée. Malheureusement, ces deux petites institutions ne disposaient pas des ressources nécessaires me permettant de préparer une exposition et un catalogue dignes de ces artistes novateurs.

Je travaille maintenant à la MacKenzie depuis plus de sept ans et j’ai le privilège de voir cet ambitieux projet se réaliser. Je suis

qu’entité juridique en 1979. Elle se penche sur l’influence artistique collective des membres du groupe dans son ensemble ainsi que sur le style particulier et l’expérimentation de chaque artiste au cours de cette importante période de production. Tenant compte de ces paramètres, j’ai décidé de profiter d’une occasion unique et d’exposer autant d’œuvres de chaque artiste que me le permettrait l’espace disponible. Les 120 œuvres de cette exposition illustrent la variété présente dans leurs travaux et comprennent un certain nombre de chefs d’œuvre récemment découverts. 7 donne un aperçu d’une vision qui s’est épanouie en dépit des obstacles auxquels les artistes ont été confrontés dans la société canadienne. J’espère qu’un public intergénérationnel et pluriculturel tirera profit de l’occasion de voir ces œuvres rassemblées.

Il ne faut pas sous-estimer l’importance de la PNIAI dans l’histoire de l’art canadien. En tant qu’entité culturelle et politique, elle a permis une renaissance qui a donné aux artistes autochtones, organismes de défense de l’art et collectifs qui sont venus après elle, une énergie et un élan qui perdurent.5 Pourtant, l’attention que les experts

30

ont accordée à la PNIAI est non seulement rare, mais très dispersée. À ce jour, il n’existe

pas d’étude globale de l’importance du Groupe pour l’art autochtone au Canada. Ces dernières années, certains membres du Groupe ont été reconnus individuellement.5 Norval Morrisseau et Daphne Odjig ont tous les deux fait l’objet d’une rétrospective mise en circulation par le Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, tandis que la Art Gallery of Alberta exposait Alex Janvier. Récemment, le Groupe lui-même a bénéficié d’une attention accrue grâce à deux expositions qui ont eu lieu à Winnipeg : Frontrunners (2011), organisée par Cathy Mattes pour le centre d’artistes autogéré Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art Gallery, présentait des œuvres des sept membres de la PNIAI accompagnées de celles de Louis Ogemah, Jackie Traverse, Lita Fontaine et Darryl Nepina; My Winnipeg: There’s No Place Like Home (2012), une grande exposition collective au Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, comportait une section consacrée à la PNIAI.6 Cependant, 7: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. est la première exposition, et son catalogue le premier ouvrage d’envergure consacrés uniquement à la PNIAI. Soulignant son importance et son influence au Canada, 7 est la matérialisation de ce pourquoi le Groupe s’est battu il y a plus de quarante ans.

Toute première monographie consacrée à la PNIAI, cet ouvrage permet d’accéder à de nouveaux travaux et écrits ou d’en redécouvrir d’anciens sur les contributions du Groupe. Mon essai « 7: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. » découle des longues entrevues et conversations que j’ai eues avec Alex Janvier, Daphne Odjig et Joseph Sanchez, ainsi qu’avec des personnes éminentes qui savent comment le Goupe s’est formé. Il prépare le terrain en regroupant divers narratifs concernant le développement et l’incorporation du Groupe. Poursuivant la

réflexion sur le cadre complexe, la réception et l’influence du Groupe, sept experts et conservateurs autochtones ont rédigé un essai à savoir : Joseph Sanchez, co-fondateur de la PNIAI, artiste et ancien directeur adjoint et conservateur en chef du Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe (Nouveau Mexique); Tom Hill, conservateur, historien de l’art et ancien directeur du Woodland Cultural Centre; Barry Ace, artiste, commissaire, auteur et co-fondateur du Collectif des conservateurs autochtones; Lee-Ann Martin, ancienne conservatrice de l'Art autochtone canadien contemporain, Musée canadien des civilisations; Cathy Mattes, commissaire indépendante et maître de conférences au Visual and Aboriginal Arts Department, Université de Brandon; Carmen Robertson, commissaire indépendante et professeur agrégée d’histoire de l’art, Université de Regina; et Viviane Gray, artiste et ancienne directrice du Centre d’art autochtone, Affaires autochtones et Développement du Nord.

Alex Janvier, Daphne Odjig et Joseph Sanchez, artistes membres et co-fondateurs de la PNIAI, évoquent également des souvenirs personnels.

Les quatre premiers essais étudient l’influence du Groupe dans le cadre du climat politique et historique des années 1970. Le plus jeune membre du groupe, Joseph Sanchez, dans son essai intitulé « Le Groupe indien des sept autrement dit la Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. », en évoque la formation il y a quarante ans, et décrit l’atmosphère et la nature du dialogue lors des premières rencontres. « L’art indien au Canada : disparition et renaissance (1974) », un article de Tom Hill, le renommé premier conservateur de d’art autochtone, est reproduit ici afin de donner un aperçu des réalisations des artistes des Premières nations au cours de la période précédant le début des années 1970. Écrit à un

31

moment où Hill aurait juste entendu parler de la formation de la PNIAI, l’article parle des membres du Groupe, de leurs contemporains et de la génération montante d’« artistes indiens ». La PNIAI s’est formée juste au moment où déferlait une nouvelle vague d’activisme autochtone social et politique. Bien que le groupe soit souvent perçu comme la « première coalition militante d’artistes autochtones » 7, il existait plusieurs autres artistes et quelques groupes qui œuvraient parallèlement à la PNIAI. Ces sphères d’influence artistiques et politiques périphériques sont le sujet de l’essai de Barry Ace, intitulé « Intermédiaires réactifs : Art et politiques autochtones et résonance des années 1960 et 1970 », établit un cadre qui permet de comprendre la façon dont le Groupe s’est formé. Cette histoire ne peut pas se comprendre si on ne connaît pas les politiques explicites et souvent contradictoires du gouvernement fédéral et ses stratégies de développement économique qui, selon Ace, ont sans cesse perturbé, pour enfin la façonner, cette période de l’histoire de l’art autochtone au Canada. Dans « Premières aventures dans le courant dominant : Alex Janvier, Norval Morrisseau et Daphne Odjig 1962–1975 », Lee-Ann Martin étudie en détail les expériences et tensions auxquelles les trois artistes ont été confrontés dans le domaine de l’art et qui étayent la création de la PNIAI. Plus important encore, elle rappelle les tours de force et les expositions novatrices qui ont déclenché les stratégies d’inclusion qui perdurent aujourd’hui.

Les deux essais qui suivent examinent l’activité du Groupe à Winnipeg et la façon dont il y a été reçu. Dans son essai, « ‘Winnipeg, là où tout a commencé’ — Souveraineté rhétorique et visuelle et formation de la Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. » Cathy Mattes se sert du concept de souveraineté pour aborder

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l’autodétermination des membres de la PNIAI à devenir des instigateurs de changement social tout en faisant face à de nombreux défis personnels ou autres. Elle soutient que le travail du Groupe est une expression essentielle de l’indigénéité qui a donné naissance à une nouvelle énergie et a inspiré les générations montantes d’artistes à Winnipeg. La représentation des Autochtones dans la presse sert souvent les politiques colonialistes globales des gouvernements. La représentation erronée des peuples autochtones du Canada dans la presse dominante s’étend à la couverture des arts autochtones qui, au cours des années 1960 et 1970, a souffert de très peu d’efforts critiques. C’est le rôle de la presse dans la couverture des arts autochtones que Carmen Robertson explore dans son essai intitulé « Traces écrites : les artistes de la PNIAI dans les journaux de Winnipeg, 1966–1977 ». Elle cherche à savoir si la presse écrite parle de Daphne Odjig et de sa galerie de Winnipeg. Son analyse révèle des idées fermement établies tant au sujet de l’art moderne qu’à celui des normes coloniales qui ont influencé la couverture de la création de la PNIAI. Vient ensuite l’essai de Viviane Gray : « Le nouveau Groupe des sept : Une réaction à la situation de l’art indien au Canada dans les années 1960 et 1970. » À la suite de discussions récentes avec Janvier et Sanchez, Gray effectue un retour sur la culture visuelle autochtone et sur le rôle qu’ont joué les artistes des Premières nations dans le maintien de l’autodétermination artistique jusqu’à nos jours. Elle se penche sur les attitudes courantes au cours des années 1960 et 1970, sur les politiques et programmes gouvernementaux, sources de nombreuses luttes pour les artistes des Premières nations, et sur certains événements marquants qui ont permis aux artistes de la PNIAI ainsi qu’à leurs contemporains de faire

changer les attitudes vis à vis des membres des Premières nations et d’établir une base solide pour l’art autochtone contemporain.

Cet ouvrage résulte d’un effort concerté pour regrouper en un seul volume des informations provenant de sources disparates, dont certains aspects de l’histoire du Groupe n’ayant jamais été jusqu’ici documenté.8 Les essais, ainsi que la chronologie et les pages des artistes, révèlent combien les luttes du Groupe pour leur agentivité individuelle et collective au cours d’une période historique vraiment riche et catalytique, ont été complexes. Bien que leurs aspirations personnelles aient été variées, la vision collective des membres de la PNIAI a fait d’eux des précurseurs dans le

développement de l’art autochtone contemporain.

Ceci dit, ce catalogue est loin d’être définitif ou exhaustif. L’objectif n’est pas de créer un métanarratif de la PNIAI, mais plutôt des archives polyphoniques qui reflètent de multiples visions du groupe, de ses membres et de l’époque difficile qui l’a vu naître. J’ai espoir que cette publication puisse servir de point de départ solide pour d’autres personnes et qu’elle les encourage à entreprendre des recherches plus poussées afin de combler les lacunes existant dans notre histoire complexe et mouvementée.

notes 1 2 3 4

Daphne Odjig, Odjig: The Art of Daphne Odjig (Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2001), 78.

Alex Janvier dans The Life and Work of the Woodland Artists, DVD, réalisé par Raoul McKay (Vancouver, C.-B.: Moving Images Distribution, 2003).

Greg Hill, « Postface. Sakahàn, 25 ans après » dans Sakahàn : Art indigène international (Ottawa: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, 2013), 137.

Il est important de souligner qu’outre les sept membres de la PNIAI, il existait de nombreux artistes des Premières nations qui produisaient des œuvres et contribuaient à une renaissance autochtone à l’échelle nationale; par exemple, Bill Reid et bien d’autres étaient d’importants pionniers sur la côte Ouest. L’esprit de décolonisation qui est survenu dans le monde des arts comme première ligne de défense existe toujours aujourd’hui. Carmen Robertson, historienne de l’art, l’a décrit comme une « Red Renaissance » dans un exposé présenté le 21 janvier 2008 à l’Université de Regina, puis à nouveau lors de son allocution « Art of the Flatland: Aboriginal Contemporary Arts », donnée dans le cadre de la conférence de la International Association of Philosophy and Literature qui s’est déroulée à Regina du 24 au 27 mai 2010.

5

6

7

8

Norval Morrisseau, artiste chaman (2006), organisée par Greg Hill pour le Musée des beaux-arts du Canada; Les dessins et peintures de Daphne Odjig (2007), organisée par Bonnie Devine pour la Galerie d’art de Sudbury, mise en circulation par le Musée des beaux-arts du Canada; Alex Janvier (2012), organisée par Catherine Crowston pour la Art Gallery of Alberta.

Après une première tournée en France en 2011–2012, My Winnipeg est devenu en 2012–2013 le My Winnipeg Project qui a été exposé en quatre parties. Co-organisé par Paula Aisemberg, Sigrid Dahle, Hervé di Rosa, Noam Gonick, Anthony Kiendl, Cathy Mattes et Cassidy Richardson, il a été co-produit par le Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, la maison rouge, Musée international des arts modestes (Sète), la School of Art Gallery de la University of Manitoba et le Centre national des arts (Ottawa).

Lee-Ann Martin, « First Nations Activism Through the Arts », dans Questions of Community: Artists, Audiences, Coalitions, éds. Daina Augaitis, Lorne Falk, Sylvie Gilbert et Mary Anne Moser (Banff: Walter Phillips Gallery en collaboration avec Banff Centre Press, 1995), 77-89.

Du fait des souvenirs qui s’estompent et du décès de participants importants, on retrouve un certain nombre de variations et, parfois, des contradictions, dans les écrits et l’histoire remémorée de la PNIAI.

33

34

PROFESSIONAL NATIVE INDIAN ARTISTS INC.

35

Daphne Odjig, Tribute to the Great Chiefs of the Past, 1975 [cat. 84]

36

Alex Janvier, Exodus from the Soil, 1978 [cat. 44]

37

38

Jackson Beardy, Flock, 1973 [cat. 5]

39

Eddy Cobiness, Untitled, 1973 [cat. 18]

40

Joseph Sanchez, A’s Family Portrait, 1974 [cat. 113]

41

Norval Morrisseau, Water Spirit, 1972 [cat. 54]

42

Carl Ray, Untitled No. 4, 1977 [cat. 104]

43

44

7: PROFESSIONAL NATIVE INDIAN ARTISTS INC. MICHELLE LAVALLEE

BREAKING BARRIERS The last time there was a ceremony in our band was when I was about six years old. It was a berry festival that was being held in a birch bark lodge. The whole village was there and the priest came and told us to stop the berry festival. The priest understands now, but it is too late. The ceremony is gone.

— Carl Ray 1 It has become my deep, personal life goal to create an awareness of our culture within the public at large—thereby cementing stronger ties of mutual understanding for one country, one Canada.

— Jackson Beardy 2

T

he seven artists of the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. (PNIAI) came together in the early 1970s to fight collectively for the inclusion of their work within the mainstream Canadian art world. Taking action within a contentious political context, including the Liberal government’s controversial Indian Policy of 1969, 3 the PNIAI resisted colonial discourses and broke with identity definitions and boundaries imposed on First Nations.

Disenchanted with the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development’s marketing and promotion strategies, they fought against exclusionary practices that treated the work of “Indian” artists as a type of handicraft, a categorization that prevented their work from being shown in mainstream galleries and museums.

Beyond trying to increase the market and respect for their work, these artists were engaged in a broader political struggle. Understanding how

forces within Canadian society controlled the lives of First Nation peoples is key to appreciating the barriers these artists faced. In the 1960s, colonial attitudes of racial superiority that were thought to be in the past still prevailed; First Nations people continued to be subjected to systemic anti-Native racism, informal segregation, and continuing variations of governmental assimilation policies. Although it is difficult to believe today, until 1960, First Nations people were not allowed to vote unless they gave up their Treaty status.

The Group’s life experiences are inextricably tied to the Indian Act and to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND), whose policies affect the daily lives of people living under its jurisdiction.4 While all the members of the PNIAI experienced the heavy hand of the DIAND, Alex Janvier’s account of his art education and career within the civil service offers a particularly vivid example of the trials faced. His story begins on the Cold Lake reserve, which he could not leave without the permission of a white Indian agent. As a regulatory regime, the permit system was used by Indian agents to strictly monitor and control the affairs of First Nations people.5 Janvier’s arts education in the late 1950s is directly tied to this history, as he explains: For me to go to art school I had to get a written permit and I had to carry it on my person. . . . I was accepted to the Ontario College of Art [in Toronto], so I went to get my permit and the go ahead from the Indian agent. . . . He said, “I don’t think you can make

45

it. . . . That’s too difficult for you, so I’ll send you to Calgary.” So I went to Calgary. [That was] the situation, I had no say. For me to be in Calgary . . . I actually had to carry a piece of paper with this signature of an Indian agent, and a few times I was contested by policemen.

Any “upright citizen” or churchman could demand [to see it]. Because I’m in the wrong place, I’m downtown. I had to prove the right to be there and to go to art school.6 Despite being top of his class in Calgary, Janvier felt that “the world wasn’t ready for me. . . . It was a problem because I wasn’t supposed to be there.”

He believed in what he was doing, but felt pushed away. “I began to feel the strength of racism— the power that [tried to keep me] from getting across to the other side. . . . I earned the right to get across . . . but the society I entered into was not ready for anything like that.” 7

Alex Janvier (right) and Tom Hill, circa 1973.

Courtesy of the Aboriginal Art Centre, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

Janvier’s experiences only fuelled his desire to be an artist and fed his motivation to combat these systems of control. In 1965, he went to work for the Department of Indian Affairs as

46

the arts and crafts consultant, hoping to bring change from within. However, even on the inside his efforts were often thwarted. More often than not, barriers were erected in secret and were impossible to challenge. A heartbreaking example is provided by Indigenous curator Tom Hill, who recalls, “back in the [1960s] we had ‘Art Sunday.’ A group of about twenty people would paint everything from boats, beautiful flowers and scenery outside, to our portraits, or whatever we wanted to paint. We’d always hold a spring show on the reserve.” 8 Around 1965–66, the art group applied for funding from the Department of Indian Affairs, where Janvier was working.

The application was approved, but the group never received the funds. The missing money would later cause tension between Hill and Janvier. It was only years later, after Hill had started working for Indian Affairs (1968), that he discovered “a letter of recommendation [from Janvier], who wrote beautiful things about what we were doing, the shows, and how it’s important to put forth the Indian culture. . . . And the cheque was sent to the Indian agent.” In the Indian Affairs files, Hill found a letter from that agent, who was perplexed by the idea that money should be given to the group for art. “Art,” he argued, “encourages nationalism” and should be avoided.

Evidently, the agent took it upon himself to put the money toward something he deemed more worthy. Not a word was said to the Sunday art group. “We had never even known we had gone through that. And when I found out the agent was still alive, I [confronted him], but he denied it.”

Another common experience among members of the PNIAI was the encounter with double standards. The irrationality of it all must have been beyond frustrating, as artists like Daphne Odjig were told their work was either too “Indian”

or not “Indian enough.” 9 As Barry Ace notes, signs of modernity in their work were rejected as “incompatible or incongruent with society’s ingrained stereotype of ‘Indians.’” 10 Odjig recalls the occasion when she “saw a notice in the paper saying ‘we accept all new artists.’ I was living further north at the time and I brought some work down.” Odjig explains how the woman at the gallery, despite seeming enthused at first and asking Odjig to leave work behind, was very cold with her when she returned, and did not give her an exhibition. “That’s when I decided, ‘well they don’t want to take our work, I’m going to open up my own gallery.’ So I opened my own shop. I said: ‘They’ll have to come to me. I’ll never approach another gallery.’ And I never did.” 11 PNIAI members were affected by many of the cultural and political policies that relegated First Nations people to secondary status and strictly regulated all aspects of their lives. During this time, there was an unyielding desire among Indigenous people to have their voices heard and to ensure a continuation of their cultural practices. The repressive social, political, and cultural contexts in Canada at that time provoked a strong resistance among artists and activists alike. The impact of this growing social and cultural movement is evident in the work of the PNIAI. As Janvier explains, “it was a time when we were fed up with being pushed around by Indian agents, [government], and church. We began to question why these people are always dominating us when there was no cause for it.

Carrying this piece of paper and living with a Catholic family just didn’t make sense. I [was just] trying to go to art school.” 12 Historically, mainstream social, political, and cultural practices have supported the exclusion, marginalization, and misappropriation of

Maquette for the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67.

Courtesy of the Aboriginal Art Centre, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

Aboriginal art in dominant culture.13 Constantly belittled, Indigenous people were faced with two options—to accept an inferior position or rebel against oppressive conditions and imposed definitions. The cultural and political breakthrough came with Expo 67, an event that allowed Indigenous artists to assert their own cultural identity within Canadian nationalism.

The Indians of Canada Pavilion featured eight commissioned artworks by Native artists from across Canada on the pavilion’s exterior and depictions of Aboriginal culture in interior installations. As art historians Ruth B. Phillips and Sherry Brydon note in their essay “‘Arrow of Truth’: The Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67,” the pavilion reflected the “survival of [Native] traditions and participation in modernity” and critiqued “historical and contemporary relations between Natives and non-Natives in Canada.” 14 The artists were permitted, for the first time, to identify with political ideologies and causes: it was a key moment for the use of art as a means of political expression. However, it did not start out that way. Tom Hill describes the initial designs created by a non-Aboriginal government team as presenting a romantic vision

47

that supported “Canadian standard notions of what Indians are or what they should be like.” 15 The plans were grounded in the assumption that the stories of Aboriginal peoples would be “folded into the master narrative of a single pavilion . . . to ‘prevent the over-stressing of the accomplishments of a particular group.’” 16 The Aboriginal contributions to Canada were to be placed in the pre-confederation period and excluded from the contemporary main story. One bureaucrat described his vision for the pavilion as follows: “The contribution of the Indian, of maize, potatoes, and tobacco might be part of a general display of agricultural achievements, as his use and design of sleds, birch-bark canoes, toboggans and snowshoes might be part of a general story of the development of transportation.” 17 Another suggestion was that “some Indian artifacts be dimly spotlighted amidst ‘a dreamworld forest.’” 18 It was against this backdrop that Alex Janvier was employed as a cultural advisor to assist in the development of the pavilion.19 Janvier began by bringing together a group of Aboriginal artists to form an advisory group, following a symposium convened in Ottawa in December 1965 by the cultural affairs division of DIAND.20 In an interview with Sheila Klotz, Janvier discussed his reactions to the initial plans for the pavilion, which included a monorail to pass directly through the interior of a stylized tepee—“a road right through the Reservation,” in Janvier’s words.21 Offended and dismayed, Janvier pushed the advisory team to revise the government plan; the result was changes to the pavilion that reflected realities of life on the reserve. Despite his success in altering the direction of the pavilion, Lee-Ann Martin explains, he was labelled a rebel, and his contract was terminated in October 1966.22

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Janvier’s artwork, The Unpredictable East, was also moved to a less prominent position at the back of the building, and he was asked to give it a less politically charged title.23 As Martin attests, this move was in line with government policies that favoured Native art that was “pleasing and non-confrontational.” 24 Phillips and Brydon note how federal officials deemed it “important to work with ‘the right sort’ of Aboriginal people” who would co-operate and commit to the “Canadian ideal” envisioned by government bureaucrats.25 Despite this paternalistic approach, new forms of expression were included in the pavilion that broke with colonial representations of “Indianness” and spoke of freedom, new ideologies, and hope. As Phillips and Brydon explain, “the works presented at the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67 stand at the beginning of a shift that would lead both Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists to produce explicitly referential works of political, social, and spiritual critique in the years that followed.” 26 The forces of change discernable in Expo 67 gatherings were an early indication of what could be possible when artists with common experiences and interests came together and worked towards a common goal. Phillips and Brydon note that “the project forged a sense of common purpose among the participating artists, organizers, and activists from across Canada,” 27 and demonstrated how their art could be used to communicate their ideas. Looking back, Tom Hill recalls that Expo 67 “brought a sense of power to the artists,” as it enabled Indigenous artists from all over Canada to meet for the first time and discuss their shared difficulties with Indian Affairs, as well as their interest in autonomy.28 Media coverage at the time offers some sense of the impact of the pavilion.

Jim Robertson, in a report on Expo 67 for CBC

radio at the time, detected a “note of unhappiness, note of questioning . . . regarding the situation of Indians in Canada,” 29 while Winnipeg Tribune reporter Michael McGarry wrote, “those Indians of Canada have bowed . . . an arrow of truth at the Canadian government and white man—telling ‘le monde entier’ just what they think of us.” 30 The efforts of Janvier and others to change public perception had not gone unnoticed by the general public at home and abroad. More importantly, the ripple of activity among Indigenous artists was a sign of things to come, including the formation of the PNIAI. HEADWATERS OF THEIR OWN STREAM: CREATION OF THE GROUP OF SEVEN We had no one to show our work so we had to do it ourselves. We acknowledged and supported each other as artists when the world of fine art refused us entry. . . . Together we broke down barriers that would have been so much more difficult faced alone.

— Daphne Odjig 31 Our cause was simple: to be able to exhibit and receive acceptance as artists.

— Joseph Sanchez 32 I think the group was meant to be what it was, a catalyst for change.

— Alex Janvier 33

In the years following Expo 67, the PNIAI was among the first to fight to establish a forum for the voices and perspectives of Indigenous artists. Whereas the Expo 67 gatherings had been initiated by the federal government, the PNIAI was the first self-organized artist alliance to push for recognition of contemporary Indigenous art. The path to that alliance, however, did not originate in an overarching vision, but rather

grew out of grassroots efforts to meet the needs of Aboriginal artists converging in one city, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Daphne Odjig and her husband, Chester Beavon, established Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd. in 1970 and opened a small craft store under the same name at 331 Donald Street in Winnipeg the following year. The store was a gathering place for artists who had been working in isolation from each other, not only in Winnipeg, but as far afield as the Native art scenes in Ottawa and Toronto. “My little shop became a drop-in centre,” 34 Odjig remembers. Whether you were coming from the East or coming from the West, “Odjig’s,” as it was commonly known, became the place to engage with other artists.

According to curator Shirley Madill, “the informal relaxed atmosphere in the first gallery owned by aboriginal artists offered a situation where artists could work out their feelings in relationship to their own culture as well as to the established institutions of the Canadian art scene.” 35 The practical value of Odjig’s was soon evident. As Tom Hill recalls, “many of these artists didn’t have studios . . . and Daphne and her husband had the ability to get paint and large canvases through the shop, and could provide that service at a lesser cost.” 36 Artists congregated at Odjig’s, and she soon began to coordinate exhibitions: “I even had a show in my home—on Waverley Street,” recalls Odjig, “I had artists up on the top floor, second floor, and the main floor.” 37 The young American artist Joseph Sanchez also fondly remembers opportunities provided by Odjig: Daphne would buy work from all of us, and give us space to show our work to each other and talk about art and artists. I would

49

see Jackson Beardy and Carl Ray and Eddy Cobiness at the “Odjig Gallery of Native Art.” Daphne always had new work to share with us, or news of other Native artists [from whom] she had just purchased work.38 The conversations generated at Odjig’s during that initial year led to the first tentative steps towards forming an organization. Janvier confirms the importance of Odjig to this process, stating recently that it was a “vision that started under the tutelage of [Daphne Odjig].” 39 The connections between artists were further

Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd., promotional catalogue (cover), circa 1971.

Courtesy of Aboriginal Art Centre, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

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developed at informal gatherings in Winnipeg, and eventually led to a concerted effort to form a unified, professional group. Meetings usually took place at Daphne’s house, at the North Star Inn, or at “Odjig’s,” where they shared their frustrations with the Canadian art establishment, grappled with prejudice, discussed aesthetics, and critiqued one another’s art.

Reminiscing about the early history of the Group, Odjig recalls that she and Jackson Beardy “had many discussions [about forming a group] before it all started.” She adds, “we used to say: ‘wouldn’t it be nice if we all got together to talk art, and see what each one of us was doing.’ We were curious.” 40 Eddy Cobiness would also often stop by the gallery to discuss mutual concerns.

About six months after the shop opened, Odjig got in touch with Cobiness through the Indian Brotherhood, for whom he had been producing illustrations and portraits.41 In an effort to expand the discussions, a decision was made to contact other artists and invite them to form a group.

Odjig relates, “of course we knew of Norval [Morrisseau],” whom they contacted through his art agent, and “I had heard of Carl Ray” through an exhibition he had had at the University of Brandon. In the years to follow, she and her husband met with Ray on a social basis a number of times.42 (Beardy had also met Ray years earlier.) As for Alex Janvier, Odjig admits he was a “bit of a biggie in Calgary. So that was a little intimidating for us. But after we met him we thought he was great. And he accepted. He said, ‘We’ll all meet down at your (craft shop). We’ll meet together and make some plans.’” 43 In Odjig’s assessment, they came together out of a common need. “They all went for it, they thought it would be just marvellous, because they too felt a little isolated.” 44

the seventh member was invited to stay. Daphne concludes, “And that’s where it all started. . . . We didn’t even plan on it being seven, it just happened that way.” 51 LUCKY NUMBER

Carl Ray speaking to an unidentified woman.

Courtesy of Aboriginal Art Centre, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

At this stage they were a group of six. Several members recall that it was Carl Ray who was the first to joke about becoming a “group of seven.” 45 The seventh member was an unlikely choice.

Joseph Sanchez had served in the United States Marine Corps before moving to Canada.46 He first met Odjig in the fall of 1971, when “he just came into the store with a handful of drawings one day.” 47 A few weeks later, he dropped by during a “meeting” of the six artists. Cobiness recalls the scene: “There was a little guy in there.

A little Pueblo Indian. He had his folder. He just came there to see if he could sell some art, and to listen to the people talk. . . . As it was, he got more interested the more the day went through.” 48 He was invited to join the group. Sanchez remembers: “They welcomed me. . . . They could have said, ‘Well, he’s an American. He can’t be a part of this group.’ But that didn’t seem to matter to Daphne or Alex or Carl or any of the group.” 49 Janvier reasoned that the Canada-USA border “was not set by us,” and Odjig explained, “we liked him. . . . That’s how he got to be in the group.” 50 Despite spending the better part of an afternoon trying to come up with different ideas or concepts for a group name, the “group of seven” stuck once

Accounts vary, but what is clear is that by 1972 a Group of Seven had formed. There has been much informal debate in recent years as to whether the Group was open to other artists at its inception or whether admittance was by invitation only.

The bylaws connected with the incorporation of the PNIAI in 1974–75 include provisions for the addition of new members at the discretion of its seven directors.52 That being said, many other names have been put forward as peripheral members—artists who were either considered as potential members or who, for various reasons, were never formally incorporated into the Group.

Certainly, there were many artists who came through Odjig’s gallery or exhibited with the members of the PNIAI in various venues both during and after the group’s active life. These artists include, but are not limited to: Bill Reid, Roy Thomas, Clement Wescoup, Sam Ash, Josh Kakegamic, Don Laforte, Gerald Tailfeathers, Francis Kagige, Allen Sapp, and Benjamin Chee Chee.53 Some who might have had the opportunity to join, such as Bill Reid, were actively dissuaded.

Reid’s agent thought that an affiliation with the PNIAI would be counterproductive to his plans for his client’s career.54 Reid would, however, participate in some later group shows. Janvier, who met and worked with Reid during Expo 67 and again on the board of the National Indian Arts Council in the mid-seventies,55 often acknowledges him as an honorary member

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of the Group. According to Janvier, Reid was particularly helpful in dealing with the media: We knew what we were up against. But we didn’t know how to verbalize and counter that in words. The media always had a set pattern of words . . . Bill Reid knew how to treat that because he was aware of the media controls and he knew who to talk to. So that part, I think Bill really helped in that one.56 While he was not one of the official members, it is reasonable to assume that Reid’s contacts at the CBC would have assisted the PNIAI in gaining media attention.57 Reid was not the only artist who received advice against uniting with the Group. According to Janvier and Sanchez, Morrisseau’s advisors also tried to keep him from joining. Both recall Morrisseau’s lawyer standing outside the door during their meetings. Undeterred, Morrisseau continued his association with the Group. According to Janvier, Morrisseau “wasn’t going to be led around by the nose.” 58 Sanchez’s recollection is similar: “No one could tell Morrisseau what to do. And so he joined the Group in spite of his handlers.” 59 STANDING TOGETHER AS INDIVIDUALS They tried to tear us apart. So they could isolate us individually. . . . But we stuck together.

— Alex Janvier 60

Each artist was encouraged to follow his or her own path. The practices of senior members— Janvier, Morrisseau, Odjig, and Cobiness, who had begun in the 1950s and 1960s, complemented those of the younger members whose work also

52

Norval Morrisseau and Jackson Beardy, Ottawa, circa 1978–80.

Courtesy of Paula Beardy.

reflected non-Western inspirations. Although they had differing opinions, roles, priorities, and responsibilities, the members stood together, a unity appreciated by Sanchez: We understood the value of meeting together as artists, discussing our needs and how to help each other, the way that Daphne, Alex and Norval muscled galleries into showing work by artists like myself. I believe it was the power of Daphne, Norval and Alex’s work that forced galleries and museums to accept the work of the other members. This was the strategy. The strength of the group allowed me to exhibit in places I could only dream of being included. At the Dominion Gallery exhibition Max Stern could have easily done without my work because the gallery did not exhibit works on paper, but he did support the group. And his support allowed us to have other galleries take on the group. The all-ornothing demands of the group assured my inclusion in those exhibitions.61

The “you take one, you take all” motto described

by Sanchez proved to be something that enabled the less-established members to gain ground. As Janvier recalls saying on occasion: “If the group doesn’t show, I don’t show.” 62 Solidarity was all important, as he explains: We weren’t taken too seriously by the media.

And I think we were also slated to fail. We were given enough rope to hang ourselves. But they didn’t realize there were seven ropes and so it was a longer hanging level. [Laughter] So there was some good luck that came our way by being “The Group” in that we weren’t hammered individually. It’s harder to hammer a group of people. You know, you’re a force.

Your little army’s small, but you’re a little army.63 In preparing for the present exhibition, Janvier, Sanchez, and Odjig have often told me stories that point wryly to differences among members of the group. When asked if and how they worked together, Janvier was quick to reply: “We didn’t.

We could barely stand to be in the same room with one another.” 64 Sanchez has often talked about the Group being an anomaly, “because we were very individual. We all came from different reserves, different backgrounds.” 65 Considering the many strong personalities involved, it is difficult to imagine how they reached agreement on anything, but as Odjig explains, “we got along very well together. Better than most people. . . . We were not jealous of one another. . . . We accepted each and everyone’s work as great, at par. . . . We understood each other. And we all had a great sense of humour, we were always full of jokes.” 66 Recalling the good-natured teasing at a reunion years later, Odjig pointed to Alex and exclaimed:

“he insulted me a lot of times, and I insulted him too, but it was all joking.” 67 Sanchez joined in with how he was always “that damn American,” while Janvier related tales about how Morrisseau called Daphne the “British subject,” and told him repeatedly “You! You just make designs.” 68 Many of the stories that the remaining members now tell focus on those who have passed on. Janvier describes Morrisseau as the straightforward decision maker.69 Sanchez remembers that “he was good at critique, but be prepared, you better have some thick skin on you because he was just going to peel it off.” 70 When asked about Cobiness, Odjig remembers him as “a beautiful painter!” 71 Sanchez describes him as a traditionalist, the rock that kept the Group members on a more spiritual path.72 Janvier explains that “Eddy was like the consciousness of the group . . . the native thinking that he brought in, the spiritual. . . . Sometimes we went too far and he would bring us back to earth, you know.” 73 The admiration that Sanchez had for Cobiness is clear: “Eddy was such a great person.

I think his inspiration to me is about that, not just being good in art but being a good human being.” 74 Looking recently as a group at images of Ray’s work, Odjig exclaimed, “Oh, this is how I remember Carl Ray,” while Sanchez continued, “Yeah, Carl’s work is fantastic. I always loved his work. And Carl wanted to go to Russia.” Janvier added, “He wanted to dance on the chandelier.” 75 The mention of Beardy, at a meeting of Janvier, Odjig, and Sanchez, brought a colourful picture to light. Janvier felt that Beardy “was always promoting himself. Promoting, promoting, behind our backs. And then we’d catch him and somehow he’d explain it was about something else!” 76 For Odjig, Beardy “was always in a hurry,” 77 a man on the move who would come into the store

53

or a meeting and say “I can only spend a few minutes here, I’m going to a press conference.” 78 Laughing in agreement, Janvier recalls: “Cowboy boots . . . jewels all over the place. You’re right he was always going to talk with somebody else.”

At this, Sanchez shook his head and added: “He always had a meeting to go to.” 79

Interacting with others who shared similar experiences and cultural backgrounds was both stimulating and advantageous for the PNIAI members. The camaraderie and friendship that developed helped them navigate territory that had been difficult to traverse on their own. Whereas one voice could sometimes be overlooked, several artists’ voices combined created a richly diverse and powerful statement. Working together gave them a strength and unity that caught the attention of the media and brought a contemporary image of First Nations art to the forefront.

EXHIBITION HISTORY AND THE STAMP OF APPROVAL

Jackson Beardy in his Winnipeg studio.

Courtesy of Paula Beardy.

Cobiness once explained that the Group “was like . . . a family gathering. We all had concern for each other.” 80 As Janvier now jokes, they chose to stick together “in spite of our differences.” 81 Watching Odjig, Janvier, and Sanchez interact today, and hearing them reminisce about the other group members, it is impossible not to see the strong connection and respect that developed between them as a result of their coming together over forty years ago. For Odjig, the group was “like a jigsaw puzzle,” 82 a sentiment shared by Janvier, who sums up: “We were a conglomerate of different people, engrossed in the changeups and the intolerance of the art world of that moment, and that’s where we made history come alive.” 83

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We sought an opportunity that did not exist at that time. . . . We set out to change the art world in Canada. . . . We weren’t welcome but we decided to go through and we worked very hard to penetrate the establishment.

— Alex Janvier 84 We as artists must be careful not to fall prey to another form of colonization, for we are one of the most powerful voices of our people. . . . We must make our own work on our own terms.

— Joseph Sanchez 85

The struggle for mainstream acceptance for the Group was a constant battle that pitted the artists against government programs, a nonNative public’s expectations, and governmentsupported institutions wanting art that reflected “Indianness” in style and content.86 Odjig always felt she was a Canadian artist who happened to be Native: “that’s the way I looked at it. I didn’t like them splashing ‘Indian artist’ on us, separating us from other people. And I wanted to break that

barrier.” 87 More often than not, their work was relegated to commercial and ethno-galleries, cultural centres and museums, and hallways and offices, rather than contemporary fine art galleries where they believed they belonged.88 As Janvier states: “[We were] shoved aside to the museums . . . the War Museum and the Art Museum of Indians. . . . But we had a different idea.

We had a different view about this.” 89 Feeling like they were unable to count on existing Canadian curators, Janvier asserts: “It took a European eye to get us through,” referring to curator Jacqueline Fry at the Winnipeg Art Gallery. “She was French. Jacqueline Fry. We used to call her French Fry. ‘Don’t you call me French Fry!’ she’d say. . . . She was the one who really opened it up.” 90 In August of 1972, Fry featured Beardy, Janvier, and Odjig in a three-person exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery,91 Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171: Three Indian Painters of the Prairies, the first exclusively contemporary First Nations art exhibition to be held in a public art gallery in Canada, and among the first exhibitions held in the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s new building.92 This exhibition lent institutional credibility to

Eddy Cobiness (left) presents one of his drawings to Winnipeg Mayor Stephen Juba, 1974.

Courtesy of Aboriginal Art Centre, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

Advertisement for an exhibition by the “Professional Native Indian Artists Association” at Eaton’s department store in Winnipeg, MB, June 18–22, 1974.

Courtesy of Joseph Sanchez.

their practice and gave a boost to their public profile that was soon reinforced.

Following a year of organizational activity, a June 22, 1974 article in the Winnipeg Free Press announced the first exhibition from the “newlyformed association . . . featuring Canadian Indian artists,” held June 18–22 on the eighth floor of Eaton’s department store in Winnipeg. The article featured a photograph of Eddy Cobiness presenting a drawing to Mayor Stephen Juba “as a centennial gift to Winnipeg from the Professional Native Indian Artists’ Association.” 93 The PNIAI were also featured in an international exhibition at Anthropos Gallery in London, England, this same year. In the months to come, Odjig expanded her Winnipeg shop, establishing the New Warehouse Gallery.94 Inaugural exhibition invitations were printed and dispersed. An article in the Winnipeg Free Press reported on the December 8, 1974 opening, noting that “about 200

55

paintings, prints and drawings” featuring work by “‘a group of seven,’ an association of Indian artists” was on display.95 Thinking back on the development of Canadian Indian Art ’74 for the Royal Ontario Museum, which included all seven PNIAI artists, exhibition curator Tom Hill recalls, “none of the major galleries were even looking seriously at [First Nations art].” 96 This exhibition and Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery two years earlier were the first serious curatorial treatments of works by Native artists as contemporary artists. Hill remembers encountering extreme ignorance and having to fight vigorously and defend the validity of an Indigenous exhibition. There was even one instance where he was told “‘I’m not having no Indian art exhibition. We don’t have art exhibitions according to race.’” Hill explains, “it was a ridiculous statement. If you look at it, you have French impressionists, German expressionists. . . . You can’t tell me that’s not racial.” 97 In 1979, Hill was quoted in an article featuring Morrisseau in Maclean’s magazine

Norval Morrisseau with Dr. Max Stern at the Dominion Gallery, Montreal, 1975.

Courtesy of National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives.

Photo: Michel Bigué.

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saying, “There seems to be an unwritten policy— painting coming from ‘primitive’ cultures is not considered high art. Their treatment of Indian artists as ethnological oddities is nothing less than racist.” 98 Although momentum was growing, the Group was still seeking critical recognition as contemporary artists within the Canadian art establishment. A major turning point for the Group came after an offer to exhibit in the War Museum in Ottawa,99 a proposal that insulted the artists and prompted a reaction from Janvier that changed the Group’s course: I said, “what we need to do is send god here,” that was John Dennehy [advisor to the Group], “to talk to Max Stern” [art dealer and owner of] the Dominion Gallery in Montreal. [Stern] was the czar of Canadian arts. Everybody looked up to him, at all the galleries. Whatever Max shows, goes.

[Stern] takes art from all over the world and introduces it to Canada. “Tell the man that he brings art from all over the world.

That he always brings something new from somewhere else, from outside. . . . Tell him that this time he’s going to bring something new from inside Canada. And it will be the first major show of that sort. That he missed something in Canada. . . . you have not exhibited the Native artwork. And see if he’ll buy it.” So we sent John Dennehy to go negotiate. We couldn’t do it on our own . . . at that time. It was totally impossible [for Native artists] to even be taken seriously at that level of a gallery show. If we tried it on our own, I don’t think [Stern] would’ve let us. “Interesting,” he’d say and he’d talk his way out of it. So we left it to John to

negotiate, and I don’t think he had an easy time, but the next thing we know, we got the show at the Dominion Gallery. . . . First major show. And all the other galleries that were shut [to] us . . . after that show, other doors started opening . . . doors that weren’t opening before.100

Bank in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in January 1976.101 However, PNIAI members, in varying configurations, continued to exhibit alongside other artists in several exhibitions after 1975, often in the context of, or with an affiliation noted to, the PNIAI title.102 BECOMING A LEGAL ENTITY

Max Stern scheduled his first exhibition of the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. in the spring of 1975. Fierté sur toile : Tableaux par sept artistes indiens canadiens (Canvases of Pride, or more often translated, Colours of Pride: Paintings by 7 Professional Native Artists) opened March 11, at the Dominion Gallery in Montreal. The PNIAI’s next exhibit, held in Ottawa in June 1975 at Wallack Galleries, was followed by another in October at Art Emporium in Vancouver.

Exhibition invitation for the PNIAI at The Art Emporium in Vancouver, BC, October 27–November 8, 1975.

Courtesy of Joseph Sanchez.

These three 1975 exhibitions are often acknowledged as the last recorded exhibitions by the PNIAI, featuring solely the seven members. One exception that might be cited is a show in the concourse of the First National

Self-determination and self-definition were motivations at the heart of the PNIAI. Informal meetings that began in the fall of 1971 led to a consensus to formalize their association. By 1973, thoughts of incorporation had begun to circulate and be debated among the members of the Group.

Because documentation of meetings is sparse, the “facts” surrounding the Group’s decision to incorporate remain elusive. Reflecting on how the incorporation came about, Odjig smiled and remarked that “Jackson was very into . . . things done properly.” 103 Several members point to the involvement of John Dennehy, who worked for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) and the Secretary of State. Dennehy was introduced to the Group by Eddy Cobiness, who knew both him and his brother Michael Dennehy, a lawyer whose firm, Martens and Dennehy, would later be involved in the incorporation of the Group.104 John Dennehy was a consultant for several First Nations and was known to empathize with Indigenous struggles. He had a genuine interest in finding ways to promote the Group and he played an active role in encouraging them to legalize their status.

His idea was that incorporation might enable them to secure funding to aid in the realization of the Group’s objectives, particularly as they related to exhibitions, marketing, and education.

While Sanchez recalls a whole range of ideas for a name being tossed around, using the word

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“Professional” was very important to the Group.

The title that they decided on, “Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated,” first appears in the Winnipeg Tribune on November 30 in an article announcing the formation of the new group.105 The name reappears in December 1973 in a proposal to INAC to fund the activities of “a true native professional artist association.” 106 The seemingly redundant “Native Indian” may have been used in an effort to distinguish First Nations people from those whose ancestral origins are from India.107 Certainly, the use of “Indian” would have conformed to the legal terminology used by government. Through the legal firm Martens and Dennehy, an application to officially incorporate as Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated was prepared in February 1974. However, these incorporation documents were not accepted, and the Group was required to revise and resubmit its application to Consumer and Corporate Affairs on March 13, 1974. Subsequently, and contrary to longstanding assumptions, the Group was not legally incorporated until April 1, 1975. The Letters Patent show signatures of three of the seven directors: Quincy Pickering Jackson Beardy, Joseph Marcus Sanchez, and Daphne Louise Odjig Beavon. They also give the officially incorporated name as Anisinabe Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated (Corporation # 057450-3).108 This version of their title has not been noted in any prior research or scholarship related to the Group, and it was never used in their official correspondence or activities.

The bylaws of the corporation indicate that the directors would consist of seven officers: President; First, Second, Third, and Fourth VicePresidents; Secretary; and Treasurer. Without official minutes we cannot confirm who assumed the various positions. However, the surviving

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members recall that after some discussion about practicality and proximity, Beardy was most likely elected as the first president of the PNIAI. Later on, in in a letter dated June 5, 1975, from INAC, J. P. Michell, Acting Chief of the Arts and Crafts Division, summarizes the highlights of a meeting with the Group, noting that Odjig is identified as “First President,” Beardy as “Second President,” and Cobiness as “Secretary/Treasurer.” 109

Eddy Cobiness, circa 1974.

Courtesy of Aboriginal Art Centre, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

Both the December 1973 proposal to INAC and the incorporation bylaws state that the corporation may appoint a manager from outside the Group. In the June 5 letter it further notes that, “Mr. John Dennehy will continue to act as a government co-ordinator carrying out different proposals on behalf of the P.N.I.A.A. [sic].” 110 However, an Edmonton Journal article from December 29, 1973, and another INAC letter dated June 9, 1975, report that Terry Greene, an Ojibway artist from Kenora, had been appointed as the Group’s manager (or coordinator) with the job of presenting proposals and organizing

exhibitions.111 The exact timing, duration, and relationship of these positions remains unclear.

The proposal of December 1973 sheds light on the broader intentions of the Group. According to the document, the Group wished to pursue the following goals: To employ a group of (seven) professional artists to paint contemporary traditional Indian art and to pay them a specified salary and expenses.

The artists would display and sell their work through the association.

The artists would work and travel either as a group or individually throughout local communities, stimulating initiative in youthful artists and displaying the association’s works of art.

Their paintings would be displayed nationally and internationally at major art centres and shows.

The monies that are received from the sale of original paintings and any copyrighted royalties would be divided into two parts. One part or percentage to the artist, the other part or percentage going into a trust fund.

The trust fund monies would be used to assist amateur native artists develop through bursaries, awards, scholarships, etc. and thus, instill a local incentive in future artists.

The artists would hopefully receive associate assistance from central marketing, the Canada Council and Indian Affairs and other sources, for example, Secretary of State.

The production, quality, and major decisions regarding the internal structure of the artists association would be the whole responsibility of the group itself and a manager/co-ordinator would be appointed by the group.112 Included in the proposal was a request for assistance that would provide salaries and travel expenses for each of the seven artists. After submission to the Toronto office of INAC, the proposal was shared with a number of other government agencies, including the Canada Council and Secretary of State.113 The objectives outlined in the final incorporation papers align closely with the INAC proposal. The main points include provisions “To devote from time to time all or part of the fund or funds and income therefrom”: . . . to facilitate, aid, publicize, and promote Native Indian art and culture and create incentives for young artists; . . . to provide for the holding of art displays, education lectures, exhibitions, public meetings, workshops, classes and conferences on Native Indian art and culture both nationally and internationally. . . . to establish, construct, provide, endow, equip, operate, maintain and manage, all without pecuniary gain to any of its members, educational activities and facilities for the study of Native Indian art and culture. . . . to establish bursaries, awards, scholarship funds and other forms of incentive programs to assist in the development of amateur Indian Artists.114

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The objectives provide a clear outline of the purposes for which funds would be used, whether raised internally or through government programs. New among the objectives was the idea of establishing permanent facilities and programs.

The bylaws go on to specify that directors of the corporation will not receive remuneration other than payment for travel and other expenses connected with corporation business.

Reflecting on the PNIAI’s part in the history of First Nations activism in the arts, Lee-Ann Martin observes: “This group incorporated two of

Janvier remembers having to self-fund his trips to Winnipeg to meet at Odjig’s: “We did it on our own. I used to fly from Edmonton to Winnipeg [and back] for those meetings. Because I couldn’t afford to stay. That $50 ticket broke me every time I went. I had to take money out of the family to do that, so we would be on soup for a week.” 118

the most important features of organizations that would follow—providing support to individuals and lobbying for aboriginal artists as a whole.” 115 With an emphasis on professional accreditation, and exhibiting and marketing their work, their interest and artistic aspirations were national and international in scope. Their intent was to cast a wide net, and to mentor and support young Indigenous artists across Canada. As an early statement from a brochure promoting Cobiness’s work demonstrates, supporting emerging artists was important to the members: “I have met and worked with many talented young artists, who have so much to contribute to the world of visual art. I hope, by setting a good example myself, that someday you will get to know them too.” 116 BREAD AND BUTTER Despite the lofty ambitions outlined in the proposal to INAC and in the incorporation documents, evidence of tangible results is hard to substantiate. While Cobiness recalled receiving a cheque on one occasion to attend a meeting with the Group to discuss an upcoming exhibition,117 Odjig, Sanchez, and Janvier do not recall any funding for the Group’s activities.

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Joseph Sanchez with his painting Virgin of Light, circa 1974.

Courtesy of the Aboriginal Art Centre, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

Similarly, Sanchez does not remember getting any money to attend openings, though he “did get a ticket from CHIN Radio International to go to Toronto for the Junos and to get [his] head measured for the Wax Museum.” 119 CHIN Radio International in Toronto commissioned the Sanchez painting Virgin of Light, which was to be presented at the Junos in conjunction with CHIN Radio’s 1974 Douglas McGowan Award, recognizing significant contributions to multiculturalism in music.

Attempts to secure governmental funding for their members met with limited success. Their

proposal to INAC requested salaries of $10,000 plus expenses of $5,000 for each of the artists to lecture and teach in various communities, universities, schools, etc. According to an internal memo prepared for the Minister of Indian Affairs dated June 17, 1975, the PNIAI was twice refused funding from the Canada Council, first “on the basis that they only dealt with individuals, then on other grounds.” 120 Information included in this document and the letter of June 9, 1975, indicates that the Arts and Crafts Division had already provided funding to the Group in the order of $11,000 from its inception in 1973 until February 1975, at which point the Cultural Affairs Division, Secretary of State, assumed responsibility for their file.121 However, there is no documentation indicating who received this money or how it was spent. Sanchez speculates that the funds, if received, may have gone towards paying for the conference room at the North Star, and towards the costs of incorporating.122 Janvier is candid in his assessment of the difficulties that they faced: “Unfortunately, we were not stationed in one area. We were from all over the territories so it was not always easy to do those shows. But we did come up with a plan where we showed in different cities.” 123 While exhibitions materialized and interest grew, the artists felt from a financial perspective that the galleries were benefiting more than they were.

According to Janvier, they were profiting “not only from the sales, but they also generated money from the government.124 Any of the exhibition sales went to the gallery owner and we got whatever was left over.” 125 Expectations for funding from the Arts and Crafts Sector of INAC also met with disappointment. These hopes had been planted in their minds by John Dennehy and Willard Ahenekew (who worked for the Arts and

Crafts Sector). In Janvier’s assessment, “funding went to the crafts and there was nothing for the fine arts.” 126 DISSOLUTION Because official meeting minutes are lost, it is impossible to determine the number of times the seven artists met. That being said, Sanchez and Janvier both recall there being “about three or four” meetings prior to incorporation.127 An additional three to four meetings are likely to have occurred following incorporation in order to organize exhibitions. It is also worth noting that, with the exception of official meetings held at the North Star, all seven members were unlikely to have attended every gathering.128 After the headlong charge of exhibits in 1975, media coverage dropped off almost completely.

Conjecture regarding the Group’s dissolution falls into two positions: either the Group disbanded in 1975, or they never officially dissolved. In an interview from 1990, Cobiness recalls that there came a point, about four or five years after incorporation, when Beardy wanted to disband the Group, but all the other members disagreed.129 Neither Janvier, Odjig, nor Sanchez recalls any formal “break-up.” However, all agree that by the end of the 1970s they began to move in different directions. Janvier affirms, “nobody gave order to quit,” a recollection shared by Odjig, who states, “we didn’t disband and say ‘that’s the end of the group’. . . . We all just faded away.” 130 The cohesiveness of the Group was difficult to maintain as the artists began to work with different galleries and art dealers. Lee-Ann Martin postulates that the Group disbanded, in part, due to “the artists’ needs to devote time to their individual art practices.” 131 She goes

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on to note: “The group became frustrated with the realization that the Department of Indian Affairs was implementing its own marketing programs in a way that competed with the group’s efforts.” 132 Odjig has also stated that there came a point when acting as a corporation started to feel too impersonal: “We didn’t want a president, a secretary. We didn’t want anything like this.

We just wanted to meet together.” 133 It has also been suggested that strains on the Group were the result of other people, including individual artist’s lawyers and those working under the auspices of the government, becoming involved and interfering with the PNIAI’s affairs.134 Janvier alludes to the possibility that someone outside the group, on his own or potentially in collusion with a member of the group unbeknownst to the rest, applied pressure to dismantle or disrupt the Group. This interference may have been related to the discord that arose from proposals to develop a PNIAI “seal.” Janvier recalls, “they wanted us to be like a rubber stamp for Canadian [Native] art, and they wanted to make all these prints [to market] across the world as ‘true’ Canadian Native work . . . sanctioned by the Professional Native [Indian] Artists Inc. . . . They wanted a seal, to show on every print.” 135 The existing federal economic development programs pushed for this more commercial approach, while the artists sought a more professional approach that respected them as contemporary artists.136 In the end, despite their best efforts to remain a unified cohort, members found it too arduous to coordinate exhibitions and raise funds without external support and additional expertise. Odjig remembers: “I didn’t have time for myself. I didn’t have time to produce any paintings, because I was [also] involved with running the gallery and the gift shop. I was really frustrated.” 137 Among the

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Daphne Odjig, circa 1973.

Courtesy of Aboriginal Art Centre, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

factors contributing to the Group’s dissolution was Odjig’s decision in 1976 to sell her shop and gallery and move to British Columbia. Without a central meeting point, the PNIAI members began to lose touch with one another as they became more involved with individual projects. Ray’s tragic death in September 1978 led to the further disintegration of the Group.

While there is no record of a surrender of charter, and no certificate of dissolution on file, according to Corporations Canada files the PNIAI corporation was officially dissolved on April 27, 1979, as a result of its failure to file a summary of its activities for the previous two years.138 After this date, the only evidence of formal PNIAI activity is a request by Eddy Cobiness to Indian Affairs Manitoba Regional Office, on behalf of the PNIAI, for financial assistance for a promotional video.139

WHAT’S IN A NAME? In the broad range of articles, exhibition catalogues, and media coverage related to the Group, it has been referred to by a number of variant titles, including: “Professional Native Indian Artists Association,” “Native Group of Seven,” and “Group of Seven Native Artists.”

Today, however, the title most commonly attached to the Group is the “Indian Group of Seven.” Gary Scherbain, a Winnipeg reporter who associated with the Group around the time of its formation, has declared on several occasions that he coined this nickname.140 The only documented instance of the use of this name from the seventies is the April 1974 issue of The Saskatchewan Indian, in which Dr. John Warner from the Department of Sociology, University of Saskatchewan (Regina Campus) commented on the “great strides Indian painting is making in Canada,” citing as an example: “In Manitoba . . . a number of native painters have joined together in order to form an Indian ‘Group of Seven’ association.” 141 The seven artists, however, never referred to themselves as the “Indian Group of Seven”; Janvier, Sanchez, and Odjig do not recall when they first heard it used, but it is not a title they prefer. From the beginning, Group members were aware of the irony and humour of their association with the original Group of Seven, but when asked recently about the addition of “Indian” to that title, they either brushed it off as a name picked up by the mainstream media or equated it with attempts to mock or devalue the group.142 On the surface the use of this term serves as a way to distinguish the PNIAI from the earlier Canadian group. In some circles it may even have expressed a pride in the Group’s Indigenous identity. From today’s

perspective, however, it is not hard to see how the comparison between the two Groups of Seven continues a history of colonialism by reinforcing the need to use European aesthetic categories to legitimize Indigenous efforts. According to this view, the comparison presents the Group’s nonWestern aesthetic and conceptual frameworks as inferior or marginal, regardless of their accomplishments.

Another popular misconception is that the PNIAI belongs to the “Woodland School” of art.143 The likely source of this error is Morrisseau’s affiliation with both groups. Morrisseau is rightly credited as the father of the Woodland art movement, and certain members of the PNIAI participated in the movement’s activities in Northern Ontario and in connection with the Manitou Arts Foundation.144 Despite these crossovers, not all members of the PNIAI can be linked to this school, style, or geographical label.

In addition to being inaccurate, the Woodland label is also limiting. Unfortunately, “Woodland Art” has become a blanket term for art with an easily identifiable “Indian” style or content. As used by many non-Indigenous writers, the label obscures the avant-gardism of the work that was produced by the PNIAI members and other Indigenous artists in the 1960s and early 1970s, and overshadows the diversity and distinctive quality of work produced by those artists who aligned themselves with the style. As Carol Podedworny observes, the popular view of “Woodland School” painting conceives of it “not as a contemporary form of visual discourse . . . but rather as a nostalgic or documentary exercise.” 145 As a result, it is quite possible that the association with the Woodland movement has contributed to the lack of critical interest in the PNIAI.

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BREAKING GROUND: A LIVING LEGACY What we achieved, now, it sounds like this is a wonderful thing. But the main galleries, the National Gallery and all the other galleries that are funded by government . . . wouldn’t even look at us. It was an impossible thing to do. We had a Cultural Apartheid right here, right in this so-called free country, and we still have to deal with that. But none of us stopped painting. We just kept going. . . . The paintings started to speak for us. . . . And this is the way it started.

— Alex Janvier 146 It’s a living legacy. . . . It’ll never die now.

— Alex Janvier 147

Following the dispersal of the Group, Maclean’s magazine featured an article by Christopher Hume that boldly announced, “Indian art has broken through the bastions of the art establishment,” 148 and went on to declare, “it’s nothing less than a renaissance, or perhaps, as some would have it, the last great outpouring of a dying culture.” 149 Surely it is no longer necessary to point out that Indigenous cultures persist. The work of the PNIAI is a testament to the ongoing relevance and strength of Indigenous peoples, their ideologies, and cultures. As we celebrate this history and the works of these master artists, we catch a glimpse of struggles overcome, gates broken open, and a legacy that has gone under-recognized.

The forward thinking of these pivotal artists has had an undeniable cultural and political impact. They functioned as part of a larger movement that challenged outdated racial stereotypes and forced a recognition of Indigenous artists as a vital part of Canada’s past, present, and future identity. Reaching across cultural boundaries, their art caused excitement on the Canadian contemporary art scene. By

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fearlessly portraying the reality of Canada from a First Nations perspective, they expanded the vocabulary of contemporary visual art and set a new standard for the artists who followed in their wake. As Tom Hill recalls, the PNIAI “got the wheels rolling and everyone moved on to the next stage as a result.” 150 Seeking to control their creative processes, the PNIAI did not allow others to determine the validity of their connection to their heritage.

The members were interested in the question of “Indian art” but defined it for themselves. As Odjig argues: Tradition reinforces pride in heritage. But I cannot accept that tradition need limit or define my direction. I do not wish to be overwhelmed by tradition, but rather to be inspired by it, remaining free to pursue my personal visions. By doing so, I am confident that I do not deny the considerable influence of my cultural heritage.151 Members were interested in expanding their horizons as artists rather than succumbing to a pre-packaged, narrow definition of “Indian art” and double standards around authenticity.

In turn, they encouraged younger artists to create their own contemporary expressions as individuals. “Every artist paints from their own cultural heritage and their own experience,” explains Odjig. “Whatever your heritage, it will come out in your brush. My counsel to young artists is to stop worrying about authenticity. It is within you.” 152 As a result, Indigenous peoples began to recognize their art as a vital expression of an Indigeneity that embraces the notion that form and content are shaped by individual experience,

which includes our shared colonial, North American, and European influences. Recognizing at an early point the significance of the complex position adopted by individual PNIAI members, curator Jacqueline Fry writes that the works by these artists “are important, not only because they demonstrate the permanence of traditional [First Nations] culture but also because they reveal the presence of living, creative sources that, firmly rooted in the multi-cultured world of today, open the way to a more understanding world tomorrow.” 153

Alex Janvier presenting a painting to Jean Chrétien, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (1968–74), circa 1974.

Courtesy of Aboriginal Art Centre, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

The convergence of events that led to the PNIAI arose from a resurgence of Indigenous political activism and cultural revival in the late 1960s. Reflecting on the PNIAI’s contribution to this history, artist Robert Houle notes: “They gave us a profile. I think for me, that’s what they established. . . . I had absolutely no idea what contemporary Native art was . . . [but then]

they came along. . . . And all of a sudden, you had something. . . . I think in many ways [they] probably started the ball rolling [toward] SCANA.” 154 Building on the momentum of the PNIAI, the first National Conference on Aboriginal Art was held in 1978 on Manitoulin Island with Odjig and Janvier in attendance. Subsequent conferences followed across Canada in 1979 and 1983, resulting in the establishment of a national Native arts organization, the Society of Canadian Artists of Native Ancestry (SCANA) in 1985.155 Continuing the dialogue initiated by the PNIAI, artists at these early meetings criticized the pervasive ethnological and anthropological views of contemporary Aboriginal art and artists, and confronted the exclusion of Aboriginal arts within mainstream institutions including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Vancouver Art Gallery, and the National Gallery of Canada.156 Recognizing the need for professional development opportunities, they fought for increased access to these institutions for Indigenous curators whose cultural knowledge and experiences would transform Eurocentric theory and museum practices, enhance understanding, and contextualize contemporary Indigenous art from Indigenous perspectives. Since the seminal exhibition Canadian Indian Art ’74, a series of groundbreaking exhibitions followed that fought to establish a long-overdue forum for the voices and perspectives of Aboriginal artists.157 Of foremost significance, Native curators and scholars were now taking leading roles in the development, dissemination, and interpretation of these exhibitions. It is this history that laid the foundation for a thriving professional arts community and propelled to national and international prominence the work of Indigenous artists and curators today.

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I am witness to the spirit that pours out of the works of the PNIAI and into the hearts of so many. I am humbled and proud to be in a position to honour this Group and their legacy, yet I am conscious that I have barely scratched the surface.

For the last thought, I defer to the insights of Alex Janvier, who shared these words with a full house at the opening night of the exhibition at the MacKenzie Art Gallery: What you see here is . . . a true story, and that’s how it began, and ever since then we haven’t stopped. Members of this Group, some of them have gone on to their graves, but you’ll

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see their work, they will talk to you with their art. Our story is really a Canadian story, a real Canadian story. It comes from here, by the people from here, and it’s about here. I welcome all of you to take a good look and be proud. I’ve travelled around the world quite a bit . . . but when you come back to Canada, you almost want to kiss the earth that you come from because it’s so good to come home. This art here . . . I hope will give you the same feeling, that every one of you has come home.158

notes 1

Carl Ray, quoted in James Stevens, “Paintings Recreate Ojibwa Past,” Winnipeg Free Press, December 7, 1968.

2 “Jackson Beardy—A Dedicated Artist,” Thunderbird Quill Newsletter (June 1969): 4.

3 This 1969 policy was formally called the “Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy.” For more information see Barry Ace, “Reactive Intermediates: Aboriginal Art, Politics, and Resonance of the 1960s and 1970s,” in this publication; and Mark Cronlund Anderson and Carmen L. Robertson, “Cardboard Characters: The White Paper, 1969,” in Seeing Red: A History of Natives in Canadian Newspapers (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2011), 155–69.

4 The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) is today called, for general public use, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC). See Michelle LaVallee, “Introduction,” 28n9, in this publication for a more detailed account of departmental name changes.

5 For further information on the permit system, see Howard Adams, Tortured People: The Politics of Colonization (Penticton, BC: Theytus Books, 1999), 105.

6 Alex Janvier, interview by author, Cold Lake, AB, March 13, 2010.

7 Ibid.; and Alex Janvier in The Life and Work of the Woodland Artists, DVD, directed by Raoul McKay (Vancouver, BC: Moving Images Distribution, 2003).

8 Tom Hill, interview by author, Regina, SK, March 25, 2010.

9 Daphne Odjig, interview by author (with Alex Janvier and Joseph Sanchez), Penticton, BC, March 7, 2011.

10 Barry Ace, “The Modernists: The Art of Daphne Odjig and Oscar Howe,” in Selected Proceedings of Witness: A Symposium on the Woodland School of Painters, ed. Bonnie Devine (Toronto: Aboriginal Curatorial Collective and Witness, 2009), 117.

11 Daphne Odjig, interview by author, Regina, SK, February 6, 2010.

12 Janvier, interview, March 13, 2010.

13 See Carmen Robertson’s essay, “Paper Trail: PNIAI Artists in Winnipeg Newspapers, 1966–1977,” in this publication; and Anderson and Robertson, Seeing Red. 14 Ruth B. Phillips and Sherry Brydon, “‘Arrow of Truth’: The Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67,” in Museum Pieces: Toward the Indigenization of Canadian Museums, ed. Ruth B. Phillips (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press), 38–39.

15 Hill, interview, March 25, 2010.

16 Phillips and Brydon, “‘Arrow of Truth,’” 29.

17 Ibid., 30.

18 Ibid.

19 According to Phillips and Brydon, Jackson Beardy was also consulted on the pavilion. See “‘Arrow of Truth,’” 322n43. Janvier and Beardy would have also met Morrisseau who, with the assistance of Carl Ray, was among the artists commissioned to create murals for the pavilion.

20 Lee-Ann Martin, The Art of Alex Janvier: His First Thirty Years, 1960–1990, exhibition catalogue (Thunder Bay, ON: Thunder Bay Art Gallery, 1993), 17.

21 Ibid.

22 Ibid.

23 Ibid. Phillips and Brydon document Janvier’s recollection of the events that led up to the ironic retitling of his painting, The Unpredictable East, noting: “After he had completed his painting and returned home, he had a phone call from Joe Garland, a pavilion administrator, complimenting him but asking him to give it another title. He said that the nine-mile walk to the telephone at the general store at Beaver Crossing inspired the new title, Beaver Crossing — Indian Colours, which he thought DIAND would appreciate.” See Phillips and Brydon, “‘Arrow of Truth,’” 322n36.

24 Martin, The Art of Alex Janvier, 17.

25 Phillips and Brydon, “‘Arrow of Truth,’” 30–31.

26 Ibid., 36.

27 Ibid., 29.

28 Hill, interview, March 25, 2010.

29 Jim Robertson, “Expodition,” CBC Radio, August 4, 1967. http:// www.cbc.ca/archives/discover/programs/e/expodition/expoditionjuly-7-1967.html

30

Michael McGarry, "Indians Speak with Straight Tongue," in Winnipeg Tribune’s Weekend Showcase, June 24, 1967, quoted in Phillips and Brydon, “‘Arrow of Truth,’” 27.

31 Daphne Odjig, speech for the opening reception of The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibition (Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, Santa Fe, NM, August 20, 2009).

32 Joseph Sanchez, “The Formation of Professional Native Artists Inc., The Indian Group of Seven,” in Witness, 31.

33 Alex Janvier, interview by author (with Joseph Sanchez), Cold Lake, AB, June 5, 2010.

34 Odjig, interview, February 6, 2010.

35 Shirley Madill, Jackson Beardy: A Life’s Work, exhibition catalogue (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1993), 10.

36 Hill, interview, March 25, 2010.

37 Odjig, interview, February 6, 2010.

38 Sanchez, “The Formation of Professional Native Artists Inc.,” 21.

39 Alex Janvier, “Closing Remarks: Carrying the Vision,” in Witness, 166.

40 Odjig, interview, February 6, 2010.

41 Daphne Odjig, interview by Norma Dinniwell and Sheila Klotz (with Chester Beavon), McMichael Canadian Art Collection, April 18, 1990.

Used by permission of Daphne Odjig and McMichael Canadian Art Collection.

42 Ibid.

43 Odjig, interview, February 6, 2010.

44 Ibid.

45 Daphne Odjig, Joseph Sanchez, and Alex Janvier in various conversations with author, 2007–14; and Eddy Cobiness, interview by Norma Dinniwell, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, April 23, 1990.

Used by permission of the Estate of Eddy Cobiness and McMichael Canadian Art Collection.

46 Joseph Sanchez moved to Canada in 1969.

47 Odjig, interview, February 6, 2010.

48 Cobiness, interview, April 23, 1990.

49 Sanchez, “The Formation of Professional Native Artists Inc.,” 33; and personal communication with author on various dates.

50 Odjig, interview, February 6, 2010.

51 Ibid.

52 The by-laws state: “The board of directors shall be solely entitled to determine who shall be entitled to become new members of the Corporation.” By-laws, Anisinabe Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated, April 1, 1975, Corporation # 057450-3, Canada Corporations Act. 53 For further information regarding artists and activity on the periphery of the group, see Ace, “Reactive Intermediates”; and Viviane Gray “The New Group of Seven: A Reaction to the State of Indian Art in Canada in the Sixties and Seventies,” in this publication.

54 Janvier, Sanchez, and Odjig, interviews with the author, various dates.

55 In an effort to “mobilize the arts at the national level,” the National Indian Arts and Crafts Corporation (NIACC) formed the National Indian Arts Council (NIAC), funded by Indian and Northern Affairs.

The first board members of NIAC included Bill Reid, Alex Janvier, Tom Hill, Jackson Beardy, Jacqueline Fry, Viviane Gray, and Bill Ellis.

NIAC dissolved in 1977 because the board disagreed with NIACC and Central Indian Marketing Services (CIMS) on their marketing strategies, which focused more on crafts than fine arts. CIMS ceased operations in 1978, but NIACC continued to operate well into the mid1990s. See Gray, “The New Group of Seven.”

56 Janvier, interview, March 13, 2010.

57 Bill Reid worked as a broadcaster at the CBC in the 1950s. See Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, “About Bill Reid,” http://www. billreidgallery.ca/About/AboutBillReid.php.

58 Janvier, interview, June 5, 2010.

59 Joseph Sanchez, interview, June 5, 2010; and Alex Janvier and Joseph Sanchez, public interview by author, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, SK, September 21, 2013.

60 Alex Janvier, interview, March 7, 2011.

61 Joseph Sanchez, “The Formation of Professional Native Artists Inc.,” 22, 32.

62 Janvier, interview, June 5, 2010.

63 Janvier, interview, March 13, 2010.

64 Janvier, interview, September 21, 2013.

67

65 Sanchez, interview, June 5, 2010.

66 Odjig, interview, February 6, 2010.

67 Odjig, interview, March 7, 2011.

68 Janvier, interview, June 5, 2010.

69 Ibid.

70 Ibid.

71 Odjig, interview, March 7, 2011.

72 Sanchez, interview, June 5, 2010.

73 Janvier, interview, June 5, 2010.

74 Joseph Sanchez, interview by Jean Blodgett, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, May 14, 1990. Used by permission of Joseph Sanchez and McMichael Canadian Art Collection.

75 Odjig, Sanchez, and Janvier, interview, March 7, 2011.

76 Janvier, interview, June 5, 2010.

77 Odjig, interview, February 6, 2010.

78 Odjig, interview, March 7, 2011.

79 Janvier and Sanchez, interview, March 7, 2011.

80 Cobiness, interview, April 23, 1990.

81 Janvier, interview by author, January 11, 2014.

82 Odjig, interview, March 7, 2011.

83 Janvier, interview, June 5, 2010.

84 Alex Janvier, speech for the opening reception of 7: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, SK, September 20, 2013.

85 Sanchez, “The Formation of Professional Native Artists Inc.,” 31.

86 See Ace, “Reactive Intermediates.”

87 Odjig, interview, February 6, 2010.

88 In addition to the prevailing attitudes about First Nations art, there were no employment opportunities for Indigenous curators. However, it is important to note that several Indigenous curators had begun to fight their way into the bastions of the Canadian contemporary art world, including Tom Hill, Robert Houle, Gerald McMaster, Doreen Jensen, Lee-Ann Martin, Joane Cardinal-Schubert, Bob Boyer, Viviane Gray, and Gloria Cranmer. As the PNIAI sought recognition and inclusion by mainstream institutions through the late 1970s and 1980s, it was critical to them to work hand in hand with sympathetic curators and other individuals who were in positions to assist this aim. Some of these allies included Jacqueline Fry, Elizabeth McLuhan, Audrey Hawthorn, Carol Phillips, and Carol Podedworny. In addition, there were some individuals—private collectors, commercial dealers, and other artists—acting in tandem with the Group, or on their behalf, who offered support to Native artists in various capacities, such as Herbert T. Schwarz, Robert Fox, John Kurtz, Helen E. Band, Dr. Bernard Cinader, Phillip Gevik, Bill Lobchuk (Grand Western Canadian Screen Shop), and Len Anthony. However, the careers of Native artists were primarily in the hands of non-Aboriginal people who did not necessarily have their best interests at heart. In the end, it was incumbent upon artists to show that they were serious professional artists, and that they ought to be treated with the same respect given to other contemporary artists.

89 Janvier, “Closing Remarks: Carrying the Vision,” in Witness, 167.

90 Janvier, interview, March 7, 2011.

91 The exhibition was held August 12–October 10, 1972.

92 Jacqueline Fry, interview by Sheila Klotz, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, June 27, 1990. Used by permission of McMichael Canadian Art Collection.

93 Winnipeg Free Press, June 22, 1974.

94 Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd. was the name of the company affiliated with the shop. The name “New Warehouse Gallery” was not commonly used to identify the gallery, though it was included on at least one of the printed invitations for early PNIAI exhibitions. The gallery itself was an addition to the back of the shop. It did not have a separate entrance, nor was its presence advertised on the store sign.

Odjig’s husband, Chester Beavon, also had a framing business in the back. Stan Somerville, e-mail message to author, May 7, 2013.

95 The exhibition also included work by Don Laforte and two artists who had never exhibited previously, Alvin Redman and Wilma Simon, in addition to stone sculpture from Island Lake, Manitoba. See “Native Awareness Helps Art—Odjig,” Winnipeg Free Press, December 8, 1974.

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96 Hill, interview, March 25, 2010.

97 Ibid.

98 Christopher Hume, “The new age of Indian art,” Maclean’s 92, no. 4 (1979): 27.

99 Alex Janvier has often told this story of being offered a show at the War Museum, although he has never disclosed who made the invitation.

100 Alex Janvier, interview by author, March 13, 2010; June 5, 2010; and September 21, 2013.

101 “Indian artists featured at First National,” Skyway News (now Downtown Journal Newspaper, Minneapolis, MN), January 21, 1976, 31. It is also worth noting that, while it was not an exhibition, Eddy Cobiness brokered a large sale for the Group in Winnipeg in 1979 to a private collection following a specific request for “a collection from the Group of Seven.” See Eddy Cobiness, interview, April 23, 1990; and Joseph Sanchez, e-mail to author, January 28, 2014.

102 As late as 1987, members of the PNIAI were included in exhibitions, such as Canadian Contemporary Native Arts: A Los Angeles Celebration (February 17–April 26), an exhibition curated by Tom Hill for the Institute for the Study of the American West in Los Angeles, California.

103 Odjig, interview, April 18, 1990.

104 Information related to John Dennehy’s involvement with the incorporation of the Group was provided by Michael Dennehy in a telephone conversation with the author, March 10, 2014. See also Eddy Cobiness, interview, April 23, 1990; and J. P. Michell, Acting Chief, Arts and Crafts Division, Indian and Northern Affairs, to Jackson Beardy, June 5, 1975, McMichael Canadian Art Collection Archives.

105 See “‘Neglect’ of Indian art spurs group,” The Winnipeg Tribune, November 30, 1973.

106 “Proposal: Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporation,” December 1973. The document is located in a file at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection pertaining to a proposed exhibition of the PNIAI. The exhibition, which was to be held circa 1990 at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, was cancelled. The original document may have come from the archives of the Indian and Inuit Art Centre (now Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada).

107 Sanchez, interview, June 5, 2010.

108 Author’s emphasis.

109 J. P. Michell to Jackson Beardy, June 5, 1975.

110 Ibid.

111 “New ‘Group of Seven’ is emerging in art,” Edmonton Journal, December 29, 1973; and H. Manner, Secretary to J. P. Michell, Acting Chief, Arts and Crafts Division, Indian and Northern Affairs, to D. Snedden, Executive Assistant to Assistant Deputy Minister, IndianEskimo Affairs, June 9, 1975, McMichael Canadian Art Collection Archives.

112 “Proposal: Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporation.”

113 Manner to Snedden, June 9, 1975.

114 Letters Patent, Anisinabe Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated, April 1, 1975, Corporation # 057450-3, Canada Corporations Act. 115 Lee-Ann Martin, “First Nations Activism Through the Arts,” in Questions of Community: Artists, Audiences, Coalitions, eds. Daina Augaitis, et al. (Banff, AB: Walter Phillips Gallery in association with Banff Centre Press, 1995), 77–89.

116 Eddy Cobiness, The Flowing Art of Cobiness, brochure, no date, artist file, Aboriginal Art Centre, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.

117 Cobiness, interview, April 23, 1990.

118 Janvier, interview, June 5, 2010.

119 Joseph Sanchez, e-mail message to author, January 28, 2014.

120 D. S. Snedden, Executive Assistant for P. B. Lesaux, Assistant Deputy Minister, Indian and Eskimo Affairs, internal memo prepared for the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, June 17, 1975.

121 Ibid.; Manner to Snedden, June 9, 1975.

122 Sanchez, e-mail message, January 28, 2014.

123 Janvier, interview, June 5, 2010.

124 See Lee-Ann Martin, "Early Adventures in the Mainstream: Alex Janvier, Norval Morrisseau, and Daphne Odjig, 1962–1975," 217, in this publication, for an example of how Central Marketing Services and INAC covered exhibition expenses.

125 Janvier, interview, June 5, 2010.

126 Janvier, interview, March 13, 2010.

127 Joseph Sanchez, e-mail messages to author, January 24 and 28, 2014.

128 Joseph Sanchez remembers that all seven members would have been at the official meetings held at the North Star, but not necessarily at the meetings held at Odjig’s. He also recalls that Morrisseau would have attended no more than half the meetings. Joseph Sanchez, e-mail messages to author, January 28, 2014. Alex Janvier believes that he may have missed some of the informal gatherings. Alex Janvier, e-mail message to author, January 24, 2014.

129 Cobiness, interview, April 23, 1990.

130 Janvier and Odjig, interview, March 7, 2011.

131 Martin, “First Nations Activism Through the Arts,” 79.

132 Ibid.

133 Odjig, interview, April 18, 1990.

134 Alex Janvier, interview by Sheila Klotz, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, April 21, 1990. Used with permission of Alex Janvier and McMichael Canadian Art Collection.

135 Janvier, interview, June 5, 2010.

136 See Ace, “Reactive Intermediates”; and Gray, “The New Group of Seven.”

137 Odjig, interview, April 18, 1990.

138 The Canada Gazette Part 1, May 12, 1979, 3020.

139 There is no record either of a reply or of a video being produced. Eddy Cobiness to William Cook, Director of Operations, Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Winnipeg, MB, June 8, 1984, artist file, Eddy Cobiness, Aboriginal Art Centre, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development: letter file no. 28-11. Cobiness also refers to John Dennehy as his spokesperson.

140 Gary Scherbain is one of the three individuals who purchased the New Warehouse Gallery from Odjig in 1976. They renamed the gallery Wah-sa Gallery and operated it until 1984. Scherbain reopened Wahsa Gallery in 2001 at its new location at The Forks in Winnipeg.

141 Dr. John Warner, “Introduction,” Saskatchewan Indian (April 1974): 29.

142 Alex Janvier, Daphne Odjig, and Joseph Sanchez, in various conversations with the author, 2007–14.

143 Woodland art is a style of painting that emerged in the 1960s in Ontario. It is commonly known as the “Woodland School,” but more recently has been referred to as the “Anishnaabe School” of painting.

See Greg Hill, Norval Morrisseau: Shaman Artist, exhibition catalogue (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2006), 13; and Bonnie Devine, Witness, viii.

144 Other members of the PNIAI who are often associated with the “Woodland School” include Carl Ray, Daphne Odjig, and Jackson Beardy. It is important to note, however, that their work cannot be solely defined by this style.

145 Carol Podedworny, “Revisiting the Woodland School: Art, History, Politics, the Woodland Legacy, and Jackson Beardy,” in Jackson Beardy: A Life’s Work, ed. Shirley Madill, exhibition catalogue (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1994), 116.

146 Janvier, “Closing Remarks,” 170.

147 Janvier in The Life and Work of the Woodland Artists.

148 Christopher Hume, “The new age of Indian art,” Maclean’s 92, no. 4 (1979): 1.

149 Ibid., 24.

150 Hill, interview, March 25, 2010.

151 Daphne Odjig, address to awards ceremony conferring on her an Honourary Doctor of Laws, Convocation Hall, University of Toronto, June 17, 1985.

152 Daphne Odjig, speech, August 20, 2009.

153 Jacqueline Fry, Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171: Three Indian Painters of the Prairies, exhibition catalogue (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1972), 10.

154 Robert Houle, interview by author, August 20, 2010.

155 Subsequent SCANA conferences followed in 1987 and 1993.

156 For more information on the history of SCANA and this history see: Alfred Young Man, “SCANA: History and Formation of the Society of Canadian Artists of Native Ancestry,” paper delivered at Aboriginal Curatorial Collective Colloquium, Urban Shaman Gallery, Winnipeg, MB, March 17–20, 2006; and Alfred Young Man, “Bob Boyer and the Society of Canadian Artists of Native Ancestry (SCANA),” in Bob Boyer: His Life’s Work, ed. Lee-Ann Martin, exhibition catalogue (Regina: MacKenzie Art Gallery, 2008).

157 While there is not space to list every exhibition that has contributed to the establishment of an Indigenous art history in Canada, some of the most significant include the following: Art Amerindian (DIAND, 1981); New Work By A New Generation (MacKenzie Art Gallery, 1982); Beyond History (Vancouver Art Gallery, 1989); In the Shadow of the Sun (Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1989); Indigena (Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1992); Land, Spirit, Power (National Gallery of Canada, 1992); Reservation X (Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1998); and most recently Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years (Plug In ICA, 2010) and Sakahàn: International Indigenous Art (National Gallery of Canada, 2013); among others, in addition to a growing focus on significant solo exhibitions of artists, including: Carl Beam, Rebecca Belmore, Robert Davidson, Alex Janvier, Brian Jungen, Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig, Edward Poitras, and Bill Reid.

158 Janvier, speech for the opening reception of 7: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., September 20, 2013.

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THE ARTISTS GROUP OF SEVEN: A NEW LANGUAGE ART

T

he seven artists of the PNIAI frequently drew on the legacy of their ancestors for inspiration.

In doing so, they visually translated a world of knowledge based on oral tradition, individual experience, and cultural heritage. While the intention behind the artworks varies from artist to artist, each member developed their iconography to build upon this cultural inheritance. As artist Colleen Cutschall has observed, “each generation of artists adjusts to the information that precedes it, brings new ideas into discussion, and responds to the current political milieu.” 1 The key objectives of the Group were based on a shared concern with Indigenous philosophies, worldviews, and aesthetics. While interpretations were individually subjective and sometimes nation specific, the work produced by these seven artists was unquestionably non-European. To borrow a phrase from Robert Houle, the work was part of a “new language art,” 2 an extension of an oral tradition via visual art. While forms, styles, and techniques varied among PNIAI members, the anatomy of this new language—their aesthetic conventions—were all truly innovative.

A commitment to nationhood and ancestry is evident throughout the PNIAI members’ oeuvres, despite the oppressive climate in which they were created. Their visual interpretations communicate a connection to a dynamic culture that is alive and well. Jacqueline Fry, writing about Jackson Beardy, Alex Janvier, and Daphne Odjig, articulates it best in Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171: Three Indian Painters of the Prairies:

The adventures of gods [spirit beings], heroes and animals, as well as references to natural elements in various stages of transformation, are not simply “stories.” They express the logic proper to a culture, illustrating its social and moral organization through images and words taken from the community’s environment and experience.

The works . . . are important, not only because they demonstrate the permanence of traditional [First Nations] culture but also because they reveal the presence of living, creative sources that, firmly rooted in the multi-cultured world of today, open the way to a more understanding world of tomorrow.3 The subject matter explored by the PNIAI members is diverse, with content that is anecdotal, humorous, spiritual, and political.

Some of the work is personal in nature and is based on biographical narratives and everyday life. Other work takes on social issues related to history, government, and ecology. Still other works turn to legends and the supernatural for inspiration to articulate spiritual beliefs and to understand dualities and conflict. notes 1 2 3

Colleen Cutschall, “Jaxon Beerdi: Ambassador, Alchemist, Artist,” in Jackson Beardy: A Life’s Work, ed. Shirley Madill (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1993), 25.

Robert Houle, “The Place of Memory in Storytelling,” in Jackson Beardy: A Life’s Work, 145.

Jacqueline Fry, Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171: Three Indian Painters of the Prairies (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1972), n.p.

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DAPHNE ODJIG We come from a strong people. We had to be strong to survive. (2007) One of the most important lessons that life should teach us is to accept and be proud of our identity. (1985)

I am Potawatomi from Wikwemikong of the Three Fires Confederacy.

It is not so long ago that the work of artists of Native ancestry was dismissed as ethnographic.

Many people did not believe that our art was worthy of exhibition in fine art galleries because it was not rooted in European tradition.

I am proud of my Potawatomi ancestry but I have worked hard to earn respect simply as an artist. I want the work of artists of Native ancestry to stand on an equal footing with the work of artists of other heritages. I was proud to stand in the company of six distinguished artists from many backgrounds to receive Canada’s highest honour in the visual arts from our Governor General, the Queen’s representative in Canada [in 2007]. On that occasion, I spoke about my frustration with boxes reserved for “Indian art.”

I remember having my paintings refused by a private gallery because it was “too Indian.” I also remember being told that my work was “not Indian enough.” My commitment is to painting in my own voice. I believe that the work of artists of Native ancestry can be as fine as the work of any tradition.

I don’t want to see young artists of Native ancestry paint themselves into a box in their search for authenticity. Every artist paints from their own cultural heritage and their own experience. Whatever your heritage, it will come out in your brush. My counsel to young artists is to stop worrying about authenticity. It is within you.

Trust that the Ancestors will speak through you.

Know that they do not want you to try to be them.

Create in your own voice.

I am still wrestling with the issues around whether there is a need to have separate exhibition spaces for “Indian art.” I remember as a young girl being very disappointed when the priest cancelled our participation in fall fair competitions with a neighbouring White community. It was our chance to prove that we were as good as they were. We wouldn’t have that opportunity if we only competed among ourselves. At the same time I recognize the need for artists of Native ancestry to develop within a context that honours their cultural heritage and respects their aesthetic perspective.

There was a need to form the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc.—the “Indian Group of Seven.” We acknowledged and supported each other as artists when the world of fine art refused us entry. There was a need for transformation in how the work of artists of Native ancestry was understood and valued. Together we gradually broke down barriers that probably would have been so much more difficult faced alone. Who would have believed back in the seventies that three of us—Norval Morrisseau, Alex Janvier and myself—would become Governor General’s Laureates.

Daphne Odjig, 2009

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Gii-zoongaadiziwag gaa-bi-onjiiyang. Ji-gii-zoongaadiziyang ji-bimaadiziyang. (2007) Maawanj gechi-inendaagwak gagiikwewin ji-gikina’amaagoyang ji-gichi-inendamang aweneniwiyang. (1985)

Wiikwemikong nindoonjibaa, nimboodawaadamiiw, niswi-ishkodeng nindizhidibendaagoz.

Gaawiin igo ginwezhekamig Anishinaabeg gii-majenjigaadeniwan omazinibii’igewiniwaan.

Niibowa awiyag gii-inendamoog gaawiin nimazinibii’igewininaanan daa-waabanda’iwesiim gemaa daa-adaawaagesiim ningoji, gaawiin aaniish waabishkiiwe ogii-ozhitoosiinan.

Ningichi-inendaan Boodawaadamiiyaan, ningii-gichi-anokii dash ji-majenimigoosiwaan mazinibii’igeyaan. Ninandawendaan daataabishkoo ji-inaabanjigaadegin anishinaabeg omazinibii’igewiniwaan daabishkoo bakaan awiyag.

Ningii-gichi-inendaan ji-wiijigaabawitawagwaa ningodwaaswi omazinibii’igeg bakaan odakaaneziwaad ji-nanaakomigooyaang Kaanada ogichi-ogimaakaanan gaa-giigidootamaagod gichi-ogimaakwe [2007 gaa-akiiwang]. I’iwe apii, ningii-wiindamaage migoshkaaji’igooyaan makakoon nepiimatoong anishinaabeg omazinibii’igewiniwaan onji.

Nimaamikawise, gaawiin gii-noondewaabanda’iwesiim nimazinibii’iganan “onzaam gii-anishinaabewinoon.” Zhigwa gaye ningii-wiindamaagoo gaawiin “minik giianishinaabewisoon.” Ningii-giizhendam niin igo waa-izhibii’igeyaan ji-izhibii’igeyaan. Nindinendam Anishinaabeg omazinibii’igewiniwaan ji-aapijiminonaagwakin daabishkoo bakaan awiya.

Gaawiin ninandawenimaasiig oshkiomazinibii’igeg ji-gagwe-gaagiizibii’igewaad anishinaabewiwaad eta onji. Bigo awe gaamazinibii’iged odoonaabandaan gaa-gii-biizhi-bimaadizid odizhitwaawining. Bigo gidizhitwaawin, gimazinibii’igewining da-

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izhise. Niwiindamawaag oshki-ayaansag, gego wawaanendangen ji-aanawenimigooyan. Giiyawing ate. Debwetan ogetemag giga-wiiji’igoog. Gikendan gaawiin ginandawenimigosiig ji-naabinootaageyan.

Giin igo onendamaazon.

Giiyaabi nindoonjaanimi’igon daga bakaan ji-achigaadegin “anishinaabeg omazinibii’igewiniwaan.” Niminjimendaan aabiding gii-minjinaweziyaan ikwezensiwiyaan, gaawiin mekidewikonaye ningiibagidinigosiinaan ji-gagwe-aadawaanangwaa waabishkiiweyaansag nimazinibii’igewinaanan onji. Nindaa-gii-waabanda’iwemin geniinawind gii-nitaawibii’igeyaang. Gaawiin daagii-minosesinoon niinawind eta gagwebakinaadiyaang. Ningikendaan gaye Anishinaabeg gaa-mazinibii’igewaad ji-onaabandamowaad wiinawaa odizhitwaawiniwaan aaniin gaye jiizhinaagwakinipan.

Onji ji-onachigaadeg iwe Professional Native Indian Artists Inc.—gaa-niizhwaachiwaad Anishinaabeg (the “Indian Group of Seven”).

Ningii-ziidooshkaadimin apii gaa-niigaaniiwaad gii-biindigadoosigwaa nimazinibii’igewinaanan.

Onjida ji-gikenjigaadeg aaniin Anishinaabeg omazinibii’igewiniwaan ji-inaabanjigaadegin, aaniin gaye ji-apiitenjigaadegin.

Maamawiinowaang, gegapii ningiidebwenimigoomin, nawach idash daa-gii-zanagan giishpin bebezhigoyaangiban. Nisimidana daswaaki odaanaang idash nindaa-gii-debwetaamin giinisiyaang—Norval Morrisseau, Alex Janvier dago niin—gichi-ogimaakaanag ji-nanaakomigooyaang Daphne Odjig, 2009

Daphne Odjig, So Great Was Their Love, 1975 [cat. 83]

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Daphne Odjig, The Medicine Man, 1974 [cat. 79]

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BIOGRAPHY Daphne Odjig (b. 1919) was born on Wikwemikong (Manitoulin Island) and is of Potawatomi and Odawa heritage. Odjig was admitted to the British Columbia Federation of Artists in 1963, and in 1970 she established Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Limited in Winnipeg.

She served as a member of the board and instructor for the Manitou Arts Foundation on Schreiber Island, Ontario (1971). In 1973, Odjig received a Swedish Brucebo Foundation Scholarship and travelled as a resident artist to Sweden. Odjig has been the recipient of several awards and honours, including: the Canadian Silver Jubilee Medal (1977); an Eagle Feather on behalf of the Wikwemikong Reserve in recognition of her artistic accomplishment, an honour previously reserved for men (1978); Member of the Order of Canada (1986); the National Aboriginal Achievement Award (1998); the Commemorative Golden Jubilee Medal (2002); the Order of British Columbia (2007); and the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts (2007). She has been awarded honorary doctorates by Laurentian University, Sudbury (1982), University of Toronto (1985), Nipissing University, North Bay (1996), Okanagan University College, Kelowna (2002), Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops (2007), Ontario College of Art and Design, Toronto (2008), University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario (2008), and Algoma University, Sault Ste. Marie (2011). Odjig has been an honorary board member of the Canadian Heritage Foundation (1988–93) and is an elected member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Art (1989).

In 1971, Odjig opened a small craft store in Winnipeg. This craft store was expanded in

1974 to create the New Warehouse Gallery, the first gallery owned and operated by a person of Aboriginal heritage in Canada. Two feature documentaries have been produced about Odjig’s life and work: The Colours of Pride (1973) and The Life and Work of Daphne Odjig (2008). Odjig has written and illustrated a series of school readers, Nanabush Tales (1971), which are still included as part of the curriculum in elementary schools on Manitoulin Island.

Several major exhibitions of her work have been organized, including the recent internationally touring retrospective, The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig, curated by Bonnie Devine and co-organized by the Art Gallery of Sudbury and the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2007). In 1992, the monograph and exhibition, A Paintbrush in My Hand, Daphne Odjig was launched. Odjig was featured, alongside fellow PNIAI members Norval Morrisseau and Carl Ray, with younger prominent First Nations artists in the Art Gallery of Ontario exhibition The Image Makers (1984).

Odjig’s work is held in numerous public and private collections, including: Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (ON); Art Gallery of Ontario (ON); Art Gallery of Sudbury (ON); Canada Council Art Bank (ON); Canadian Museum of Civilization (QC); Glenbow Museum (AB); MacKenzie Art Gallery (SK); McMichael Canadian Art Collection (ON); National Gallery of Canada (ON); Royal Ontario Museum (ON); Thunder Bay Art Gallery (ON); and Winnipeg Art Gallery (MB). Odjig has completed several major commissions, including: Earth Mother, for the Canadian Pavilion at Expo 70, Osaka, Japan (1970); The Great Flood, a mural for Peguis

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High School in Hodgson, Manitoba (1971); The Creation of the World, a Centennial Commission for the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature (now Manitoba Museum), Winnipeg (1972); From Mother Earth Flows the River of Life, for the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (1973); The Indian in Transition, for the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau (1978); and Rebirth

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of a Culture, for the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg (1979). In 1975, she was invited to paint her interpretations of Jerusalem for El Al (Israel Airlines) and, in 1986, Odjig was chosen as one of only four international artists to paint a homage to Pablo Picasso in Antibes, France.

Daphne Odjig, Chained to Time, 1973 [cat. 75]

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EDDY COBINESS To me, being an artist is in itself life’s greatest gift which is an honour and to which I am greatly thankful. For many years I have worked as an artist, enjoyed it and considered it a great privilege and duty to pass on my talent to others, artists yet unborn, dreams yet unrealized.1 (circa 1981) A gift such as this is not to be wasted; it constitutes the greatest part of my life and I consider it my bounden duty to pass it on to the children of the future; maybe they will have a chance to live what I now paint, taking the magic out of the canvas as an example for their life and others so that beauty and dignity will enter our lives again as it was in the time of the ancients and perhaps my visions and dreams are messages for the young to think about and to strive to live by.2 (circa 1981) I have met and worked with many talented young artists, who have so much to contribute to the world of visual art. I hope, by setting a good example myself, that someday you will get to know them too.3 (circa 1981)

Niin wiin, mazinibii’igeyaan ningichi-inendaan gii-miinigoowiziyaan, mii dash ninanaakondaa.

Aazha niibowa daswaaki owe nindinanokii mazinibii’igeyaan, niminwendaan owe ji-aanike-miinagwaa awiyag mashi-netaawisigwaa gemaa mashi gekendanzigwaa owaabanjigewiniwaa’. (circa 1981) Owe dino miinigoowiziwin gaawiin ji-webinigaadeg. Mii owe maawanj gechi-inendamaan nimbimidaaziwining. Nindinendaan gaye ji-aanike-miinagwaa niigaan abinoojiiyag, maagizhaa gewiinawaa mii ge-izhi-bimaadiziwaapan. Ji-odaapinamowaad wegonen mezinibii’igaadeg obimaadiziwiniwaang gaa-onizhishininig daabishkoo gaa-gii-izhisewaad ogeteyaadiziig. Maagizhaa gaa-inaabishinaan oshki-ayaansag onji ji-naanaagadawendamowaad aaniin ji-izhi-bimaadiziwaad. (circa 1981) Niibowa oshki-mazinibii’igeg ningii-bi-nagishkawaag, wiidanokiimagwaa gaye gaa-wawiingeziwaad ji-mazinibii’igewaapan. Nimbagosendaan gwayakwaadiziyaan niin onji, maagizhaa ningoding gidaa-nagishkawaag. (circa 1981)

notes 1 Eddy Cobiness, quoted in The Flowing Art of Eddy Cobiness, promotional handout (Winnipeg, MB: Great Canadian Print Company Ltd., circa 1981).

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

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Eddy Cobiness, Let There Be Life, 1973 [cat. 16]

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HIS ART LIVES IN HIS SOUL: INSPIRATION RIDES THE WINGS OF SLEEP MICHELLE RAMSAY, DAILY NEWS, MARCH 28, 1977

CHATHAM, ON — The art of Eddy Cobiness is straight from his soul.

A soul which, he says, has wandered among his Ojibway ancestors and through the wilds of the forest in the dark of the night.

A full-blooded Ojibway from Buffalo Point Reserve in Manitoba, Mr. Cobiness is a believer in visions while sleeping. He was at the Thames Art Centre Saturday for a native art show.

“It is part of the Indian culture and belief that when a person is asleep, his soul leaves his body temporarily to travel,” he said. “I often find inspiration through my dreams and I use it in my art.” The show ends Friday.

He calls his work “the truth about the Indian people” and says its purpose is to incorporate old customs with today’s lifestyle.

“People often have the wrong conception of Indian culture. They read books written by white men and often there are errors in them,” he said.

One example, he pointed out was, “the happy hunting grounds” theory of Indian heaven.

“I don’t believe an Indian goes there when he dies. My theory is what I have painted in this work, he said, gesturing at Infinity, a painting on display at the Thames Arts Centre’s native art show over the weekend.

“The painting shows one blue circle representing my body and the light blue circle represents my soul. The fine lines between the body and soul are broken, meaning death, and the soul is behind a barrier,” he explained. “I don’t know what’s behind the barrier, but it sure isn’t ‘the happy hunting grounds’,” he added.

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Another of his favorite pieces is a painting called Integration, depicting different races and cultures of the world. Each is shaped like a box, with various colorings denoting the different peoples. The boxes in the painting are crowded together and, according to Mr. Cobiness, it is “the way we should be close to one another without prejudices separating us.”

He prefers to work out of his trailer home on the Buffalo Point Reservation, where the elements of nature are at hand.

One of the newer techniques was developed by living in close contact with the wilds.

“One day a friend of mine was hunting nearby and he came to my place to ask me if he could borrow a knife to skin a deer he had just shot,” he explained. I walked to the woods with him and watched him skin the animal. Although I don’t hunt, I was fascinated by the colors of the autumn leaves, the patterns made by the sun and the animal skin and insides. I ran back to my trailer and began sketching.”

Mr. Cobiness made 10 sketches, some with touches of watercolour, bundled them up and took them to Daphne Odjig’s art gallery in Winnipeg.

At the time, a government employee was searching for paintings for the provincial offices and he spotted the sketches. He immediately purchased five and the next day, came back for two more.

Today they are part of the Province of Manitoba’s collection in Winnipeg.

Mr. Cobiness’s works have become so popular that he was commissioned by the Manitoba

Eddy Cobiness, Wild Rice Harvesting, 1973 [cat. 19]

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Eddy Cobiness, Untitled, 1974 [cat. 22]

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Indian Brotherhood to do a painting for Queen Elizabeth II of England.

In 1970, on Her Majesty’s Canadian tour, Mr. Cobiness’s painting was presented to the queen.

In 1973, John Dennahy [sic] of Ottawa, an art financier, contacted 14 popular Indian artists in Canada and offered to help them form an association to ensure that they received the value of their art through sales.

However, only six artists and Mr. Cobiness expressed interest and subsequently formed what is now “The group of seven Indian artists”.

jumped in price from $50 to $300.

He says he is so relaxed at times, he can complete 25 or 30 watercolors in a month and is proud of the work done on each one.

Although he enjoys showings of his work, he admits that if people don’t come to see it, he doesn’t care.

The Indian artist has works on display in permanent collections at the Royal Ontario Museum, the Gallery Anthropos in London, England, Dominion Gallery in Montreal, the Art Emporium in Vancouver and Wallack Galleries in

Since becoming a member of the group, Mr. Cobiness says his pen and ink drawings have

Ottawa.

BIOGRAPHY Eddy Cobiness (1933–1996) was born in Warroad, Minnesota and raised on Buffalo Point Reserve, Manitoba. Between 1954 and 1957, Cobiness served in the United States Army, where he became a Golden Gloves boxer and continued to draw and sketch during his leisure time. In 1980, he served as chairman of the First Annual Great Peoples PowWow in Sprague, Manitoba. He has also published his illustrations in two books: Alphonse Has an Accident (1974) and Tuktoyaktuk 2-3 (1975).

An Ojibway artist, Cobiness participated in several exhibitions as a member of the PNIAI throughout the 1970s, including: Canadian Indian Art ’74, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (1974); Indian Art ’75, Woodland Indian Cultural Education Centre (now Woodland Cultural Centre), Brantford (1975); and Fierté sur toile : Tableaux par sept artistes indiens canadiens / Colours of Pride: Paintings by Seven Professional

Native Artists, Dominion Gallery, Montreal (1975). His works have also been included in two recent group exhibitions: Frontrunners, co-organized by Winnipeg’s Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art and Urban Shaman Contemporary Art Gallery and Artist-Run Centre, Winnipeg (2011); and My Winnipeg: There’s No Place Like Home, Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, Winnipeg (2012). His work is held in many prominent private collections worldwide including those of former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, Queen Elizabeth II, and former Manitoba Premier Edward Schreyer.

His work is found in several public collections, including: Canadian Museum of Civilization (QC); Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (ON); McMichael Canadian Art Collection (ON); Royal Ontario Museum (ON); and Woodland Cultural Centre (ON).

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ALEX JANVIER YEDARIYE’S VOICE IN COLOUR In the precontact Kanata era, the work of art had a strong influence through totem poles, rock paintings, porcupine quillwork, and later beadwork. All of the above are tribally distinct universally. Many tribal meanings of doing traditional works of art have been lost. The separation of the youth from the elders started the ending.

The old porcupine quill designs were angular and straight-edged. In later years, the Hudson’s Bay beads came, and the geometric rigidity was loosened by the freedom of the new beads. This is where my art began, watching the old ladies doing their new free flowing designs.

By the time I was fifteen, I was already being called an artist. I didn’t know what that was, but that’s what I was called. I was called a lot of other names too, in that residential school. But one thing that was absolute in all that time—287 Cold Lake was me—and I’m still 287 to this day according to the Department of Indian Affairs.

That kind of story does a lot of unusual things to your life. It tears your language, culture, beliefs and so on. They probably removed a lot of it. But one thing that stayed with me was my language.

I was able to speak my language to the end, and I still continue to enjoy dialogue with my siblings and other relatives.

The ill-fated Indian residential schools brought one good thing for me, the introduction of colour-crayons, pencils, watercolours, and manilla paper. Access to these materials was universal

amongst all students; and with them came the good fortune of a new way of art making. This good fortune, the supply of new materials, allowed an unprecedented change-up and a new outlook on art.

During my early teenage years in the town of St. Paul, we formed a group of local artists.

A certain professor, Carlo Altenberg, from the University of Alberta came to recognize my raw talent. He invited me for private tutoring during the summer holidays. It was there that I had my earliest exposure to the works of Kandinsky, Klee, and Miró. They came to my attention with many other modern artists through art books from the University of Alberta Library.

The professor would leave me to the books.

He cautioned, “Do not read, study the pictures.”

Later I had to report everything that was observed. The next day he would quiz me about what I had learned in greater detail. His only comment was, “Goot, my boy, very goot.” During the rest of the week, I learned more about art by doing watercolour on dried stretched paper taped on a flat plywood board. For the next three years, my studies continued, the private tutoring in the summer and in the St. Paul group during the winter months.

In 1956 after completing high school at St. Thomas College in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, I entered into a school of art at the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (now Alberta College of Art and Design) in

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Calgary, Alberta. I graduated in 1960. Following graduation I taught art for a couple years through the Department of Extension, at the University of Alberta. In 1962, I went on to paint full-time, and have successfully continued to this day.

My reason for getting involved with the “Indian Group of Seven” was to take our art out of the ethnological and war museums in Ottawa, Ontario and bring it to mainstream Canada. It was a reality check. We were to learn that our art was not in need, nor invited. “Indian Art” was a thing that was shoved aside to the museum, but we had

rubber stamp and other gallery owners started to open up their doors.

And from then on we began to change the art world in Canada. Dubbed “Indian Art” and more recently “Aboriginal art,” it has become much more (comparatively) successful. That’s what we did. We didn’t plan it that way, but we were there, and our works started to work for themselves. The paintings started to speak for us.

In recent years, the artwork by Morrisseau and Daphne Odjig have made it into the national fibre with impact at the National Gallery of

a different idea. We had a different view about this. Daphne had an art place in Winnipeg and we used to congregate there. We had a vision and we believed that we had something.

We had to open up a lot of doors. After a difficult negotiation, the Dominion Gallery in Montreal opened the first door into the top galleries in Canada, to give breakthrough show Number One. The story started somewhere in the west. I think Vancouver was the first show, and then we went down the line. But we still needed that rubber stamp of approval for what we were doing. And so we asked John Dennehy to negotiate a show at the Dominion Gallery in Montreal. We knew that the famous Max Stern would be the man who would probably approve this show and if he okayed it, then we were in. So we did that and we had a show at the Dominion Gallery. And it changed things. We finally got that

Canada. One day what I do may be discovered, perhaps by a foreign country, to give it a full exposure with a serious major book to accompany the grand opening.

I have painted solely. There is something to paint any moment, night and day. My paintings are just about who I am, where I’ve been, what I’ve seen. What I have painted is about what the hell happened to us as landlords of the land, sky, and water.

Painting says it all for me. It is the Redman talk in colour, in North America’s language. Our Yedariye’s (Creator’s) voice in colour.

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Alex Janvier, 2012 * Yedariye means the Creator in the Denesuline language.

Alex Janvier, High Hopes of a Liberal, 1974 [cat. 37]

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YEDARIYE BEDAYIGHEH BEDEHDTLERI Asi Dene nedjah nih ghetherdel ghile ghidtu, asi ghegai, etladunidene yeltzih, nesuh ghunidhen gha ghotegheh ghunidhen ghu asi ghotleh nisih, dedchen ghegadh dta chu, ttheh ghedertler ghu, tzi cho’gho ghidta asi ghega nisi chu eyi ghokesi ehtzuzi dta tthi asi ghega ghaja nisi. Etladunidene asi ghegha nisi dta ghunidhen ghidta asi ghega nisi eyi ghenaghunighile si dughu. Dene godheh alnethi tchasi edilye ghadja nisi ghodtzi bedtchasi ghodegheltdhed ni.

Yanisi, tzi cho’gho dta asi ghotleh nisi nahdtadh landtu ghudtthi eltthidareah ghu asi ghegah nisi.

Ku eyer ghokesi ghu ttheghottine ninidel ghu ehtzuzi ninila ghu asi eltthi dadeai chu nantzer landtu asi ghegah nisi ghutzeltih ghileh ghu dtatzen losi tzen dadedthen ghaldhen ghadja nih, asi ghegai, ehtzuzi godhe dta. Eyer ekughu ghodtzi si,si asi ghesghai jai, alnethi asi gheghai k’anestai, dta tzen wolei danidhen ghu asi ghegha jai ekughu.

Sulaghi tchadhel seghaiye ghu, Artist ghelih sih setzedi ghadja nisi. Eyi dta ahtzedi sih kosha ghile ni, kuli, kusetzedi slinih. Eyi beghadheni tthi sizih tla tlinih, eyer dta ghanughenelteghn ka naide nighileih. Itlaghi asi zah eyi ghoteghe eltthi kosha ni, eyi 287 Cold Lake eyi sih ni, eyi ahtlo 287 gheslih ghindteh dughu ghodtzen, Department of Indian Affairs bedaghare. Eyi kondtih asi bedta asughundteh la ghikelaighini eghenai bazih.

Neyatiye neghaghadiltchulh, nedtchaniye ghu, dtantu nanighidhed ghu asi kanultah nisih chu kondtih asi dalih. Asi tla ghedih ahlya. Itlaghi asi eyi sel budelah ni, eyi seyatiye.

Seyatiye eyi dtanilthai tzen ninina ghilih sih ghodtzen ghustoghn, selodtine dahlih bel dayasti ghudesha seyatiye dta.

Eyi duwe bunilthen kuli sekwighauneltaghn ini, eyi bedta ihtla suwa ghasja si, tlis chene bedta

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asi ghededled laghodti chu tu bedta asi ghededledi chu tlistheth beke ededtlis ghai chu eyi bekodeshai eyed naghidhed ghodta. Eyi kondti asi detthiyeh dta eyer ghauneltai ghudenih beghuini gha badaghola ni, eyi ghodta edestlis dta asi nezui ghesghah ghadja ni. Eyer, si sa suwa nudeltthed ghidta asi ehtladughodti, ghodtthe gholih ghulei nezui k’aunedta ghaneh ghadja ni,edestlisi ghodta.

Tchelekuwi ghestli ghu kughe St. Paul ghulyei eyer dene dta asi daditlis kudadelyai ahtla nadil gha ghuwilya ni. Ihtlaghi dene ghaunelteghni Carlo Altenberg ghulyei, Alberta University ghodtzih dandtu edetlisih ghuwuhlni ni. Dtandtu kundtu edetlisih gha ghanunustaghi gheni ah, sineh ghasuneltehn nailih ghilya ni. Eyer ekughu ni sih, asi dene dta edetlis kolyai Kardinsky ghulyei chu, Klee ghulyei chu Miro ghulyei chu eyi bedtzi editlis bekudesha ghel tthi etladuni dene asi daditlis kudadelyai gha editlis ghega nisi tthi naghi tthi bekudesha ni eyed editlis k’eghoni kughe eyer Alberta University.

Eyi dta ghasuneltegheni adi ghu, didi editlis bek’eyaghulti sana selni tli ni, ghoteghe nughulih la selni tli ni. Eyer ghokesih ghu dtandtu bek’ anighiltai gha bel kudesih nagholih ni. Eyi keni tzine de tthi nasudelked tli ni dta ghogha bel yaghilti ni gha. Dta gha ni tli ni, “nezu, siyeseh, nezu akuli” gheni tli ni.Eyer ghokesih tzidatagha de, tthi, tu ghel asi ghededledi dta editlis k’e dechen kale k’e benildtusi ke asi dadestlis ghitlini. Eyed ghokesi bekeni taghi ghaiye, kundtu ghusuneltah, dheni tthi ghasuneltagh sine ghu, ghaiye ghu St Paul ghodtzi ahtla nitzidighli bel nanasdthi tli ni ghaiye ghu.

1956 ekughu sekuwi ghaunelteghni enasdhen ghu St Thomas ghulyei eyed North Battleford kuwe, Saskatchewan keyagha. Eyed ghodtzi Provincial Institute of Technology and Art nedani ya ni,

Calgary keyagha, Alberta k’e. 1960 ekughu eyi tthi enasdhen ni. Eyer ghokesi ghu si dene ghaunesteghn ghadja ni, eyer Department of Extension ghel University k’eyagha eyer Alberta ghindti. Ku eyer ghok’esi 1962 ekughu sidheni edestlis dta asi ghedestler gha sudelah ghadja ni, kundtu asi ghodestzi dta ahtlo sudel ah dteh dughu ghodtzen.

Dta ghodta eyi totagh dene asi daditlis kudadelyai ghadeniyai eyi yaghi ghodta sih, dene tzi asi daditlisih dalih, dta kundti dta tthei dene bedtzi asi k’e ghoni kuwe ghodtzi eduwulyeh ghu detthiyeh dene yek’auneltagh gha Canada

nughel nughulta landtu nuk’aunetah gha nidthen ni, Eyi ah kughilya ghu Dominion Gallery nuhtzi editlis nedtih gha ghughilya ni. Eyi kunaghudhed ni ghodta asi dtandtu naudeltthi ghani kodja ghile nih. Kolyai ghodtzi, tzeh dta nanelyel lalyai ghodtzi, nugha dtalosi tzen nugha ghodanadelyei ghadja nihsi.

Ekughu ghodtzi ghuldu nedja Canada k’eyagha dtandtu asi detlisih k’aghunedtai ehtladughodtih laneh ghadja ni. Indian art sni ghu ghudtzi ghadja ni, ku k’ane thili ghodtzi ghu Aboriginal Art sni bek’aghunedtah ghadja si, eyed ghodtzi ghuldu kondti editlis beghaunidhen ghaneh ghadja ni.

k’eyagha wolei nesdhen ghidtah ni. Eyi ghodtah dtaghundtehi kodethilya ni. Eyi ghodta nuhtzi editlis bedinagholti ghile ghudtthi, bekaunetagh tthile ghudtthi. Indian Art sni eyi asi daditlis nisi ihtlasi tzen benilni adtzedi ghik’ela ni, kuli nuhni kundtu bek’aniltagh ghile ni. Detthiyeh kunidtthen ni dtandtu asi kadaniltaghi. Daphne edini dta la k’e gholai eyer ahtla ninidil ghu ghogha dayailti dta eyer. Dtandtu asi ghalaghahda ghili gha nuhni nuhnih dta dtalya ghili gha nuhnih thiltzi ni, dtunidthen nidthen tthi ghel.

Yodetaghne tlai ghodadeghilyai dta gholduh gha laghodtih ni. Ghudeni ghile kuli bebasi ghogha dayailti ni, Dominion Gallery ghulyei eyer tthe nugha ghodaghadetah ni Montreal kuwe k’eyagha, eyer kedagha tzen editlis nedtih kuwe Canada k’eyagha dta tthe kolyah ni nughah. Eyi ghoni yadagha asitai bunidhed ni. Vancouver kuwe tthe ni woni eyer ghodtzi yayagha tzen kuwe daghola si tthi kudalya ni eyi bek’eni. Kondteh kuli ahtlo ihtlaighi asi ghedih landteh niah eyi tzeh dta ghe nughetzedi ghile landte niah eyi berilih ni.

Eyi ghodta ihtlaghi dene John Dennehy ghulyei ghudighilked ni nugha senughuei gha kughundtei kuwe gha, eyer Dominion Gallery, Montreal kuwe k’eyagha senuniah ni nugha. Eyer ihtlaghi balei bek’odjai Max Stern ghulyei ghe gheni deh kudta

Nuhni kughilyai eyi si. Kughulyei nidthen ghitaile kuli eyer nughodelah niah, nuhtzi editlis edegha eghalaghena ghaneh ghadja ni. Eyer ghodtzi ghu eyi nuhtzi editlis tthi nughel yalti laneh ghadja ni sih.

K’ane thaghile ghu, kundti editlis Morriseau chu Daphne Odjig chu yeltzi eyi desikedhe nene beyuwe landteh ghu bek’aunedta ghadja National Gallery Canada bedtzi kesi eyer budelah.

Si tthi dtaghah de dtandtu edestlish eyi tthi bek’aghunedtah wonih, etladuni nene k’e ghodtzi bek’aunedtah tai, ghoteghe nedtih gha begha editlis gholih ghel ghodaghadedtih ghu seditliseh nedtih gholye gha tai le sah.

Sih dhene asi ghedestled, kundtu ghesgal.

Dtaghulosih asi ghedestled gha ghoah, ghedtleghe tai tzitheh tai. Si asi ghedestledi sih segha eyi, dta ghestli ghu dtanathiyai ghu, dta ghesih chu gha. Dta ghogha edestlisi eyi, edtlanaghodhed niah nuhni nuhtzen, dta asi kelnih ghidtlih kesi nuhk’aughunedta ni, nih chu, yakiyeh chu tu chu gha, dtandtu nuhtzen naudeldthedi ghogha asi ghedestled.

Asi ghededtledi eyi si sel andtedi koghoni. Eyi si bek’e dene delkosi beyatiye budedti ghastlehei, desik’edhe nene beyatiyeh dta. Nuhtzi yedariyeh bedayighe budedti asi ghedestledi dta.

Alex Janvier, 2012

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Alex Janvier, The True West, 1975 [cat. 40]

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BIOGRAPHY Alex Janvier (b. 1935) was born at Cold Lake First Nations, Alberta, and is of Dene Suline and Saulteaux heritage. In 1960, Janvier received his Fine Arts Diploma with Honours from the Alberta College of Art in Calgary, after which he worked as an art instructor at the University of Alberta (1961).

Janvier was later hired as a cultural adviser to the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs (now Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada) and helped to establish cultural policy for the Cultural Affairs Program (1965). He was also appointed to the Aboriginal Advisory Committee for the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal, where he painted a nine-foot circular mural titled Beaver Crossing — Indian Colours.

Janvier has been the recipient of several honours over the years. These honours include Lifetime Achievement awards from the Tribal Chiefs Institute, Cold Lake First Nations (2001), and the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (2002); the Centennial Medal for outstanding service to the people and province of Alberta (2005); Member of the Order of Canada (2007); the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts (2008); the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Marion Nicoll Visual Arts Award (2008); the Alberta Order of Excellence (2010); and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2013). Janvier has also received honorary doctorates from the University of Alberta (2008), the University of Calgary (2008), and Blue Quills First Nations College (2012).

His work has been exhibited in many solo exhibitions including, most recently, ALEX JANVIER, Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton (2012). He has been included in numerous group exhibitions, nationally and internationally,

including: Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg (1972); Indian Art ’74, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (1974); Two Worlds, Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery (now MacKenzie Art Gallery), Regina (1985); Eight from the Prairies, Thunder Bay Art Gallery (1987); In the Shadow of the Sun, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau and the University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany (1989); Land Spirit Power, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (1992); and Honouring Tradition: Reframing Native Art, Glenbow Museum, Calgary (2008). His work can be found in several prominent public and private collections, including: Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (ON); Alberta Art Foundation (AB); Canada Council Art Bank (ON); Canadian Museum of Civilization (QC); Glenbow Museum (AB); The Late Lester B. Pearson Collection (AB); MacKenzie Art Gallery (SK); McMichael Canadian Art Collection (ON); Mendel Art Gallery (SK); Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (QC); National Gallery of Canada (ON); Thunder Bay Art Gallery (ON); and Winnipeg Art Gallery (MB). His major commissions include a mural for the Indians of Canada Pavilion, Expo 67, Montreal (1967); Tribute to Beaver Hills for Strathcona County Hall (1976); The Seasons, for the Canadian Museum of Civilization (1978); his 450 square metre mural, Morning Star, for the Canadian Museum of Civilization (1993); and the White Buffalo ($200 coin) for the Royal Canadian Mint (1998). The Janvier Gallery opened in the City of Cold Lake, Alberta in 2003 and later relocated to its new space at Cold Lake First Nations in January 2012.

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Alex Janvier The Bureaucratic Supremist, 1975 [cat. 39]

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CARL RAY What you are looking at is ancient and sacred. In fact, what you see could be described as a part of my soul.1 (1971) The legends, beliefs, and stories of my people have all but disappeared. My paintings are an attempt to preserve the stories of my people.

Most of the stories I have learned were taught to me by my mother Maggie Ray and the old people on the reserve.2 (1968) The last time there was a ceremony in our band was when I was about six years old. It was a berry festival that was being held in a birch bark lodge.

The whole village was there and the priest came and told us to stop the berry festival. The priest understands now, but it is too late. The ceremony is gone.3 (1968)

Óma ká kinawápataman kayítéyátan éko kanátan. Óma ká isi wápataman éyako ni tacák. (1971) Aniki ácínókéwina, tapwetamowina, éko acimowina ati mwéci wanitániwana. Oki nimasinahipéyikana é kakwé nókótáyán óki kákípé isi pimácihocik nitininímak. Wésam piko anihi kakináw ácinokéwina ká kiskénitamán, nimámá Maggie Ray éko kotakak kayitéyátisak ékípé ácimostáwicik. (1968) Aspin óta iskawác nántaw kákí ayácik isítwawin nititáwinik nántaw nikotwásik étatwáskínéyán.

Mínisa é oci nanástomocik éko píci míkiswápik énócicikécik. Kákinaw awiyak kí wíkomáw éko ékota ana ayamiwéwikimáw kákí kakwé kipitinak ékwéniw éká ta itócikániwanik. Éko máka nisitotak ana ayamiwewikimaw, wesa maka asay wikataw.

Asay mona takon anima isitwawin. (1968)

notes 1 2 3

Carl Ray, quoted in James Stevens, Sacred Legends of the Sandy Lake Cree (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1971), xi.

Carl Ray, quoted in James Stevens, “Paintings Recreate Ojibwa Past,” Winnipeg Free Press, December 7, 1968.

Ibid.

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Carl Ray, Shaman, 1972 [cat. 88]

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CARL RAY: LIBRARY NOW DISPLAYS HIS PEN-INK SKETCHES [CARL SCHUBRING], FORT FRANCES TIMES, OCTOBER 6, 1971

FORT FRANCES, ON — Carl Ray, the Cree Indian artist, displayed his paintings at last summer’s pow-wow in Fort Frances. Many people then were fascinated by the young artist and his legendary paintings. The Fort Frances Public Library is showing during October some 20 pen and ink drawings by the artist, thus giving viewers the opportunity of furthering their acquaintance with this unique painter.

Carl Ray was born at Sandy Lake, where he lives with his family. The compulsion to express himself through painting manifested itself early when he was attending the Residential School at McIntosh, near Kenora. He is now a professional but self-taught painter. The Ojibway artist, Norval Morrisseau, who calls Carl his “little brother”, has been of great importance in Carl Ray’s development as an artist. It was Mr. Morrisseau who was responsible for lifting the taboo against painting the sacred legends, the field of painting in which Mr. Ray was interested primarily.

The work of Mr. Ray has received recognition by being selected as part of the collections of Cultural Division of the Department of Indian Affairs, The Manitoba Centennial Corporation and the Royal Ontario Museum. He has had art shows at Brandon University, St. Laurent Plaza in Ottawa, Confederation College and Lakehead University in Thunder Bay. The artist has been the recipient of two Canada Council grants.

This year Mr. Ray has become known to a larger audience through the illustrations to the book Sacred Legends of the Sandy Lake Cree published by McClelland and Stewart. The legends, preserved in the memory of the older

story-tellers on the reserve, were translated by Carl Ray, who is himself highly knowledgeable about the legends of his people. The rendition of the legends was done by James Stevens, a collector of folklore.

The myths of creation centered around the supernatural Wee-Sa-Kay-Jac have great beauty; some legends are highly dramatic, expressing the fear of the unknown, others are humoristic and grotesque. Their authenticity and directness is striking. A young Indian verified this impression by saying, “This is the way the legends were told at home, when I was a child.”

The Sacred Legends of the Sandy Lake Cree together with Norval Morrisseau’s The Legends of my People represent for the young Indians of today a source of strength and a precious heritage which must not be forgotten.

The painter is familiar with the traditional livelihood of the trapper; he has supported himself and his family as a commercial fisherman and a miner. He is now dedicating himself entirely to his painting and is also editor of Kitiwin, the newspaper of the Sandy Lake Reserve.

Carl Ray’s pictures take their motifs from the world of the legends and the supernatural guided by careful observation of animals and human beings. The intensity of feeling, which characterizes the work of the true artist is there, and also the power and emotional impact stemming from deep compassion and suffering.

It is because of this expression which Carl Ray portrays in his drawings and paintings that the Fort Frances Public Library is particularly pleased to present this display during the month of October.

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Carl Ray Medicine Bear, 1977 [cat. 101]

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Carl Ray, The South Wind, 1972 [cat. 89]

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BIOGRAPHY Carl Ray (1943–1978) was born on the Sandy Lake Reserve, Ontario, and was of Cree heritage.

Ray completed commissioned work (alongside Norval Morrisseau) for the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67, later receiving grants from the Canada Council (1969) and the Department of Health and Welfare, Indian Affairs Branch (1971). In 1971, Ray was an instructor at the Manitou Arts Foundation’s summer art camps at Schreiber Island (ON) and editor of the Kitiwin newspaper in Sandy Lake (ON). The Government of Ontario and the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs (now Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada) sponsored the Northern Art Tour (1971–72), in which Ray and Norval Morrisseau toured through reserves and communities of Northern Ontario. Ray illustrated James Stevens’ book, Sacred Legends of the Sandy Lake Cree (1971), and also illustrated the cover of Tom Marshall’s book The White City (1976).

Ray has had solo exhibitions at Brandon University, Manitoba (1969); Confederation College, Thunder Bay (1970); Aggregation Gallery, Toronto (1972–77); Galerie Fore, Winnipeg (1972); and the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (1972). His work has also been displayed in a number of group exhibitions with other PNIAI members, including two exhibitions at the Thunder Bay Art Gallery: The Art of the

Anishnabe (1993) and Water, Earth and Air (1997).

Other group exhibitions include: Canadian Indian Art ’74, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (1974); Indian Art ’75, Woodland Indian Cultural Education Centre (now Woodland Cultural Centre), Brantford (1975); Fierté sur toile : Tableaux par sept artistes indiens canadiens / Colours of Pride: Paintings by Seven Professional Native Artists, Dominion Gallery, Montreal (1975); Contemporary Native Art of Canada — The Woodland Indians, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (1976); Contemporary Indian Art — The Trail from the Past to the Future, Trent University, Peterborough (1977); and Contemporary Indian Art at Rideau Hall, Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, Ottawa (1983). His work is held in numerous public and private collections, including: Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (ON); Art Gallery of Ontario (ON); Canadian Museum of Civilization (QC); McMichael Canadian Art Collection (ON); National Gallery of Canada (ON); Government of Ontario Art Collection (ON); and Winnipeg Art Gallery (MB). Major commissions include murals for the Sandy Lake Primary School, Ontario (1971) and the Sioux Lookout Fellowship and Communication Centre, Ontario (1973).

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JACKSON BEARDY If an elder tells me something, I cannot visualize exactly what he says because I am not him. I can only interpret what he says, incorporating my own life and philosophies. At one time, I tried to hide behind an Indian image of the fact that my paintings were based strictly on legends. Now that I am myself, free to express the feelings that I have, I can accept the responsibility of the people I represent. I add to the basic legends their integrity, their dignity. In that sense, I translate their oral art in a meaningful visual way.1 (1993) I can’t paint anything if I don’t have the background and the cultural knowledge to make it right. It wouldn’t be fair to my people and it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of Canada.2 (1977) I paint what I believe. What is secret I don’t paint.3 (1972)

Kisáspin kápé wítamawit kékwániw awa kayitéyátis, mwác mitoni nitisi wápaten anima káwí wítamawit wina isi pakán nísta inikok wína.

Nikakí moci nókotán anima ká itwét nísta kákípé isi wápatamán éko ési nisitotamán kékwána ta pimitisayamán. Kayásk náwác, kí kakwé tápitawi ininíwin wina wésám piko anihi ácinókéwina kákí nitá masinipéyamán. Máka wina óma éko éyati nisitotásoyán, táti nókotáyan kékwána ká pakamiskákoyán nikakí itwán éko kawisk énókotáyán kákípé isi pimácihocik nitininímak anté oci nimasinayipéyikana. Ninokotan o kawisk itwéwiniwáw éko o kisténitákosiwiniwáw. Ékosi anima ési nókótáyán anihi ótácinókéwiniwáwa wina piko ana awiyak ta nisitotak ispík kinawápataki. (1993) Mwác nikí masinipéyén kékwán éka otína ékosi ékipé isi opikiyán éko ta isi kiskinahótinikawiyán ékosi isi kékwána. Móna kawisk ká itótawáwak nitinínímak éko mina kotakak ininiwak óta Canada. (1977) Ká isi tápwétaman ékosi nitisi masiniyépayén kékwána. Kékwána ká kanáténitákoki mwác nimasinahipéyén. (1972)

notes 1 2 3

Jackson Beardy, quoted in Colleen Cutschall, “Jaxon Beerdi: Ambassador, Alchemist, Artist,” in Jackson Beardy: A Life’s Work, exhibition catalogue (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1993), 26.

Jackson Beardy, quoted in Kathleen Walker, “Artist Keeps Legends Alive,” Ottawa Citizen, November 25, 1977.

Jackson Beardy, quoted in Jacqueline Fry, Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171: Three Indian Painters of the Prairies, exhibition catalogue (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1972), 2.

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A MAIN STREET INDIAN: A POEM JACKSON BEARDY

It’s a long way to nowhere, Hands in my empty pockets, I’m following my scuffed boots that were once black, Making like tying them frayed shoelaces once in a while To pick up a juicy cigarette butt, or two.

My mouth feels like a cotton factory; My head is throbbing with pain; Got drunk to forget everything for a while, Even forgot where I spent my last few dollars, If I spent them at all.

The sidewalk is full of wooden people, They neither see nor hear me.

What does one expect of a maze of concrete?

The cold silence is deafening among this indifferent world— I hear only my empty stomach grinding in protest, They might as well not be before my eyes.

I had friends, loads of them, But I guess they carry their friendship In their wallets like everyone else around here.

I can’t even afford my own friendship, But then, I’m not sure I have a friend in me Considering the deceit and lies I’ve fed myself, And denying the truth to the one true friend I should have In this lonely world—me.

I carry no cure in my tool box To brace my weak will to meet my other self At least half way.

I’ve tried dozens of times to do it with booze, Only to know later my other self Passed me by on the other side of the street.

Yes, these beat-up boots have considered Pointing north again, but . . .

The other year I went back a big man To my home reserve in great confidence, Armed to the teeth with White Man’s education: I stuck out like a sore thumb among the wilderness: My eight-year-old brother knew more Than I would ever learn in a lifetime.

In supporting the life-style I thought I wanted, Hunting, trapping, fishing and helping my people, I tried, so help me, I tried!

If there was one to receive a Sympathy Award, I had everyone beat by a few hundred miles.

I came back a little man.

As I walk the dismal streets of this city, Kicking a tin beer can ahead of me, I think bitterly of that invisible government That took me away from my folks so early, Only to be used as a psychological sop To relieve society’s major hang-up.

They denied me the right to experience My identity and my culture, They denied me the right to experience The intricacies of the White world, While they stripped me of my pride and dignity In a secluded government boarding school During the crucial twelve years of my life.

I emerged a learned man with a hollow soul.

After a few faltering steps, I fell flat on my face— I had never learned to walk in either world.

I was born of the noble Indian race, Bred in the confines of a government test-tube, And released a zombie.1

notes 1

Jackson Beardy, “A Main Street Indian: A Poem,” reprinted by Kenneth James Hughes in “Jackson Beardy—Life and Art,” special issue, Canadian Dimension 14 no. 2 (1979): 15–17. Hughes writes that this is “an untitled and unrevised draft of a poem from this period—one that may well be called ‘Main Street Indian.’”

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KICI MESKANAK OTENAK: MASINAHIKÉWINIS KÁ AYAMITÁNIWAK JACKSON BEARDY

Wánaw anima móna nántaw ité, É pításkocicéniyán éko móna kékwán ita asowatéw, Épimotéyan, épíkanakoki nimaskisina éko mána mitoni ékí wásiko kaskitéwaki, Mwéci mána éwí takopitamán anihi nimaskisina, Ta mósakinakik aníhi cistémá iskwásikanisak, Éko náspic épástéwitónimacihóyán, Náspic niwísakistikwánán, Éki kískwépéyán kita póni nánákatáwénitamihikóyán kékwán kanakwé wina ácináw, Apók éká kiskénitamán tánté kápé méstinak nisóniyán, Kisáspin otína nikíápaciyáw ékosi isi, Miscétiwak náspic ininiwak anta méskanák, Mwéci éká éwápamicik wéká apók ta pétawicik, Ékwáni máka wína ékosi óta kici oténák, Pákwátikwan éká awiyak éwí nóté natotásk, Natíy piko nipétén inikok énótékatéyán, Kiyám ékwani, ékwani isi ápok éká takí wápamakik.

Kí otótémin, kí miscétiwak, Máka anima étoké wínawáw ká isi otótémicik, Tánikok ké osóniyámicik, Mwác kanaké apók kékwán nikaki atáwéstamason nína, Máka mina, mwác náspic óma nitápwékénimison, Pakwanta é ayamiyán é kakwé pákacimisoyan, Éko éká énatotawak awa máwaci takí natotawa Ota askík-nína.

Mona kékwán nipimotátan, Ta wíciyáyán óma káwí paskinasoyan ta wicihisoyan, Kanaké wina áskaw.

Miscétwá ki kakwé ápaciyán minikwéwin, Táti moci kiskénitamán mwéstas, Nété kwéskité méskanák óma énánakiskásoyán/ Táw ásáy mina óki nimaskisina, Kíwétinok nóté itotémakanwa, máka . . . Óta iskawánik kákí kiwéyán, Nitiskonikanik isi éko náspic kí mamísoténimison,

Náspic ékí kiskénitamáyán móniyás isi, Kakinaw awiyak kí wápamik, Ekci kékwán é oci kiskénitamán apók nisimis paskinawit, Wína asáy ékiskénitak kékwána inikok nína tapé pétamán, Ta oci wa wicihisoyan oma kanoté isi pimaciphoyan Ta wanihikeyán, ta máciyán, ta nócikinoséwéyán ta wícihakik nitininímak, Nikí kakwé itótén ékwéniw, tápwé nikí kakwé itótén!

Kisáspin kí mékinániwak awina ké paskinákét mawác pakwanta kitimákwéniténitamowin, Kakinaw awiyak nitákí paskinawáw, Ékí pé sipwéyámoyán. Éko óta ká papámotéyán kici óténák, Épapámiyépiskamán píwápiskos, Enánákatawénimakik anikik kici Wanasowéwikimáwak, Kákípé sipwétayicik anté oci kákípé sákihikawiyán, Tapé moci kakwátakihikawiyán, Ékí kakwé méscihikawiyák, Kí otinamákok ta wápatamán, Ta isi kiskénimisóyán éko ta isi pimácihoyán, Kí otinamákok ta wápatamán Éspíci nakacitát awa émistikósiw, Ékí otinamawit nikisténimowin éko nikisténitákosiwin, Óté kiskinawátowikamikok wánaw oci níkik, Mékwác é oskátisyán káti opikiyán.

Niki kiskénitamán ispík é wanawíyán máka mwác nitóci sókiyéyán.

Kiyám áta ékí kakwé kawisk itótamán, mwác nitoci kaskitán— Mwac nitóci kiskénitén tánté taki oci pimacihisoyán, Ininíwi kí isi nitáhikin, Máka móniyániniw kí opikihik ékí kakwé méskwatátisihit Éko anóc ni moci papamotán é wanisinán.

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Jackson Beardy, Rebirth, 1976 [cat. 10]

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ARTIST BEARDY REVIVES TRIBAL CULTURE VIRGINIA NIXON, MONTREAL GAZETTE, MAY 12, 1979

MONTREAL, QC — Ojibway artist, Jackson Beardy is a man with a mission.

Not that he lays on a message either in person or in his art. On the contrary, he was soft-spoken, humorous and attentive when I talked to him at the Galerie Martal (1330 Sherbrooke St. W.) where he’s exhibiting his oil and acrylic paintings and prints until May 26.

But he spoke with conviction as he described his life—from a childhood spent with his grandmother in Garden Hill Reserve in Manitoba, through school years in a government boarding school, cultural confusion as a young man and finally self-understanding and success as an artist—as the working out of a role implanted in him at an early age.

As Beardy tells it, this role, early recognized by his grandmother, was that of a tribal orator— historian, traditionalist and storyteller for his community. As it happened the medium turned out to be visual rather than verbal, but the result is the same.

The road has had twists and turns.

In boarding school in his teens, Beardy painted his nightmarish dreams of sinister bird spectres as a way of getting rid of them, but he always destroyed these works. However, he wanted to be an artist. And when the school head dismissed such a prospect with the remark that “artists were beatniks,” he studied commercial art. This was a step in the right direction, he says “but I still didn’t know where I was going.”

“I went up north (to the reserve) only to find out I was considered a misfit in my own community.

“I had to re-educate myself into the language, re-establish family contacts, and I had to learn to think as an Indian again. My thought process had gone almost white.

“I was asking too many questions. And I wanted answers right away. My behaviour made me look like a researcher. They shut me out. The only ones I could get to were the children. And I talked to the old, but in general I didn’t fit into social circuits . . . Then I wanted to go back and see what I could do in the white world.”

The public of course wasn’t much interested in art.

“And the idea of Indian painting was something else again. Ours was looked on as a dead culture—either museum pieces or souvenir art,” he says.

In fact, at this point in the early 1960s, two other Indian artists later to become well-known, Norval Morrisseau and the late Carl Ray, were also working not far away, but Beardy didn’t know this.

Back in Winnipeg he studied art at the University of Manitoba, didn’t fit in and finally quit formal studies thanks to the wise advice of his mentor, Inuit art expert George Swinton who asked him one day: “Do you want a little piece of paper that says you’re an artist or do you want to be an artist?”

“At this point I had both feet on solid foundations,” says Beardy “though they were in different canoes.” By the mid-1960s he was beginning to get attention and customers for his art, in particular “among the teachers, preachers and Indian affairs people on the reserve,” and among the medical people.

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The latter he was seeing quite a lot of, thanks to a serious ulcer problem brought on by alcohol— “the bottle as a painkiller.” Beardy struggled with alcoholism for 12 years until he finally joined AA about four years ago. Today at 35 he looks the picture of health.

In his earlier work Beardy says he felt like an illustrator for an Indian version of Grimms Fairy Tales. However as his own confidence and the confidence of his people in him developed, he abandoned the literal illustrations of legends.

His work now is concerned with suggesting the

“But it helps,” he says “if the credibility of your culture is accepted by other societies. And it’s been a major breakthrough for our culture that it has been accepted as having something to add to the culture of all Canadians.”

Harder for the Indians to deal with in his view “learning to understand the mechanisms of bureaucracy. Indian politicians have to ostracize themselves in a sense from their people to learn how to get into the realities of business.” Beardy runs his own gallery, showing his works in Winnipeg, and is self-supporting from his art.

underlying philosophical and religious attitudes of Individual Indian traditions. The basic mood of his vividly-coloured depictions of birds, animals and people, usually linked together by thin, wavy lines, is one of the unity and the interconnections both physical and spiritual between all creatures.

How about other Indians? Do they feel as strongly about Indian traditions and spiritually as he does?

“Well,” says Beardy, “the permissive society’s saying ‘do your own thing’ has brought the elders out of the woodwork. And they’re saying, ‘we haven’t lost our culture. We’ve been doing this all the time, sometimes under the guise of the church.’”

“But,” he adds, “it’s going to take a while for the young people to understand. Right now they are tending to question the middle-aged generation, who are the interpreters for the elders, asking why they didn’t speak out before.”

Prices in the Martal show range from $150 to $4000.

“A major problem,” he says is “the fact that in the last 300 years my people have psyched themselves into a welfare psychology—a wards-ofthe-government psychology . . . a somebody owes them something way of thinking.”

As for Indian art, Beardy says he does feel he is “part of a movement but it’s a very subtle thing.

There are a lot of Indian artists coming out who don’t really understand what they are doing.

“In a way I feel quite a lot of envy because when I was starting out there was no one to set an example for me. But really, I’m also thankful I had to discover things myself,” he says.

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Jackson Beardy, Spirit Being, 1978 [cat. 13]

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BIOGRAPHY Jackson Beardy (1944–1984) was born on the Garden Hill Reserve (Island Lake, Manitoba) and was of Cree ancestry. Beardy studied commercial art at the Winnipeg Vocational School (1963–64) and later took art classes at the University of Manitoba. Throughout his career, Beardy served as a member of numerous arts organizations, including: National Indian Art Council, Ottawa; Prison Arts Foundation, Ottawa; Manitoba Arts Council, Winnipeg; and Canadian Artists Representation / le Front des artistes canadiens (CARFAC). He was founder and president of Ningik Arts (1972), and was the recipient of the Canadian Centennial Medal (1967), the Junior Achievement Award (1974), and the Outstanding Young Manitoban Award (1982).

Beardy has acted as art adviser and cultural consultant to the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature (now Manitoba Museum) (1971), the Department of Native Studies at Brandon University (1972), and the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (now Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada) (1981). While at DIAND, he authored Indian Fine Arts: A Policy and Programme to guide the programming and collecting of the department. A noted book illustrator, he was also contracted by the department to record and illustrate the “legends of the people” while travelling throughout the North. His illustrations have been published in John Morgan’s book, When the Morning Stars Sang Together (1974).

Beardy also designed the cover art for two books:

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Leonard Peterson’s Almighty Voice (1976), and Basil Johnston’s Ojibway Heritage (1976).

Beardy’s first exhibition was sponsored

by United College in Winnipeg in 1966. Soon after, he was a consultant for the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal. Since that time his work has received recognition in Canada and Europe, including a retrospective exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 1993.

His work has been exhibited in several group exhibitions, including: Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171, Winnipeg Art Gallery (1972), and New Work by a New Generation (along with Morrisseau and Odjig), Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery (now MacKenzie Art Gallery), Regina (1982).

His work is held in numerous public and private collections, including: Canada Council Art Bank (ON); Canadian Museum of Civilization (QC); Glenbow Museum (AB); Manitoba Arts Council (MB); McMichael Canadian Art Collection (ON); Supreme Court of Canada (ON); Thunder Bay Art Gallery (ON); Windsor Castle (UK); and Winnipeg Art Gallery (MB). His major commissions include works for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada; commemorative pieces for the centennials of Canada and Manitoba; gifts for Prince Mikasa, Crown Prince of Japan (1980), Queen Elizabeth II (1979), and Governor General Edward Schreyer (1979); and murals for the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature (now Manitoba Museum), Winnipeg (1978) and the Indian Family Centre, Winnipeg (1984–85).

Jackson Beardy, Four Orders of Life, 1976 [cat. 9]

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JOSEPH SANCHEZ My life then and now is informed by a cultural and ceremonial life blessed with the guidance and wisdom of many elders. (2012) The strength of the group allowed me to exhibit in places I could only dream of being included. (2009)

I was born just before the full moon on February 24, 1948, of Pueblo, Spanish, and German parents in Trinidad, Colorado, and spent my formative years on the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation, graduating from Alchesay High School in Whiteriver, Arizona, where my family continues to reside today.

Painting began for me in 1956 at the encouragement of my fifth grade teacher, Ms. Guiterrez; painting on glass and embroidery were quickly followed by fantasy nudes of my female classmates that were confiscated constantly by my teachers. Large realistic pencil portraits of friends and family honed my skills. As the school artist I was adept in creating posters, et al. for every event that happened. My personal studies of art in the high school library were my introduction to the art of the Renaissance and eventually to surrealism and Dada.

My personal “surrealist” style began to formalize in 1968 during my years as a United States Marine with a drawing on newsprint entitled Unconsummated Rape of Mongo, a first look into my psyche. It was a newer version done in the early 1970s that I showed Daphne Odjig in Winnipeg during the fall of 1971 that she purchased and created a print of that started a career that continues today.

Meeting Daphne Odjig in 1971 is the reason I am an artist today. As a mentor and friend, she encouraged my talent and coached my ability

as an artist and art professional. The result is this amazing career as an artist, activist, and art professional. Though mainly self taught, I have acquired a unique education in the fine arts through the skills and valuable critique of the many artists and art professionals I have worked with as collaborator, assistant, exhibition designer, curator, and museum director provided me with.

The creation of PNIAI, the Native Group of Seven, in 1974 gave me experience to help found Movimiento Artistico del Rio Salado (MARS) and Ariztlan in Arizona; and NAAO, the National Association of Artist Organizations.1 This activist attitude developed exhibitions, changed museums, and created artist-in-school programs with an intent to share these experiences with the native community and especially our children.

In 1974 I was commissioned to create the painting The Virgin of Light to be given as the award for Multiculturalism in Music, first presented at the 1974 Juno Awards. I was measured and photographed with my painting for the Toronto Wax Museum. Another commission for the 1974 Winnipeg Centennial resulted in Fertility Totem, a nine-foot sculpture of Manitoba cedar installed in the Franco-Manitoban Centre in St. Boniface, Manitoba. The youngest member of Canada’s Native Group of Seven, I was married to Ann Nadine Krajeck; we shared a shack in Richer, Manitoba, for many years

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and together purchased a twenty-acre farm in Giroux, Manitoba. I returned and repatriated to the United States under President Gerald Ford’s amnesty program in February of 1975. I continued to travel to my farm in Giroux, Manitoba, until I sold the property in the late 1970s.

A career in the museum world started in Scottsdale at the then Scottsdale Center for the Arts as a security guard, then in installations and design, before I was recruited by the Phoenix Art Museum to be their preparator. The cultural exchange with the University of Guadalajara in

Relations: Indigenous Dialogue; the negotiations to bring the Norval Morrisseau retrospective and the Daphne Odjig retrospective from the National Gallery of Canada to the then Institute of American Indian Arts Museum; and inviting the United States’ Biennial Curator for Lance Fung’s Lucky Number 7 at Site Santa Fe Biennial remain highlights of a thirty-plus-year career in the museum world. I retired from the museum in February of 2010, returning to my studio on Lena Street to paint and write.

Receiving the Allan Houser Memorial Award

Mexico was the catalyst that created my own museum design studio, allowing me to work with all the museums and artists in the Phoenix area curating and designing First Contact . . . the search in 1982, my first major exhibition as a curator. I kept my studio on Cattletrack Road with Philip C. Curtis and Fritz Scholder as my neighbours in Scottsdale, Arizona, for twenty-two years and shared a studio in downtown Phoenix with Jim Covarrubias during the nineties. This studio was a meeting place for artists and performers and was instrumental in the creation of many large-scale works and the character “Indiodali.”

In 1991, I met and married Margaret Burke, moving to Santa Fe, New Mexico, her home and my old childhood stomping grounds, in 1999.

In 2002, I volunteered at the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, was hired as their exhibition coordinator, and went on to become Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the renamed Museum of Contemporary Native Arts.

The creation of Indigenous Dialogue: Indian Art for Indian People; the Bob Haozous retrospective,

at the 2006 New Mexico Governor’s Awards for the Arts for artistic excellence and community involvement is a highlight of recognition for being an activist for Native arts.

Since 1970 I have had the opportunity to develop artist organizations, curate exhibitions, direct museums, and share my experiences with schoolchildren. I have also had the pleasure to experience, work with, and learn from many artists and art professionals around the world including: Daphne Odjig, Eddy Cobiness, Norval Morrisseau, Alex Janvier, Guenther Uecker, Rotraut, George Segal, Norman Bluhm, Manuel Neri, Jesús Bautista Moroles, Luis Jiménez, Philip C. Curtis, Jean Paul Ledeur, Yves Klein Archives, William Wiley, Fletcher Benton, Roberto Matta Echaurren, Jean Tinguely, and Bob Haozous.

I especially acknowledge my two mentors, Daphne Odjig and Philip C. Curtis (founder of the Phoenix Art Museum), who have been essential to my success as an artist.

Joseph Sanchez, 2013

notes 1

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An application to incorporate as the PNIAI was prepared in February 1974, then revised and resubmitted to Consumer and Corporate Affairs (now Corporations Canada) dated March 13. “Anisinabe” was added to the name PNIAI in the revised application, which outlines objectives that closely align with a 1973 proposal to INAC. Their application was approved over a year later with the issuing of Letters Patent, dated April 1, 1975, which granted corporate status under the revised name Anisinabe Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. However, the Group continued to associate under the name PNIAI.—Ed.

Joseph Sanchez, Unconsummated Rape of Mongo, 1970 [cat. 105]

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Dtandtu edeghesnai yanisi ghodtzi dughuh ghodtzen eyi dtandtu dene tchaniyeh chu edetzeghelnai chu gha ghughes ei ghidta ghuzuh ghesgal, ghoteghe setzeghedi ghu ghesahl, alnethi seseyadighiltih ghidta. (2012) Etlutzeghedel ghidta ahtla nadtzetzed ghokesih setzeghedi ghidta setzi asi dta neghedtih anideh ghunidhen ghili eyi nedtih gha ghudja, nadtzeteh ghokesih. (2009)

Sa thebeth dtonega ghu February 24, 1948 ghu seneyah, Pueblo chu Spanish chu German chu tzi aneh dene ghestli, Trinidad, Colorado ghodtzi, sekuwi nedtchili ghestli ghu White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation eyed dene ghel niyah.

Alchesay High School, White River, Arizona eyed ghasuneltaghn enasdhen ghodtzen. Eyed selodtine ahtlo budelaghn.

1956 ekughu asi ghedestled ghadja ni, sekwi ghaunelteghni sesyadiltih ghidta, Ms. Guiterrez ghulye ni. Yak’e ke asi ghedestled ghudtthi, tluli senibane dtah tthi asi nesui ghesgha ghadja ni, ku eyed ghokesi tzekuwi ildtedi dadestlis ghajani, dta bel ghasuneltegheni dadestlis nesdhen ghidta, kulu eyi eghai dtu seghah naltzi tli ni.

Tlischene dta sedtzedeni dahli chu selodtine chu dadestlis ghodtzi bekenasdhed ghadjai dta bekodesha ghasneh ghadja ni. Eyed sekuwi ghaunelteghni kuwe dtaghoneh ghasi gha editlis dughutlis dtasetzedi ghidta asi dadestlis sildhen tli ni eyed. Eyed dta editlis keghonih kuwe editlis danesih ghidta yanisi dta asi daditlis gha ghoni ghegah nisi bekeyasti ghudtthi danesih ghidta Rennaissance sni chu surrealism chu dada chu gha ghughilah ni.

Sih setzi kesih edestlisih “surrealist” sni eyi 1968 ghulduh kundtu edetlisi bek’udehjah, United States Marine ghilei ekughu, ghoni ditliseh ke dughulyei editlis thiltzi ni ekughu ghodtzi Unconsummated Rape of Mongo, ekughu ghodtzi ghulduh dtandtu asi gha nanighesdhedi buduhdtih ni. Eyi degodhi nathiltzi 1970 bunidhed ghu, eyi Daphne Odjig yenighilih ghastla ni, Winnipeg naghidhedi ekughu, eyi

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ghaidtasi ghu segha nayeghelni ghu tthi nayeltzi nih eyi ghodtzi dtandu asi destlisih bedta la sedtzi ghadjai dta ghaiya ni, dughu ghodtzen ahtlo kunduh eghaladeghesdah dte bedtah.

Daphne Odjig 1971 ekughu, eyi bekudeshai ghidta si edestlisi gha sekudehjai dughuh ghodtzen. Sedtzedi ghelih ghighane tthi ghasunelteghn landtu seseyadiltih ghidta ghotegheh nesdhen ghu sedihtliseh nedtih gha dtandtu nezu bunildhen ghili kesih beghalaghesna ghadja ni. Eyed ghodtzi dughu ghodtzen ghoghanodiya landtu seditliseh bekudehjani si, dtatzenghili tchasi asi kenadtzedei basi yasti ghudtthi, asi dedtlisih basi tthi professional ghesli kesih sek’aunedtah dteh. Si ghadudenestaghn kulu dta bel eghadalaghesnai dahli chu dta asi dene kundti asi kenadei chu dta dayenildheni chu sel kudadi ghidta ghadasuneltaghn denela dta asi detlisi ghoteghe bekudesha. Thagha ghodtzi asi keghoni kuwe gha director ghestli ghu eghalghinai chu dene bel asi ghadalaghina nighilei kundti asi basi, eyi tthi dtasi asi nezu destlis ghajai.

PNIA Inc. gholi ni eyi bedtzi ane Native Group of Seven thiltzih 1974 ekughu. Didi dtandtu beghalathidai ghade didi tthi bek’odja ghostla, eyi, Movimiento Artistico del Rio Salado(MARS),eyi ghel tthi, Ariztlan in Arizona gholih ni.NAAO tthi la, National Association of Artists Organizations.

Didi asi k’enatzedhed kesi dene k’aunedtai dta asi tthi nedtih gha ghotleh ghadja museums dalih yeh, eyi ghel tthi artist ghaunelteghni kuwe nadei tthi beba programs tthi ghegah, didi eyi bedtah dene benene ke’ dene godhe ghogha dayalti ghudtthi yenideni gha.

1974 ekughu editlis dughutlis dtajetledi dta, setzedi ni, The Virgin of Light ghulyei, eyi dene tahlye gha ah sni, Multiculturalism in Music ahtla nitzidehl desi. Didi dta tthe dene tahdalya ni Juno awards nighilei 1974 ghu. Dtaghasyaghi ghoteghe suwiltzai ghudtthi sedetlis ni dta editlis ghedighitledi gathiyi ghu, eyi Toronto Wax Museum budedtih si. Ahtlo ihtlah tthi sutzelked ni 1974 ghu, eyi Winnipeg Centennial gha wultzi sedtzedi ah eyi gha tthi Fertility Totem ghighadh ni dechen dta Manitoba cedar dechene dta. Eyi Franco -Manitoban Centre, St. Boniface keyagha

kuwe dagholai ghodtzi museums chu dta asi daditlis kudadelyai chu bekudadesha, eyi bedta si sedaghade beseyadiltih dta First Contact ...the search gholi ni 1982 ghu, didi si dtahtthe sedaghade asi nedtih gha asi nethe ghothiltzi, thagha ghodtzi asi nedtih kesi ghultai keyagha. Si sedtzi studio ghauthesai dte ni Cattletrack Road, Philip C Curtis chu Fritz Scholder sega nadei ekughu Scottsdale Arizona eyed nonena tzen nake ghaiye, eyi ghel tthi yayagha kuwe Phoenix keyagha tthi Jim Covarrubias bel studio ghaughesah nighile 90’s

budedtih. Canada’s Native Group of Seven ghel sultai, si nandedi ni, Ann Nadine Krajeck eyi beganida ni eyed ghodtzi. Ghaninidtas ghu Richer, Manitoba naghidthed yohazeh ye, gholani nene ke eyed naghidthed.Eyed ghokesi farm nauthilni naghidthed 20 acres ghelyai, Giroux, Manitoba ghulei kuwe gah. Gerald Ford, President ghethelih ghu, United States gha, ekughu yanagha senene tzen naghasja ni amnesty program bekaunedtai dta, February sa 1975 ekughu. Yedtthehghe nahsdai ni ekosih ghodtzi Giroux Manitoba ghodtzen, kosdtih ghindtu eyi nih chu farm chu segha naghani ghodtzen 1970’s k’eghasi gha nudeldthed ghu.

Thagha ghodtzi asi keghoni kuwe eghalonina, dtah tthe Scottsdale ghulyei kuwe keyagha, eyed ekughu Scottsdale Centre for the Arts kesih ghultah ni. Yo ghuwelni dene ghestli ghu eyed eghalonina ni. Ku eyed ghodtzi asi dekelyei chu ghotlei chu tthi gha eghalaghasna silya ni, eyed ghodtthe tthi Phoenix Art Museum tthi eghalaghina nighile eyi beba asi tzetagha ghalyei kesih beba asi sedildhen nighile.Dene tchaniyeh dene gha nalyei dta University of Guadalajara Mexico bel asi ehlnaghalya nighilei eyi kesih si sedtzi museum kesi sedtzi studio thiltzi ni edegha. Eyed ghokesih dta Phoenix tzenildwi

ekughu. Didi studio eyed ahtla nitzidihli kuwe kesi dta asi dene editlis daditlis kudadelyai chu nedauldei kudadelyai chu ahtla nidihli dta asi nedtchai tla ghega ihtlaghi dene “Indiodali” ghuhlyei bekodja ja nisi eyed ghodta.

1991 ekughu Margaret Burke bekudesha ghu beganidah ni, eyed ghodtzi Santa Fe, New Mexico ghodtzen ghethidtas ni eyed naghidhed gheni, edini benene ghu si tthi ekuk’e sedtzodelthi nadti ni sekuwi ghestli ghu, 1999 ghu.

2002 ekughu Institute of American Arts Museum eyed asi na ghileghi dene betzesni dta eyed eghalaghinah. Eyed ghodtzi Deputy Director ghestli ja ghuldu Chief Curator tthi ghestli ja, bizi degodhi naghodtli ni Museum of Contemporary Native Art ghulye ghalya ni. Eyed ghodtzi Indigenous Dialogue: Indian Art for Indian People gholih ni. Bob Haozous bedtzi yanisi ghodtzi, Relations: dene ehtleldayalti, Norval Morriseau bedtzi yanisi ghodtzi chu Daphne Odjig bedtzi yanisi ghodtzi chu asi dadihtlis nisi National Gallery of Canada ghodtzi Institute of American Indian Arts Museum negholyel didi nighileh ni eyi ghel tthi United States ghodtzi nake ghaiye nilthagha ghenih Curator ghelih gha ba Lance Fung bedtzi Lucky Number 7 eyi tthi Site Santa Fe Biennial gha asi nedtih gha benaghonih toghnena

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azi ghaiye eyed museum world ghel eghalaghinai ghodtah. Eyed Museum eghalaghinai enasdhen February sa k’e gh 2010 ghu, eyed ghodtzi sedtzi studio nedanesja ni Lena Street k’e ghoah ni asi ghedestled ghudtthi edestlis gheni.

Allan Houser bedtzi Memorial Award saunendi ni 2006 ghu New Mexico ghodtzi Governor ‘s Awards asi daditlis tai asi ghegai basi tai gheni thi eyi saunendi ni, ghotegheh ghunidhen ghidta chu kugheh k’eyagha tthi dene bedtzesni nunesni bek’aunedtai dta desikedhe nene bedtzi tthi asi nezus Native arts basi desi ni

tthi nighile.Eyi ghel tthi dta asi dene bekudadejai asi daditlis chu asi ghedadetledi chu asi gheghai chu tlai bekosha didi nih ke ghodtzi dtalosi tzen ghodtzi, didi dene dta ahlesi: Daphne Odjig, Eddy Cobiness, Norval Morriseau, Alex Janvier, Guenther Uecker, Rotraut, George Segal, Norman Bluhm, Manuel Neri, Jesus Bautista Moroles, Luis Jimenez, Philip C. Curtis, Jean Paul Ledeur, Yves Klein Archives, William Wiley, Fletcher Benton, Roberto Matta Echaurren,Jean Tinguely chu Bob Haozous chu.

Nadene dene eyi ghadasuneltaghn ghidta

ghodta.

1970 ekughu ghodtzi dene dahli bedtzedasni ghidta artist organizations tthi ghegah ghu, asi nedtih gha tthi dahlyei tthi beseyadighiltih ghudtthi museums dahli tthi dtandtuh bedtzighini ghili tthi kudastla, sekuwi tthi bel dayasti ghu dtandtu ghuthiyai gha bel daghosni

ghotegheh ghaiya ghadjai eyi Daphne Odjig chu Philip C. Curtis ahlesihs, (eyi bedtazi Phoenix Art Museum gholih).

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Joseph Sanchez, 2013

Joseph Sanchez, Business Man’s Lunch, 1973 [cat. 111]

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Joseph Sanchez, Fertility Totem, 1973 [cat. 112]

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BIOGRAPHY Joseph Sanchez (b. 1948) was born in Trinidad, Colorado. He is an artist and curator of Spanish, German, and Pueblo descent currently residing in Santa Fe, New Mexico. From 1982–84 he served as a board member of the National Association of Artist Organizations. In 2010, Sanchez retired as Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (formerly the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum), where he had worked since 2002. In 2011, Sanchez was the Contemporary Curator of the exhibition Native American Art at Dartmouth: Highlights from the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth University, Hanover, New Hampshire. Sanchez was the recipient of the Allan Houser Memorial Award for outstanding artistic achievement and community service in 2006 and was a curatorial partner for the 7th International Biennial at Site Santa Fe in 2008.

The only non-Canadian artist of the PNIAI, Sanchez served in the United States Marine Corps before moving to Canada. He met Daphne Odjig in 1971 while living outside of Winnipeg in Richer, Manitoba, and was instrumental in the formation of the PNIAI. In 1975, Sanchez was repatriated under the Gerald Ford Presidential Amnesty and moved to Arizona, where he was involved with the formation of the artist groups MARS (Movimiento Artistico del Rio Salado) and Ariztlan in 1978. In 1983 Sanchez founded ARTS, a service to design exhibitions, provide curatorial services, administer collections, and provide consulting for individuals, artists, and museums.

His work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in Canada, Mexico, England, and the United States, including: Canadian Indian Art ’74, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (1974); Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., Wallack Galleries, Ottawa (1975); Ghost Dance, West Coast Gallery, Newport Beach, California (1981); Spirits of the Earth, West Valley Art Museum, Sun City, Arizona (2004); Governor’s Awards for the Arts Exhibition, Governor’s Gallery, Santa Fe, NM (2006); Grandmothers and Angels, Bearclaw Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta (2012) and My Winnipeg: There’s No Place Like Home, Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, Winnipeg (2012). His work is held in numerous collections, including: Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (ON); Canadian Museum of Civilization (QC); Heard Museum (AZ); Institute of American Indian Arts (NM); MacKenzie Art Gallery (SK); Northern Supply Corporation (MB); and many private collections in the United States, Canada, and Europe. His commissions include Fertility Totem, for the Société Franco-Manitoban, St. Boniface (1974); Virgin of Light, the Douglas McGowan Award for CHIN Radio International, Toronto (1974); and a mural titled La Fiesta es La Síntesis de la Raza, for the Del Webb Corporation Fiesta Room at Arizona State University College of Business, Tempe (1980).

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Joseph Sanchez, Invitation of a French Maiden, 1975 [cat. 116]

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Joseph Sanchez, The Rattle, 1975 [cat. 117]

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NORVAL MORRISSEAU The spirit comes through you. It is a very creative force, you see. You could be a singer, you could be a writer, you could be a painter, you could be anything if you allow that spirit to flow.1 (2005) There’s lots of stories that are told in Ojibwa but that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted to draw them—that’s from my own self—my own idea what they look like.2 (2005) My art speaks and will continue to speak transcending barriers of nationality, of language and of other forces that may be divisive, fortifying the greatness of the spirit which has always been the foundation of the Great Ojibway.3 (1979) My art reflects my own spiritual personality.

Driven from birth by the spirit force within, I have always been convinced that I am a great artist. Only the external and commercial society around me which has caused interruptions and deviations to occur has attempted to dictate to me and establish false values and ideals. The path through this maze has not been easy. Now, thirtyfive years later, fortified by my grandfather’s spiritual teachings during the first nine years of my life, I make peace with the external world, and I recognize the higher powers of the spirit.4 (1979)

Giin onjise gaa-manidoowiwang. Aapiji miinigoowiziwemagan aaniish. Gidaa-nagam, gidaa-ozhibii’ige, gidaa-mazinibii’ige, bigo gegoo gidaa-gashkitoon bagidinaman iwe miinigoowiziwin ji-wiiji’igooyan. (2005) Niibowa gii-anishinaabemom wiindamaageng dibaajimowinan, gaawiin idash ningii-nayendanzii. Nawach ningii-noonde-mazinibii’aanan aaniin gaa-inaabandamaan, aaniin niin enendamaan ezhinaagoziwaad. (2005) Giigidoomagan nimazinibii’igewin. Niibowa oganoonigonaawaa’ awiyag bigo endanaakeziwaad, bigo enwewaad, bigo gaye gegoo ge-gibishkaagemagakipan, mii owe ezhi-gichi-inendaagozid Anishinaabe ojachaakwan. (1979) Nindizhitwaawin enaadiziyaan ate nimazinibii’igewining. Apane go gaa-nitaawigiyaan wiiji’igoowiziyaan, apane go ningii-bi-inendam aapiji nitaawibii’igeyaan. Ono eta gaa-ayinaadizing, gaa-waabishkiwe’aadizing gizhibaayaa’ii ningii-ondami’igonan ji-mememshkwadendamaan wegonenan gechi-inendaagwakin. Gaawiin idash gii-wendasinoon owe. Mii zhigwa nisimidana ashi naanan daswaaki ojijiseg, wiiji’igoyaan nimishoomis gaa-gii-gagiikimid minik ji-zhaangaso-bibooneyaan, ninayendaan owe bimaadiziwin akiing.

Zhigwa ninisidawinaan manidoo debi-zoongaadizid. (1979)

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Norval Morrisseau, Shaman Rider, 1972 [cat. 53]

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I am a shaman-artist. Traditionally, a shaman’s role was to transmit power and the vibrating forces of the spirit through objects known as talismans. In this particular case, a talisman is something that apparently produces effects that are magical and miraculous. My paintings are also icons; that is to say, they are images which help focus on spiritual powers, generated by traditional belief and wisdom. I also regard myself as a kind of spiritual psychologist. I bring together and promote the ultimate harmony of the physical and the spiritual world.5 (1979) I am a born artist. I have as much interest in my people as any anthropologist, and I have studied our culture and lore. My aim is to reassemble the pieces of a once proud culture, and to show the dignity and bravery of my people. My paintings depict my own uncorrupted impressions of Ojibway beliefs and legends, gods and creatures.

The Department of Indian Affairs once wanted to give me art lessons, but I refused. In my opinion this would spoil me, for there is no one who can teach me this kind of painting.6 (1969)

Nimamaandaawi-mazinibii’ige. Gete ako, gaa-mamaandaawizid gii-gashki’ewiziwichige mamaandaawitood gegoo ji-aabajichigaadenig. Mii dash iinzan gii-wiiji’iwemaganoon ji-wiiji’igoowizid awiya. Nimazinibii’igewinan gaye wiiji’iwemaganoon ji-gikendang awiya mamaandaawiziwinan odebwetamowining zhigwa ogikendaasowining onji. Nindinendam igaye ji-mamaandaawi-gagiikweyaan. Ninginigawinaanan gibimaadiziwininaanan dago gimanidoowaadiziwinaanan ji-gikendaagwakin. (1979) Ningii-giginitaawig ji-mazinibii’igeyaan. Daabishkoo awe gaa-naanaagaji’aad bemaadizinid, ningii-naanaagadawaabandaan gidizhitwaawininaan dago gidibaajimowininaanan. Ningagwe-zagakinaanan aabiding ini gaa-gii-gichi-inendaagwakin ji-waabanda’iweyaan omino-bimaadiziwiniwaa’ zhigwa ozoongide’ewiniwaa’ niijanishinaabeg.

Nimazinibii’igewinan wiindamaagemaganoon aaniin niin enaabandamaan Anishinaabeg debwetamowaad, omanidoomiwaa’ dago bakaan bemaadaninig. Aabiding zhooniyaawigimaa ningii-noonde-onatamaag ji-mazinibii’igeyaan, ningii-aanawendaan idash. Niingii-inendam nawach nindaa-maji-nanama’igon, gaawiin aaniish awiya owe nindaa-izhi-gikinoo’amaagosii ji-izhibii’igeyaan. (1969)

notes 1 Norval Morrisseau, Norval Morrisseau, Return to the House of Invention (Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2005), 92.

2 Ibid.

3 Norval Morrisseau, quoted in Jack Pollock and Lister Sinclair, The Art of Norval Morrisseau (Toronto: Methuen Press, 1979), 7.

4 Ibid.

5 Ibid.

6 Norval Morrisseau, Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1969), 7.

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BIOGRAPHY Norval Morrisseau (1932–2007) was raised on the Sand Point Reserve near Lake Nipigon and was of Ojibway descent. Since his first solo exhibition at the Pollock Gallery, Toronto, in 1962, Morrisseau’s career has been marked by firsts. He was the only painter from Canada invited to exhibit in the Magiciens de la Terre / Magicians of the Earth exhibition at Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (1989), and he was the first artist of First Nations descent to have a retrospective exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2006).

A recipient of numerous awards and honours in his lifetime, Morrisseau received the Canadian Centennial Medal (1968), was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Art (1973), and was inducted as a Member of the Order of Canada (1978). In 1980, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by McMaster University. He was acknowledged as Grand Shaman of the Ojibway in Thunder Bay (1986) and honoured by the Assembly of First Nations Chiefs Conference in Ottawa (1995).

Morrisseau was among the artists selected to participate in the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal. In 1971, Norval Morrisseau and fellow PNIAI member Carl Ray toured reserves and communities of Northern Ontario as part of a federally sponsored Northern Art Tour (1971–72). He was also featured in the National Film Board of Canada’s documentary The Colours of Pride (1973) with Alex Janvier and Daphne Odjig. In 1974, a documentary titled The Paradox of Norval Morrisseau was released by the National Film Board of Canada. Morrisseau wrote and illustrated Legends of My People, The Great Ojibway

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(1965) and co-authored Norval Morrisseau: Travels to the House of Invention (1997).

Morrisseau has exhibited in major solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally, including: Three Hundred Years of Canadian Art, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (1967); Canadian Indian Art ’74, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (1974); Contemporary Native Art of Canada—The Woodland Indians, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (1976); Contemporary Indian Art at Rideau Hall, Ottawa (1983); Norval Morrisseau and the Image Makers, Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (1984); and Honouring Norval Morrisseau (1932–2007), National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2009). His work is held in numerous public and private collections, including: Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (ON); Art Gallery of Hamilton (ON); Art Gallery of Ontario (ON); Art Gallery of Sudbury (ON); Canada Council Art Bank (ON); Canadian Museum of Civilization (QC); Glenbow Museum (AB); MacKenzie Art Gallery (SK); McMichael Canadian Art Collection (ON); National Gallery of Canada (ON); Royal Ontario Museum (ON); Thunder Bay Art Gallery (ON); Winnipeg Art Gallery (MB); and Woodland Cultural Centre (ON). His major commissions include: Earth Mother and Earth Mother with her Children, created for the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal, Quebec (1967); Ancestral Figure with Spirit Helpers, purchased by Toronto City Hall (1978); and a number of paintings for the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario (1975).

Norval Morrisseau, My Children Watching a Dragon Fly, 1975 [cat. 60]

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Norval Morrisseau, Artist’s Three Sons, 1975 [cat. 57]

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Norval Morrisseau, Artist’s Wife and Daughter, 1975 [cat. 58]

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STORYTELLING: HISTORY & NARRATIVE

A

rt is not a substitute for oral storytelling, but another means to describe and explain reality. As Alex Janvier has said, “this is my way of speaking to the public . . . my visual language . . . to convey what’s inside my spirit.”

The concept of narrative—sending messages, telling stories, documenting histories, or relating everyday experiences—permeates the exhibit. The artist is Storyteller. Adventures are recounted, conflicts described, and experiences

with government and church recorded. Stories are reanimated through their work and linked to the experiences of individuals and histories of communities.

The artworks included here record moments from our shared histories for contemplation and remembrance. Few paintings portray a complete narrative, whether literal or symbolic. However, their statements always engage larger concerns with culture and humanity.

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Norval Morrisseau, The Story Teller — The Artist and his Grandfather, 1978 (two panels) [cat. 68]

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Norval Morrisseau, Coming Away, 1960 [cat. 48]

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Carl Ray, Rock Painter, 1977 [cat. 103]

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Carl Ray, The Great Flood, 1973 [cat. 92]

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Norval Morrisseau, The Great Flood, 1975 [cat. 64]

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Alex Janvier, Wounded Knee Boy, 1972 [cat. 32]

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Daphne Odjig, Massacre, 1971 [cat. 71]

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Norval Morrisseau, The Land (Landrights), 1976 [cat. 65]

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Alex Janvier, Sun Shines, Grass Grows, Rivers Flow, 1972 [cat. 31]

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Alex Janvier, Coming of the Opposite, 1972 [cat. 29]

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Norval Morrisseau, White Man’s Curse, 1969 [cat. 49]

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STORYTELLING: PERSONAL NARRATIVE

P

erhaps the most common kind of storytelling occurs at the kitchen table or in the living room, around a fire, on the road, or in a coffee shop. When we gather with family or friends, this personal type of storytelling enriches interactions and maintains connections. The stories can be humorous, emotional, dramatic or mundane but everyone has a story to be told, whether tales of adventure, memories from youth, or moments with close friends.

There are historical precedents for this type of narrative. In most First Nations cultures, pictographs were used not only for sacred or

spiritual purposes, but also “to leave messages, tell stories, and document everyday experiences.” 1 Many of the works in the exhibition are personal in nature. Through storytelling, we are offered a glimpse into the experiences of the seven artists of the PNIAI. Subject matter may reflect biographical narratives, reference dreams and visions, or relate everyday stories from the lives of the artists. notes 1

Sherry Farrell Racette, “Algonkian Pictographic Imagery,” in Selected Proceedings of Witness: A Symposium on the Woodland School of Painters, ed. Bonnie Devine (Toronto: Aboriginal Curatorial Collective and Witness, 2009), 45.

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Alex Janvier, The Last Joke, 1973 [cat. 33]

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Joseph Sanchez, Night of the Moon Mobile (Second Time Hit by Lightning Drawing), 1972 [cat. 107]

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Joseph Sanchez, Big Bullet (Self Portrait), 1976 [cat. 118]

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Daphne Odjig, Untitled, 1974 [cat. 80]

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Joseph Sanchez, The Vision of Joseph, the Coming, 1972 [cat. 109]

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Alex Janvier, Today is the First Day, 1974 [cat. 38]

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Carl Ray, Premonition of Death, 1977 [cat. 102]

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Alex Janvier, Beautiful Young Lines, 1974 [cat. 34]

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STORYTELLING: SUPERNATURAL BEINGS & THE SPIRIT WORLD

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ndigenous cultural traditions have a long and continuous history in North America.

PNIAI members sought to reconnect with these traditions through the myths and narratives of their various nations. These distinctly nonWestern stories instruct us how to act in the world and interact with the myriad of beings around us. The stories provide moral lessons about life in this land. The narrative legends presented here are not appropriations of the sacred, but, as art historian and artist Sherry Farrell Racette affirms, “a powerful reclaiming of an ancient form of visual storytelling . . . created by previous generations.” 1 Prominent among the depictions of the PNIAI are various manitous. Author Basil Johnston explains that manitous are beings or forces fused into physical bodies or objects. These unseen beings are often beyond human understanding but are clearly real. Some dwell among the stars and beyond the earth, while others live with human beings and other creatures.

The Thunderbird is a cross-cultural figure prevalent in many First Nations mythologies and

narratives. “Of all the manitous who presided over the destinies and affairs of humankind, none [is] more revered for its potency and preeminence than was the thunderbird.” 2 Thunderbirds represent the powers of the sky, producing thunder by flapping their wings and lightning by opening and closing their eyes. Johnston tells us that Thunderbird was “created to tend to Mother Earth’s health and well-being, to give her drink when when she is thirsty, to cleanse her form and her garments when she needs refreshment, to keep her fertile and fruitful, and to stoke fires to regenerate the forests. From early spring to late fall, the thunderbirds were vigilant . . . and in winter, they rested.” 3 Many members of the PNIAI have been inspired by the Thunderbird, but depictions vary as they reflect each artist’s interpretation of the great being and its power. notes 1

Sherry Farrell Racette, “Algonkian Pictographic Imagery,” in Selected Proceedings of Witness: A Symposium on the Woodland School of Painters, ed. Bonnie Devine (Toronto: Aboriginal Curatorial Collective and Witness, 2009), 45–46.

2 Basil Johnston, The Manitous: the supernatural world of the Ojibway (New York: HarperColllins Publishers, 1995), 120.

3 Ibid.

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Carl Ray, Thunderbird, 1975 [cat. 96]

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Daphne Odjig, Spirit of the Mighty Thunderbird, 1972 [cat. 73]

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Daphne Odjig, Thunderbird of Courage, 1977 [cat. 87]

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Norval Morrisseau, Impressionist Thunderbirds, 1975 [cat. 59]

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Norval Morrisseau, The Thunderbird, 1970 [cat. 51]

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Jackson Beardy, Thunderbird Woman, 1975 [cat. 6]

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Jackson Beardy, Thunderbird Woman 1, 1975 [cat. 8]

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Eddy Cobiness, Untitled, 1974 [cat. 21]

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Carl Ray, Binay-sih, 1977 [cat. 99]

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Jackson Beardy, Man Offering Beaver to Chief Thunderbird, 1975 [cat. 7]

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Jackson Beardy, Untitled (front and back), 1978 [cat. 12]

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Jackson Beardy, Nanabush Catches the Eagle, 1972 [cat. 4]

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Carl Ray, Bang-Wa-Jusk the Man-Eater of the Underworld, 1975 [cat. 93]

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Jackson Beardy, Calling the Ningik, 1981 [cat. 14]

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Carl Ray, Fox & Glove, 1975 [cat. 95]

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Daphne Odjig, Big One and the Bad Medicine Woman, 1974 [cat. 77]

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Norval Morrisseau, Legend of the Ojibwa Woman and her Bear Offspring, 1970 [cat. 50]

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Carl Ray, Ja-Ka-Byash is Trapped, 1977 [cat. 100]

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Carl Ray, Windigo, 1972 [cat. 91]

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THE ESSAYS JOSEPH SANCHEZ TOM HILL BARRY ACE LEE-ANN MARTIN CATHY MATTES CARMEN ROBERTSON VIVIANE GRAY

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Joseph Sanchez, Man and Banana, 1974 [cat. 114]

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THE NATIVE GROUP OF SEVEN A.K.A. PROFESSIONAL NATIVE INDIAN ARTISTS INC. JOSEPH SANCHEZ

T

he raison d’être for the Native Group of Seven is that we were Indigenous artists who intended to change a stagnant and conformitybased art world with original artistic expressions.

Unlike other contemporary artists at the time, the members of the Native Group of Seven acknowledged a human relationship to and responsibility for the diverse life on Earth. The national and worldwide influence of the group is obvious. Magiciens de la terre, an exhibition organized by the Musée national d’art moderne Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris in 1989, included group member Norval Morrisseau among its international selection of worldrenowned artists. Morrisseau, whose influence extends globally, remains one of Canada’s greatest artists, visually depicting Canada’s rich Indigenous history with the power to defy centuries of Eurocentric aesthetic expression.

Magiciens de la terre was a testimony to the spirituality, strength, resilience, and raw talent of the work created by Norval Morrisseau. A gigantic persona, Morrisseau would leave an artistic trail wide enough for all of Canada to follow.

Morning Star, Alex Janvier’s mural at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Quebec, continues to fill the eyes of Canada and the world with a view revealing the future of contemporary art, a view that is replete with hope, inspiration, and a real relationship to living Indigenous culture. Daphne Odjig, a key member of the group, also achieved worldwide renown, and the interest in her work by other artists, especially European ones, acknowledges a new

aesthetic emerging in art. For Native people, the beauty, colour, and form in the work by the Native Group of Seven evokes connections of history, place, and song, and unchallenged visions of Native resistance and self-reliance.

The members of the Native Group of Seven were each unique in their style of creativity. I often think of the combined creativity, spirit, and innovation of my friends, many of whose lives ended much too early. Jackson Beardy who, together with Daphne Odjig, came up with the idea of forming our group, left us wanting more of his vibrant work. Carl Ray, who created a unique and personal interpretation of Native legends and life, deserves credit with Norval Morrisseau for the creation of the so-called Woodland School.

Eddy Cobiness, a generous and spiritual person, possessed an artistic talent that rivalled the best of realist painters of animals, humans, and landscapes. He shared a watercolour technique with me that is crucial to my understanding of painting and went on to develop a style of depicting our non-human relatives that influenced many young artists in the years that followed.

Crucial to the development of the Native Group of Seven were the atmosphere and conversations that took place in 1972 with Daphne Odjig at her business, Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd. and the now legendary Warehouse Gallery (the backroom) in Winnipeg. Odjig’s strong belief in supporting young Indigenous artists was fundamental to the formation of the Native Group of Seven. On every occasion

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that she was asked, she purchased work and supported all the artists by collecting their work, paying honest prices, paying copyright fees for printing their work, and keeping us out of the cold and fed. Many Native artists benefitted from her generosity and wisdom in the days of Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd. and the Warehouse Gallery. Her financial support of Native artists and their children gave us pride in our work and encouraged our talent. These gestures were little things, but huge in their long-range impact—a gift of courage that guided my future with a

the members of the group were Canadian; one— Joseph Sanchez—an American.

The challenges the group has faced are many: a lack of support on the national level for funding, rejection of Native arts as art, and resistance to an important and groundbreaking effort for Native arts by Native people in national positions, which was disappointing. An offer by the Canadian federal government to exhibit the Native Group of Seven’s art at the War Museum in Ottawa motivated Norval Morrisseau to act on Alex Janvier’s idea to send our friend from the

sense of destiny and confidence. The idea that a group of established Native artists could support emerging artists and open doors that were closed to Native arts was novel and bold behaviour. With this professional support, the group understood that we could stand together and ensure that future generations of Native people would have opportunities to succeed with respect and dignity in an art world that largely viewed Native arts as specimens in the curio cabinets of anthropology museums.

In 1973 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, the meetings to form the Native Group of Seven were held at the North Star Inn around the corner from Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd. This locale was where the group finally incorporated. On a cold winter day on February 13, 1974, Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig, Alex Janvier, Jackson Beardy, Carl Ray, Eddy Cobiness, and Joseph Sanchez became a legal corporation in Canada.1

Secretary of State (John Dennehy a.k.a. “God”) to see Max Stern, the owner of the Dominion Gallery in Montreal. Alex suggested that since Stern was famous for bringing art from all over the world to Canada, why not showcase new art from inside Canada. It was these words that convinced Stern to exhibit the PNIAI. Getting his stamp of approval resulted in our first exhibition together as the PNIAI. This opportunity opened the doors to other galleries.

The selection of the name “Professional Native Indian Artists Inc.” related to the original Dominion Gallery exhibition and was deliberately created to embrace several legal concepts and identities that would help us navigate the Canadian art world. If we were to compete in the contemporary art arena, we would have to be considered “Professional.” We were also careful to ensure the name contained the phrase “Native Artists,” which meant we were not bound

by Western art’s litany of individualism and competition. Instead, Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. aspired to a cultural legacy that would lead back to Native people and the education of our children. We believed the help and inspiration we could give Native people would be the measure of our success. There were talks of a huge art

Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated (PNIAI) or (as dubbed by the Winnipeg press) “The Native Group of Seven.” The members present at the signing of the incorporation papers were Daphne Odjig, Jackson Beardy, and myself.

Alex Janvier, who was trapped in a snowstorm that day, authorized me to sign in his stead. Six of

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camp and taking the train across Canada, stopping at reserves to share our art and creativity. Noble thoughts of trying to inspire young talent waiting for that positive encouragement in a world of “no way” had more to do with the formation of this group than dreams of New York gallery shows and champagne receptions. In short, PNIAI was a western-named corporation with an Indigenous heart.

The presentation of the group’s art in public venues originally faced many challenges. The existing romantic savage stereotype was well

and creative ideas of the Native Group of Seven— the amount of art created, the awards given for artistic excellence, the many honorary doctorates awarded, the specific exhibitions of Morrisseau and Odjig at the National Gallery of Canada. The murals created by Alex Janvier constitute public art that transcends decoration and introduces a public audience to contemporary ideas of Indigenous culture, aesthetics, and spirituality denied them by attitudes of cultural exclusion and a colonial mindset of superiority.

Even the creation of the Woodland School art

illustrated in the exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum. The specimens in the curio cabinet idea had been challenged, but the reality was still present as you walked by cabinets of ancestral bones to reach Indian Art ’74. Support from the Department of Indian Affairs came in the way of purchased or commissioned work from all the members of PNIAI for the exhibition, with the exception of a large canvas I had painted for the occasion, which was rejected.2 Instead A’s Family

movement by some members of the group hardly describes the impact or diversity of the paintings inspired by Norval Morrisseau, Carl Ray, Eddy Cobiness, or Jackson Beardy and does not represent the work of Daphne Odjig, Alex Janvier, or Joseph Sanchez.

For me, as a young artist when the group was founded, participating in and being a member of a unique and seminal Indigenous art group was a dream come true. It has been an honour to participate in the group and it has been an inspiration to be among such talent. The original vision to help younger artists create work inspired

by Native culture, values, and aesthetics was a true reason to band together. We speak for Native people by doing our best, by creating at the highest level, by never abandoning our culture, and by challenging an art world static in its heroes. This is the legacy of the Native Group of Seven. We saw a future in our work. We aspired to see a future for our children and communities and felt our continued growth as artists as paramount in our ability to communicate a new art, a new aesthetic without compromise, and a recognition of who we are as Native people in the twenty-first century.

In the early 1970s, 331 Donald Street in Winnipeg (the original home of the group)

Portrait [cat. 113], a mixed-media work on paper, was borrowed for the exhibition and today is part of this retrospective exhibition.

Forty years have passed since the original incorporation. Much great art was and is still being created by the three living members of the “Native Group of Seven.” At ninety-four, the Grande Dame, Daphne Odjig, still sketches away as she sings. Alex Janvier’s works are testimonies to genius and aesthetics new to an art world stale in repetition of past “isms.” He continues to challenge the way critics look at the artistic achievements of Native people. I am still creating art, which is gradually being recognized as a legacy of the Native Group of Seven.

It is amazing to think today about the number of people touched by the paintings, sculptures,

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produced creativity, community, meaningful art, and questions of aesthetics unique to contemporary art.3 The legends of Native peoples made contemporary by this seminal group of artists truly sparked a much-needed international dialogue in contemporary art.

We were seven Indigenous artists joined together in a synchronous moment in art history.

We did not paint, draw, or sculpt within the narrow, stagnant aesthetics of Western European art history. We were liberated and culturally invigorated by friendship and support of each other. We pursued a creativity and consciousness unique in Canadian art history. Our impact

as cultural warriors, leaders in creativity, and creative travellers on a new path of expression resulted in greater global understanding and respect of Native arts. Our work spoke to longterm relationships with our homes, our cultures, and our relationships to our human and nonhuman relatives on this planet. We challenged the physical and cultural genocide of Native people, and we repudiated the colonial mindset of a vanished culture by reinstating a respect for the biological and cultural diversity on Earth through modern painting.

notes 1

An application to incorporate as the PNIAI was prepared in February 1974, then revised and resubmitted to Consumer and Corporate Affairs (now Corporations Canada) dated March 13. “Anisinabe” was added to the name PNIAI in the revised application, which outlines objectives that closely align with a 1973 proposal to INAC. Their application was approved over a year later with the issuing of Letters Patent, dated April 1, 1975, which granted corporate status under the revised name Anisinabe Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. However, the Group continued to associate under the name PNIAI.—Ed.

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2 3

Apparently there was still resistance to the inclusion of an American in a Canadian Native group!

331 Donald Street was the address of Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd. and the Warehouse Gallery.

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Carl Ray, Camping Over Ancestral Grave, 1976 [cat. 97]

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CANADIAN INDIAN ART, ITS DEATH AND REBIRTH TOM HILL, TORONTO: ART MAGAZINE, SUMMER 1974

N

o records document how and when the Indian artist began manipulating European materials to produce Fine Art in the tradition of “Art for art’s sake.” Aboriginal art, until the advent of the European, had always been functional and part of his cultural life.

One of the earliest examples of Indian “Art for art’s sake” is the self-portrait of Zacharie Vincent, a Huron, painted about 1840. Antoine Plamondon, a noted artist of the time, chose Vincent as a subject for a portrait; Vincent in turn was so impressed by Plamondon’s work that he decided to try his own hand at self-portraiture.

The resulting painting was so pleasing that he promptly produced several copies—all for his own gratification. According to J. Russell Harper in Painting in Canada:, “Plamondon is said to have given him advice, but throughout he remained a primitive, adding detail to detail with little regard for the final artistic effect. The Huron Indian went on to paint some highly coloured landscapes of Lorette now in the Quebec Museum, one of which is a free copy of a Krieghoff canvas.”

Vincent’s painting was an unusual occurrence and an isolated example of one man’s attempt to adapt to another artistic culture.

Whatever his reasons were for attempting the transition, his interest was short-lived and his accumulated knowledge as a painter appeared to influence no one.

History shows numerous examples of how Indians have adapted their art forms to cater to the predominant tastes of the Western world.

Where the adaptation involved simply technique or style, the transition was quite painless—as in the case of Zacharie Vincent or in the applied arts.

But where the artistic expression was steeped in tradition as it was in the ceremonial arts, the question of adaptation proved much more complex. The turn of the century marked the beginning of a confrontation between the need to deeply express the Indian point of view and the desire to safeguard traditional beliefs and expressions.

There were several reasons why Canadian Indian art experienced a rapid decline during the early part of this century. One of the most prevalent was the general attitude of the Victorian Canadians toward the art produced

by Canadian Indians. Art was collected as an anthropological remnant of the past rather than as a fine representation of a sophisticated culture.

The Victorians wanted “curios” to decorate their ornate parlours rather than fine pieces of indigenous art and were little interested in the thought and mythology that was so often vividly expressed. Some of the art, in fact, even reflected the paganism which the Victorians, along with the missionaries, adamantly opposed and worked ceaselessly to eradicate. What remained of the Indian cultural tradition after this thorough scouring was looked after by the Canadian government—always close at hand—with the official policy of “assimilation.” As part of the program, Section 114 of the Criminal Code of Canada forbade and punished certain “pagan rites.” On the West Coast, this assimilation policy took the form of Potlatch Laws which remained in effect until 1951.

This law had a profound effect on the artistic expression of the Canadian Indian artist. In most cases, the artist’s creations were an integral

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part of such forbidden ceremonies. Not only was the artist the producer of the object used in the rites but often he was also the philosopher who brought fourth and established the occasional innovations which kept the ceremonial traditions viable and evolving. The condemnation of the Indian’s traditional spiritual life forced the artist to either forget his talents or conform to prescribed artistic forms set by the white man.

Consequently, the long and sacred traditions of Canada’s indigenous artists ebbed to an unforgivable low as they passively accepted the

of Norval Morrisseau whose one man show at the Pollock Gallery in September 1962 sold out completely. Morrisseau based his inspiration on Ojibway oral tradition and evolved a highly individual style reminiscent of the figures painted on desolate rock faces and Midewin scrolls. His personal life is one of excesses and struggle but creatively, he has evolved his mystical conception of Indian consciousness into a unique style of painting that has attracted many followers.

Daphne Odjig, the Odawa painter, states “in the mid-sixties, you could not help but feel the

Victorian aesthetic tastes, their culture and their established order.

In a few cases, purely economic reasons were behind the acquiescence. White buyers established tastes for certain types of art and the Indian artist adapted his traditional skill to the demands of the buyer. Typical was the case of Charles Edenshaw, a Haida carver who gained a reputation as “the best carver of all Haida.” Edenshaw carved in argillite, a slate-like material found in the Queen Charlotte Islands that can be worked while it is soft yet hardens to a dark, highly polished stone.

Edenshaw established the standard that was to influence even present day carvers in this material.

But not all Indian artists adapted as well. The laws banning the ceremonies that nurtured their art were rigidly enforced and their only hope for survival was to go underground. In order to escape extinction, Canada’s Indian consciousness, along with its creative talent, lived on in secret societies within the communities. It was only recently that it tentatively began to resurface and express itself with some confidence.

Although there has been a revival of interest in Indian art, patronage of modern Indian painting is a recent phenomenon. Interest was certainly generated with the overnight success

power of his personality when viewing his work or being in his presence.”

Subsequent painters such as Jackson Beardy, Carl Ray, Josh Kakegamic, Roy Thomas, Lloyd Caibaiosai and early works of Odjig show the line of influence passing from Morrisseau. Of the group, Odjig has moved the furthest into a distinctive style of her own, drawing and building on the strength of the Morrisseau experience.

She has added her childhood experience and blended it with an interest in modern European painting to create a style in extreme contrast with Morrisseau. He jokingly refers to her as “Picasso’s Mother” but gives her full credit for evolving a personal style that still embodies the essence of the Ojibway tradition.

While Morrisseau dominated the painting in the East, the Canadian Midwest was giving birth to a group of painters also searching for individual expression. Gerald Tailfeathers, Sarain Stump, Allen Sapp, and Eddy Cobiness drew from their Indian backgrounds experiences which they retold in representational style. An exception was Alex Janvier, a Chipewyan painter currently working out of Edmonton, who interpreted his Indian sense of colour and movement in nonobjective images.

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Besides his artistic contribution, early in the mid-sixties, Janvier, motivated by political awareness, accepted a position with the Department of Indian Affairs in order to develop a cultural policy. It was through some of his efforts that struggling painters and cultural organizations received financial assistance. He encouraged the government to hire other Indian artists for the exterior murals on the Indian Pavilion at Expo ’67. Besides painting a mural, Janvier spearheaded the drive “to tell it like it is” after government critics argued with the ideas

Leo Yerxa, Clifford Maracle, Wilma Simon, Benjamin Chee-Chee, Robert Houle, Blake Debaissige [sic] and Guy Sioui are up and coming painters who have infused their canvases with their unique Indian consciousness and a rediscovery of traditional art forms. What they have created is not necessarily a “genuine Indian art”—for Indian culture has always been adaptable to outside influences—but an art that is “fine art,” modern and Canadian.

presented in the pavilion and tried to tone down its ‘controversial’ content.

There seems a mood of optimism in the public’s acceptance of Indian artists and the future looks bright for the young painter.

Art ’74 to be shown at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto June 4–July 14, 1974. Tom is a Seneca Indian from Six Nations Reserve in Ontario. He is presently completing a film on four contemporary Canadian Indian Artists for the National Film Board in Ottawa.

Tom Hill is the organizer of Canadian Indian

bibliography Indian Arts in Canada / Olive Dickason / Information Canada / 1972 Painting in Canada / J. Russell Harper / University of Toronto Press / 1966 Medicine-Man on the North Pacific Coast / Marius Barbeau / National Museum of Canada / 1958 Canadian Native Art / Nancy-Lou Patterson / Collier-Macmillan Canada, Ltd. / 1973

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Daphne Odjig, Mother Earth Struggles for Survival, 1975 [cat. 82]

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REACTIVE INTERMEDIATES: ABORIGINAL ART, POLITICS, AND RESONANCE OF THE 1960s AND 1970s BARRY ACE

The only way to maintain our culture is for us to remain as Indians.

— Indian Association of Alberta, 1970 1

T

he Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated (PNIAI) was a unique group of active and energized artists comprised of one woman and six men, who came together to create new opportunities for exhibition, mentorship, advocacy, funding, and critique. The newly formed collective coalesced on the cusp of an important new wave of Aboriginal social and political activism and brought together seven savvy and seasoned established and midcareer artists (Odjig, Janvier, Cobiness, Sanchez, Morrisseau, Ray, and Beardy). Together they were wryly dubbed the “Indian Group of Seven,” 2 a

label which aptly paralleled the sentiment of the times and underlined the need for change and new directions in contemporary Canadian art writ large.

Although the history of the PNIAI is significant, there were peripheral artistic and political spheres of influence, and lesser known (but equally important) artists and visionaries driving change and pushing the boundaries of contemporary Aboriginal art. Several artists working pre-1960 created contemporary stylistic innovations, built new tribal synergies, and established new opportunities for exhibition. Also integral to this history is an understanding of the overt and often contradictory federal government policies and economic development strategies that continually disrupted, intervened in, and ultimately shaped this period of Aboriginal art

history in Canada. Operating independently of, in tandem or intertwined with, or influenced by PNIAI activities, these other artists, visionaries, political interventions, peripheral histories, and artistic spaces are the subject of this essay.

Voice, authority, and interpretation were integral elements of the heightened political and cultural consciousness sweeping Indian country during the 1960s and 1970s. Mirroring developments in Aboriginal law and politics, these same ideas fuelled the emergence of a new Aboriginal contemporary art discourse directed at the cloistered and exclusionary exhibition and acquisition policies of contemporary Canadian fine art institutions, critical and curatorial communities, national museums, and many commercial fine art galleries. Just as First Nations struggled to enshrine “existing aboriginal and treaty rights” in the Canadian Constitution Act (1982) and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1985) and fought a lengthy court challenge to affirm that such rights were not an “empty box,” so contemporary Aboriginal artists struggled for decades in their quest for recognition, acceptance, and inclusion.3 Yet ironically, and for perhaps the very same reasons, a ghettoized reservation regime failed to colonize and assimilate Indians into mainstream Canadian society. The systemic marginalization of Aboriginal artists actually nurtured a fertile and distinct contemporary Aboriginal art history outside of Canadian art history.

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It is impossible to disentangle the raison d’être of the PNIAI from social advocacy and political activism, for this story is deeply intertwined with the quest for recognition of Aboriginal and treaty rights, self-determination, and self-government as a countermeasure to the longstanding consequences of colonization, displacement, and poverty. Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171, the milestone exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 1972, was poignantly aligned with what was taking place at the time. The title’s direct reference to Beardy’s, Janvier’s, and Odjig’s treaty numbers clearly drew attention to the blatant disregard for and erosion of Aboriginal and treaty rights and the disappearance, marginalization, and depersonalization of tribal identities via a systemically impersonal, derogatory, and racist codification of Indian identity.

THE RED AND WHITE PAPERS, 1969–1970 In 1969, Indians in Canada were facing perhaps one of the most challenging and pivotal periods in the history of Indian/Crown relations. In 1968, the Liberal government of Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau rose to power in a furor of “Trudeaumania” with a campaign platform built on a new vision for Canada as a “just society” where all Canadians, including Indians, would be treated as one and the same. The government sought irrevocably to reverse the very legislative and constitutional basis of Indian status and treaty rights in Canada, viewing the Indian Act as antiquated and treaties as valid only when ratified between international sovereign states. In 1969, under Jean Chrétien, then Minister of Indian Affairs, the federal government released its new policy direction, the Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy. Known as the White

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Paper, it laid out the federal government’s roadmap for assimilation—enfranchising Indians into Canadian mainstream society and removing “different treatment and special status.” 4 These differences included treaties, reservations, land claims, social and cultural programs, and funding.

Indian leadership and communities across the country were quick to respond with a national and unified protest denouncing the federal government’s position. The artistic community rallied in support of the protest and challenged the proposed eradication of distinct Indian status, treaties, and rights. In response to Trudeau’s political rhetoric and proposed policy, Harold Cardinal, a twenty-three-year-old Cree writer, lawyer, and leader of the Indian Association of Alberta, unveiled what he called the “buckskin curtain” in The Unjust Society (1969). The Indian Association of Alberta also fired back with Citizens Plus (1970), a policy paper that became known as the Red Paper, countering the proposals set forth in the White Paper. One of the Red Paper’s key points embraced the artistic community—“the only way to maintain culture is to remain as Indians.” Although the federal government retracted the White Paper, Aboriginal artists recognized the urgency of cultural revitalization, tribal identities, world view, spirituality, and nationhood in direct response to the impacts of colonization, racism, and diaspora.5 Several artists presaged the overt political activity of the 1970s, addressing themes of colonization and cultural revitalization. As early as 1947, Tseshaht artist, actor, and writer George Clutesi was already writing for the Native Voice.

Blood artist Gerald Tailfeathers’s Drinking Party (1966) documented the social breakdown precipitated by the introduction of alcohol on the

Plains. Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau developed a unique, stylized legend school of painting and published his seminal Legends of My People, The Great Ojibway in 1965. There were numerous other artists, working either in tandem or autonomously, who were documenting the impacts of and resistance to culture change; re-energizing cultural traditions and knowledge; and pushing boundaries of contemporary art in western art mediums such as sculpture, printmaking, and painting. A small survey of early innovators includes Cree artists Allen Sapp, Sanford Fisher, Henry Beaudry, Sitting Wind (Frank Kaquitts), Angelique Merasty; Inuit artists Kenojauk Ashevak, John Tiktak, Jessie Oonark, Pitseolak Ashoona, and Ruth Annaqtuusi Tulurialik; Haida artists Bill Reid, Robert Davidson, Frieda Diesing, and Charles Edenshaw; Kwakwaka’wakw artists Mungo Martin, Henry Speck, Henry Hunt, and Willie Seaweed; Gitxsan artists Walter Harris, Doreen Jensen, and Judith P. Morgan; Blackfoot artist Two Gun (Percy Plainswoman); and Mohawk artist Louis Karoniaktajeh Hall.

THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT AND THE MAKING OF ABORIGINAL ART POLICY Federal government interventions into the arts, through the legislative authority of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND), were clearly focused on selling “Indianness” as an economic development strategy. This strategy appears diametrically opposed to ongoing assimilationist policies and blatant attempts to eradicate Aboriginal and constitutional rights. Yet, from a government perspective this focus was not contradictory, but rather a deficit reduction exercise to address

what Ottawa saw as a financial burden on its coffers and a growing reliance on federally funded social welfare programs and costly government services.6 This history is pivotal, for it not only reveals how the federal government reinforced the demarcation between what it defined as “handicraft” and “fine art,” but also illustrates how failed political interventions into Aboriginal art policy, marketing strategies, and cultural program development actually led to the establishment of the only major publicly owned contemporary collection of Canadian Aboriginal art in the world. Clearly this was not the government’s intent, but ill-conceived marketing schemes laid the foundation for a major fine art collection, built on works of art either gifted to the Minister of Indian Affairs, or later, through direct purchase from artists and commercial galleries, including major works by all PNIAI artists and other significant Aboriginal artists.

The Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences was initiated in 1949 by Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent, who felt it timely to revisit a broad range of issues related to Canadian culture.7 Five appointed commissioners were mandated to conduct a comprehensive national review, holding public hearings across Canada, that culminated with a series of recommendations. Within the subsection “The Artist and Writer,” the Report of the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences, 1949–1951 had a dedicated chapter on Indian arts and crafts, stating: Many of the products of the so called Indian craftsman which do survive are degraded objects mass produced for the tourist trade, badly carved miniature totem poles, brightly

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tinted plastic pins (“of Indian make from pressed bone”) and other regrettable “Indian” souvenirs made in Japan. Such activities do not always result even in economic benefits for the Indian family, but may instead impose a form of sweated labour on the wife and children.” 8 The report spoke directly to the legislative and mandated role of the Indian Affairs Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration:9 It has been suggested that the Indian Affairs Branch be encouraged to look after these matters, and that it be provided with the necessary resources. A number of agents of the Branch are interested and helpful . . . but there was a general impression that the Branch as a whole has adopted a somewhat negative attitude . . . a flexible programme is needed to encourage Indians to produce their best work; publicity and information are needed to enable other Canadians (already, as we have seen, keenly interested in handicrafts) to understand its value. . .

The establishment of a national arts and crafts programme is a basic necessity for the development of Indian welfare . . . and we heard it proposed that arts and crafts should be an essential part of their education.10 The commission described “pessimism” from unnamed sources who declared that “Indian art cannot be revived,” that its death was “inevitable,” and that compared Indian arts to “ghosts or shadows of a dead society [that] can never . . . regain real form or substance.” 11 However, the commission also reported the advocacy of the British Columbia Indian Arts and Welfare

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Society, the Federation of Canadian Artists, and the Canadian Handicrafts Guild.12 The Report of the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences had a longstanding effect on Aboriginal art policy.13 For the next twenty years, Indian Affairs struggled to develop a nationally viable and responsive arts and crafts program. Despite systemic pessimism, the federal government continued to support displays of Aboriginal art at national trade shows including the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, which resulted in major retail department stores such as Eaton’s and the Hudson’s Bay Company stocking an inventory of Indian “handicrafts.” The federal government even marketed Indian “handicrafts” through the National Parks Branch of the Department of Mines and Resources.14 The widespread and loosely regulated marketing scheme soon became fraught with problems regarding authenticity, as the market was fast becoming flooded with foreign-made Asia-Pacific imitations.

The government was forced to respond with a regulated, “branded” federal identity program and advertising campaign to repair the damage.

Commercial galleries selling Aboriginal (Indian and Inuit) art were regulated and monitored by the federal government, which issued tags to be affixed to each piece of art sold. Federal “brands” included the maple leaf, a stretched beaver pelt, and an igloo, all of which proved costly and difficult to maintain and control.15 Yet, the royal commission report led to major organizational change within the department and the functions of the Indian Affairs Branch were eventually regrouped under three major activities: education, operations (responsible for economic development), and support services. In 1964, the federal Cabinet approved the creation

of a fourth division called “Social Programs.”

An internal departmental report from 1973, “A Review and Analysis of Cultural Development Division, Education Branch, Indian and Eskimo Program,” provides some insight into the social programs within the Indian Affairs Branch, noting that “the new Social Programs Division involved a realignment of the welfare division, with special emphasis on the social and cultural development of Indian peoples. The government proposed that the new division be responsible for developing policies and plans for welfare services, community services, and cultural affairs.” 16 The report states that Walter Rudnicki was the first bureaucrat appointed to the Social Programs Division in 1962, likely due to his writing the original Treasury Board submission, not because of any demonstrable experience in Aboriginal arts.17 Under Rudnicki, the Social Programs Division established a Cultural Affairs Section in 1965.18 Quebec author Yves Thériault became its first director, with Anishinaabe writer Tom Peltier as special advisor/assistant.19 The newly formed Cultural Affairs Section was to be responsible for the development of Indian arts, special exhibitions and projects, publications of special interest to Indians, and the coordination of the cultural interests of Indian Affairs with the National Film Board of Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the National Museum of Man (now the Canadian Museum of Civilization), and the National Gallery of Canada.

The departmental report notes that the original program design proposed a minimum of six staff of Indian ancestry be contracted to the Cultural Affairs Section. However, existing public service staff was used to fill the positions of section head and administrative assistant. Despite this proposal, the stated objective to fill all positions

with Indian staff was never realized. The rationale provided at the time was that there were no qualified Indians to fill these key positions.20 With the departure of Rudnicki only two years into his term, it was difficult for Thériault and Peltier to garner the same level of support from the upper echelons of the department.

Several of their more progressive cultural program initiatives were rejected in favour of a less complicated Cultural Grants Program.

Although the Cultural Grants Program was channelled through the Cultural Affairs Section, the granting program was primarily limited to supporting powwows and cultural gatherings, which, in effect, did very little to promote contemporary visual arts. Despite these systemic obstacles, Thériault and Peltier successfully initiated the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67.21 The Cultural Affairs Section was also successful in establishing an Aboriginal Advisory Committee for Expo 67, engaging a powerful team of artists and visionaries including Tom Hill (design executed in ceramic by Jean-Marie Gros-Louis), Alex Janvier, Henry and Tony Hunt, Ross Woods, George Clutesi, Gerald Tailfeathers, Norval Morrisseau assisted by Carl Ray, and Francis Kagige.22 With the departure of Yves Thériault in 1967, the department appointed Dr. Ahab Spence, a Cree from Split Lake, Manitoba, to oversee the Cultural Affairs Section.23 Between 1967 and 1970, Dr. Spence attempted to develop and steer the program and services of the Cultural Affairs Section to be more responsive to national needs. He expanded the program in 1968 with the appointment of specialists in fine arts and literature and a linguist. Despite much discussion surrounding the need for a documentation centre, it failed to materialize.24

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The lobbying efforts of Aboriginal artists and leadership regarding their lack of input into federally funded cultural programs escalated during the 1970s. The Department responded with a national consultation process. A partnership struck with the Department of the Secretary of State resulted in the first National Conference on Indian Culture held in March 1970 in Ottawa (subsequent conferences were held in 1971 and 1972). A number of significant recommendations emerged from these conferences, including one calling for the decentralization of cultural affairs to the provinces and territories to respond to regional disparities and a motion calling for additional support in the liaison, promotion, and coordination of cultural grants, language programs, literature development, and fine arts programs.25 When Dr. Spence left the department in 1970, the work of the Cultural Affairs Section was once again disrupted as senior management sought a suitable replacement. In late 1970, Colin Wasacase, a Cree from Saskatchewan, was hired, but shortly thereafter the Department once again underwent reorganization when the Cultural Affairs Section was transferred from Social Affairs to the Education Branch. The rationale for the change was to align Cultural Affairs with a program already familiar with educational tools and resources and, perhaps more importantly, to comply with senior management’s desire for a major shift away from fine arts towards language development and education.26 Although the department still actively acquired art for its collection, the renewed focus was on education and resources. This emphasis was demonstrated by the publication of Tawow, the department’s first cultural magazine. Tawow (Cree for “there is room for you” or “welcome”) was national

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in scope, featuring guest writers and editors, contemporary artists, writers, performers, exhibitions, and cultural events. While the magazine was published throughout the 1970s, the management position at the Cultural Affairs Section remained vacant from 1973 to 1977, when Tom Hill was hired to assume the position. Tawow had featured Hill in 1974, with cover artwork, describing him as a “talented perfectionist”: [Hill] is a Seneca Indian from the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario. He studied at the Ontario College of Art and has recently been named the co-ordinator for a major exhibition of 1974 (Indian Art ’74 at the Royal Ontario Museum).

It is in this capacity that we may expect to hear a great deal from Tom in the future as a pace setter and a leader in providing Indian artists with desirable opportunities for exhibiting their work. His capabilities in organization and promotion have already been demonstrated through a number of successful promotions and exhibitions of Indian art and craft and through the production of the book Indian Arts in Canada

by Olive Dickason.27 The shift towards education and linguistics was probably precipitated by an effort to eliminate duplication with the Economic Development Sector that in 1970 established the Central Marketing Services (CMS) to maximize marketing opportunities for Indian artists by warehousing and selling their works. CMS was later restructured and renamed the Central Indian Marketing Services (CIMS) and operated, in part, under the direction of an autonomous board of directors.

By 1974, federal economic development programs were being developed across Canada, which directly aided the formation of provincial Aboriginal arts and crafts organizations. A number of provincial organizations emerged during this time including Les Artisans Indiens du Québec, Indian Arts and Crafts Society of British Columbia, Native Arts and Crafts Corporation of Ontario, Mic Mac Arts and Crafts Society of Nova Scotia, and Manitoba Indian Arts and Crafts, as well as a national arts and crafts organization called the National Indian Arts and Crafts Corporation (NIACC).

In 1977, the first Treasury Board submission authorizing the National Indian Arts and Crafts Corporation to “manage” the Indian Arts and Crafts Development and Support Program was approved, and in February 1978, the first agreement was signed between NIACC and DIAND. The contribution grant from DIAND covered administrative costs, market promotion, and merchandising. It was anticipated that NIACC and its provincial affiliates would eventually become the primary entity responsible for the national promotion, production, and sale of Indian arts in Canada, but by 1978 the Treasury Board was concerned with the program’s integrity due to concerns with financial administration and excessive revenue loss.28 The Treasury Board directed the department to terminate CIMS and all purchases by December 31, 1978.29 By early 1979, all CIMS assets were liquidated and surplus artworks were transferred to the department’s fine art collection. With the pending termination of CIMS, it was anticipated that NIACC would absorb CIMS and continue to operate under one program to meet the needs of the Indian arts and crafts sector. But the decision to terminate CIMS and its funding resulted in unprecedented fiscal

and organizational pressures on NIACC, as its provincial and territorial corporations scrambled to fill the gap created by the dissolution of CIMS.30 The failure to unite CIMS and NIACC exacerbated the instability of the Aboriginal arts and crafts sector, and Aboriginal artists and arts organizations pointed an accusing finger at the federal government for undermining Aboriginal ownership and control of a viable marketing system for arts and crafts. While NIACC and regional arts and crafts corporations did attempt to fill the gap for a short period of time, they were not successful in developing a viable national marketing strategy and infrastructure. By the end of the 1980s, NIACC and most of its provincial counterparts had closed their doors.31 The Alberta Arts and Crafts Corporation succumbed to this fate and placed its entire inventory up for public auction, including masterworks by Alex Janvier and other important Alberta artists in December 1992.32 Ironically, the very department accused of undermining the arts and crafts sector with the termination of CIMS now found itself intervening in the public auction, outbidding all other parties and purchasing the entire collection, which is now housed as the Alberta Art Collection within the department’s contemporary fine art collection.33 Despite the controversial history surrounding the marketing of Aboriginal art and the rise and fall of CIMS and NIACC, the Cultural Affairs Section was reinvigorated in 1977 when Tom Hill became the senior cultural officer. Hill laid out a plan that shifted the mandate back to its original intent with a stronger emphasis on exhibition, arts promotion, education and resource development, cultural grants, fine art acquisition, and partnerships. At the same time, the Cultural Affairs Section hired Cayuga sculptor David General as the fine arts officer overseeing the collection.

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The Cultural Affairs Section continued to purchase art, and many acquisitions from this period are now considered masterworks, including works by PNIAI artists Norval Morrisseau, Alex Janvier, and Daphne Odjig, as well as other important artists such as Bill Reid, Arthur Shilling, Frida Diesing, and Robert Davidson. During his tenure and leadership, Tom Hill further enhanced the program with groundbreaking fine art exhibitions from the department’s impressive collection and collaborative documentaries with the National Film Board of Canada.

ANISHINAABEG PAINTERS Perhaps one of the most significant breakthroughs of the early 1960s was Norval Morrisseau’s distinct Anishinaabe painting style. His spiritually charged line-work and holistic figureto-ground relationships were strongly influenced by sacred Midewiwin mnemonic iconography and visual narratives recorded on incised birchbark scrolls. Morrisseau’s transformation and reinterpretation was so fresh and liberating that it inspired numerous artists to adopt this Anishinaabeg style of painting, particularly in northeastern Ontario and Manitoulin Island.

Originally from Wikwemikong, Daphne Odjig had been dubbed “Picasso’s grandmother”

by Norval Morrisseau.34 In 1995, I had an opportunity to speak at length with Odjig about her developmental years as a painter and the public critique of her work. She recalled how early in her career she was continually criticized as being derivative of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque. She felt this was clearly a double standard.

When non-Aboriginal artists, such as Picasso, experimented with other movements or borrowed

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from other cultures to push a stylistic boundary, it was considered groundbreaking. When an Indian artist did the same, it was considered derogatory and derivative.35 The early coalescing of Manitoulin Island painters and the emergence of a unique Manitoulin Anishinaabeg style can be attributed to several influential initiatives including the Manitou Arts Foundation, the Schreiber Island Projects (1971, 1972, and 1973) and the founding of the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation in 1974.

Daphne Odjig was invited to serve on the board of directors of the Manitou Arts Foundation, and returned home to teach painting at the first summer Fine Art School project on Schreiber Island in 1971. The Schreiber Island Projects brought Manitoulin Island painters together for critique, dialogue, and art instruction with access to several influential artists including Odjig and fellow PNIAI artist Carl Ray. Another important initiative was the 1974 founding of the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation in M’Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island.

Founder and former director Mary Lou Fox Radulovich, along with a group of like-minded teachers including Margaret Fox, Meluyna Corbiere, Grace Fox, and Evelyn Pelletier founded the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation as a cultural revitalization initiative with an emphasis on Anishinaabemowin development, oral tradition, and spirituality.36 Fox remembers an Indian art club that included several well-known Manitoulin painters who also participated in the Schreiber Island Projects: Blake Debassige, Martin Panamick, James Simon (Mishibinijma), Randy Trudeau, Don Ense, Eleanor Kanasawe, John Laford, Mel Madahbee, and Leland Bell.37

ABORIGINAL PRINTMAKING The earliest artist collectives, although not under Aboriginal control, were the Inuit cooperatives organized by James A. Houston who, by the late 1950s, was developing printmaking in Cape Dorset.38 Simultaneously in the United States printmaking was making a resurgence.

Concerned that American lithography was in a state of decline, artist June Wayne founded the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in 1960.39 The professional and archival standards that evolved around the resurgence of printmaking secured its rapid acceptance as a fine art medium in the contemporary art world. Aboriginal artists were at the forefront of its resurgence.

Daphne Odjig’s interest in printmaking was evident when she established Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Limited in Winnipeg in 1970, which would later influence and become a driving force behind the Triple K Co-operative, an Aboriginal printmaking cooperative. In 1973, brothers Joshim Kakegamic, Goyce Kakegamic, and Henry Kakegamic studied printmaking and recognized its burgeoning importance, subsequently returning to their home community of Red Lake and opening the Triple K Cooperative. Joshim and Goyce Kakegamic were accomplished artists in their own right, working in the Anishinaabeg style developed by their brother-in-law Norval Morrisseau. The profile of the Triple K Co-operative was enhanced by the inclusion of Norval Morrisseau limitededition prints that sold at galleries across Canada and abroad. The Department of Indian Affairs Central Indian Marketing Services (CIMS) and the federally funded National Indian Arts and Crafts Corporation (NIACC) carried Triple K works, many of which found their way into the

department’s fine art collection. In addition, Triple K produced limited-edition prints by Barry Peters, Paddy Peters, and Saul Williams, protégés of Morrisseau who also worked in the Anishinaabeg style. In 1977, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto mounted the exhibition Contemporary Native Art of Canada—Silk screens from the Triple K Co-operative, Red Lake, Ontario.

But in 1978, Goyce Kakagemic sold his interest to his brother Howard, and when Henry retired in 1983 Triple K closed its doors.40 MANITOU COMMUNITY COLLEGE, LA MACAZA, QUEBEC, 1973–1976 Although the rise and controversial fall of Manitou Community College in La Macaza, Quebec, is shrouded in selective truth, it was an initiative clearly aligned with one of the founding objectives of the PNIAI—namely to train and develop young Aboriginal artists. A final and often overlooked chapter in this period of Aboriginal art history, the formation of Manitou Community College began as a true grassroots initiative sparked by a group of young Aboriginal students from Montreal, lobbying for “Indian control of Indian education,” a concept at the forefront of Aboriginal advocacy in response to the 1969 White Paper and longstanding controversies surrounding residential schools and federally run on-reserve schools.

Anishinaabe artist Robert Houle, who was studying fine art at McGill University, was asked to undertake a feasibility study based on the Institute of American Indian Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to see whether that model would be appropriate for a similar college at La Macaza.

A potential site had already been identified, BOMARC (Boeing Michigan Aeronautical

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Research Centre), an abandoned missile base. The property was owned by the federal government and jointly administered by the departments of Indian Affairs and National Defence. The Indians of Quebec Association helped pitch the proposal to the Department of Indian Affairs. The Department concurred with the request, granting permission for BOMARC to be used for a cultural and educational institution.

Opening in 1973, Manitou College was the only fully accredited community college in Canada under Indian control. Funding was

traditional Cree territory. Students often found themselves politically engaged in protests and demonstrations in Montreal. Manitou College also struggled with high operational costs and a growing debt. Funding support from the Quebec Inuit Association, Indians of Quebec Association, and the Quebec Cree also dried up. Manitou College closed its doors December 18, 1976.

In a “Special Report on Manitou College” issued one month after the doors were closed, senior management responded to the mounting criticisms levied against the college since its

sourced from DIAND’s Cultural Education Centres Program and the Indian and Inuit Associations of Quebec. Manitou Community College was formally recognized by Quebec’s Ministry of Education as a collège d’enseignement général et professionnel or CÉGEP. Manitou Community College developed and offered a multidisciplinary approach to arts training in the visual and performing arts, with courses including woodland art, traditional materials (basketry, quillwork, etc.), beadwork, ceramics, jewellery, theatre, music, dance, printmaking, and photography. It offered a three-year diploma program, with an optional fourth year of specialized study. The diverse curricula provided students with the flexibility and freedom to explore, experiment with, and integrate all aspects of their cultural, spiritual, and political influences and interests into their work and studies.

A variety of forces coalesced during Manitou Community College’s short life.

Quebec nationalism was at its height in the aftermath of the FLQ crisis of October 1970, and tensions were high between the Province of Quebec and the James Bay Cree over the hydroelectric development projects on

inception.41 In response to criticisms regarding

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duplication of arts programs offered by other colleges and universities, the report noted that the majority of social sciences courses and all courses in Native arts were indisputably unique.

Furthermore, the college had a special mandate from Quebec’s Ministry of Education to prepare Aboriginal content courses, with a particular emphasis on innovative, experimental, and distinctive programming that could be used by other community colleges. Management argued that, with its specialized training, Manitou College was different from other colleges.

It further noted that McGill and Concordia universities not only had very low Aboriginal enrolment, but lacked language programs and Aboriginal representation in their decisionmaking process.

In response to criticism regarding its high operational costs ($1.3 million per year for a student population of only 120), management retorted that this statistic failed to account for the additional 180 summer students and the more than 120 students over a two-year period who had been refused funding by DIAND. The Report concluded that both Manitou College and DIAND had a moral obligation to its enrolled

students and requested interim support and resources to explore how funding issues could be resolved without closure of the college. In the end, Manitou College never recovered; however, during its short life, it influenced a number of important artists who subsequently shaped new directions in Aboriginal arts and art education.42 CONCLUSION In 1978, Daphne Odjig and Alex Janvier were among the artists who gathered at the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation in M’Chigeeng on Manitoulin Island for the first National Native Indian Arts Conference.43 Out of this conference, and a second conference held at K’san in Hazelton, British Columbia, the Society of Canadian Artists of Native Ancestry (SCANA) emerged. The issues that led to the formation of SCANA echoed the concerns of the PNIAI—the lack of regional and national representation of contemporary works and exhibition opportunities, especially in fine art institutions, public collections, and private fine art galleries. The first Executive Committee and Advisory Board representatives included several pioneering artists: Doreen Jensen, David General,

Norman Tait, Freda Diesing, Alfred Young Man, and Carl Beam, along with senior advisors Tom Hill and Daphne Odjig, appointed for their contributions, experience, and advocacy.

The 1960s and 1970s was truly a revolutionary period for active engagement, organization, mobilization, advocacy, and change for Aboriginal artists. The tenacity and perseverance of these artists, visionaries, schools, collectives, and movements is truly monumental. The PNIAI unequivocally aspired to its core objectives to ensure that funding was available for artists to create; that promotion and commercial galleries were available for artists to exhibit their work; that artists could travel and mentor young artists; and that funds be made available for educational scholarship and training opportunities for young artists. As we look back at this epoch in historical retrospect, it is very clear that the PNIAI revealed that we all share the same objectives and aspirations. It is our collective responsibility to look back and carry those attributes forward into the future.

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notes 1

Indian Association of Alberta, Citizen’s Plus (Edmonton: Indian Association of Alberta, 1970).

2 R. M. Vanderburgh and M. E. Southcott, A Paintbrush in My Hand— Daphne Odjig (Toronto: Natural Heritage/Natural History Inc., 1992), 75.

3 See Ardith Walkem and Halie Bruce, Box of Treasures or Empty Box? Twenty Years of Section 35 (Penticton, BC: Theytus Books, 2003).

4 Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy (The White Paper 1969), Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, https:// www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100010189/1100100010191.

5 Assimilationist policies and eradication of Aboriginal and treaty rights remained subverted until very recently and have once again emerged in the Government of Canada’s recent omnibus Bill C-45, which has triggered a national movement reminiscent of 1969–1970 post-White Paper activism.

6 Treasury Board Submission, Indian Affairs Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration, Establishment of the Social Affairs Division, March 17, 1964; Indian Visual Arts Policy Discussion Paper, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, October 5, 1982.

7 The commission’s broad mandate was to explore cultural activities that produced “national feeling,” including universities, archives, museums, media, publishing, performing arts, visual arts, and craft, with particular emphasis on diversity, producers, and creators. See Jody Berland, “Nationalism and the Modernist Legacy: Dialogue with Innis,” in Capital Culture: a Reader on Modernist Legacies, State Institutions, and the Value(s) of Art, ed. Jody Berland and Sheila Hornstein (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2000), 33–35.

8 “Indian Arts and Crafts,” chap. 15 in Report of the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences (Ottawa: King’s Printer, 1951), 240.

9 Indian and Inuit affairs were the responsibility of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration from 1950 to 1965, until the creation of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in 1966.

10 Ibid., 242.

11 Ibid.

12 Ibid., 240.

13 Shirley Madill, Jackson Beardy: A Life’s Work (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1993), 12.

14 Trudy Nicks, “Marketing of an Image,” Artscraft 2, no.3 (1990): 7.

15 Ibid.

16 K. D. Uppal, “A Review and Analysis of Cultural Development Division, Education Branch, Indian and Eskimo Program,” Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, October 25, 1973, 1.

17 Ibid., 2.

18 Tom Hill and Elizabeth McLuhan, “Indian Art In Canada: An Historical Perspective,” in Norval Morrisseau and the Emergence of the Image Makers (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1984), 21.

19 Thomas E. “Jomin” Peltier (1936–2009) served as political adviser under prime ministers Lester B. Pearson, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Jean Chrétien, and Paul Martin. Born in Wikwemekong, he was an accomplished writer and author of the novel Bearwalk (1977) and a lifelong supporter of the arts.

20 Uppal, 3–5.

21 Mary E. Southcott, The Sound of the Drum: The Sacred Art of the Anishnabec (Erin, ON: Boston Mills Press, 1984), 29.

22 Ruth B. Phillips and Sherry Brydon, “Arrow of Truth: The Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67,” in Museum Pieces: Towards the Indigenization of Canadian Museums (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2011), 36–38.

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23 Dr. Ahab Spence (1911–2001) was an ordained Anglican minister who received an honorary law degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1964. He was president of the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood from 1974 to 1976, taught Cree at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College from 1980 to 1988, and became a Member of the Order of Canada in 1982. See Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, s.v. “Spence, Ahab,” esask.uregina.ca/entry/spence_ahab_1911-2001.html.

24 Uppal, 6.

25 Ibid., 7.

26 Ibid., 10.

27 Tawow 3, no. 2 (1974): 3–5.

28 Treasury Board Submission, March 17, 1964; Indian Visual Arts Policy Discussion Paper, October 5, 1982, 2.

29 Ibid.

30 Ibid.

31 Alfred Young Man, “Bob Boyer and the Society of Canadian Artists of Native Ancestry (SCANA),” in Bob Boyer: His Life’s Work, ed. Lee-Ann Martin (Regina: MacKenzie Art Gallery, 2008), 172.

32 Brian Laghi, “Private art buyers chased from sale,” The Calgary Herald, December 20, 1992, A4.

33 Information Bulletin, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, January 1993.

34 Jann L. M. Bailey, “Daphne Odjig,” The Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts, 2007, Canada Council for the Arts/Conseil des arts du Canada, www.canadacouncil.ca/prizes /ggavma/2007/ kc128182835977597792.htm 35 Daphne Odjig, personal interview with the author, Ottawa, Ontario, November 30, 1995.

36 Anishinaabemowin refers to the Anishinaabe language. See Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, www.ojibweculture.ca/site/TheOCF/tabid/36/ Default.aspx.

37 Southcott, 122.

38 James Houston, an artist who first travelled to the Arctic in 1951, was hired by the Canadian Handicrafts Guild and subsequently founded Inuit printmaking cooperatives after successful experimental collaborations with Oshaweetok (Osuitok Ipeelee) in 1957. See Richard C. Crandall, Inuit Art: a History (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, 2000), 119–23.

39 In 1959, June Wayne submitted “To Restore the Art of the Lithograph in the United States” to the Ford Foundation and founded the Tamarind Workshop the following year. See Marjorie Devon, ed., Tamarind: 40 Years (Albuquerque, NM: Tamarind Institute, 2000), 1–4. Canadian Aboriginal artists Faye HeavyShield and Robert Houle are among the artists who have produced prints at Tamarind.

40 Southcott, 50.

41 Velma Bourque, John Dione, George W. Miller, “Special Report on Manitou Community College,” (unpublished report, January 26, 1976).

42 Prominent and highly influential alumni artists and instructors Domingo Cisneros and Edward Poitras were later affiliated with other programs and set new aesthetic directions. Other significant alumni include visual artist Alex Jacobs (Mohawk), Monik Sioui (1951–1997, Wendat/Abenaki) who taught and ran the college print shop, which published oral histories, poetry, texts, and newspapers, and Dr. Blair Stonechild (Cree), who returned to Saskatchewan and helped found the Department of Indian Studies at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (now First Nations University of Canada).

43 Alfred Young Man, “Towards a Political History of Native Art,” in Visions of Power: Contemporary Art by First Nations, Inuit and Japanese Canadians, exhibition catalogue (Toronto: Earth Spirit, [1991]).

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Alex Janvier, Alberta Rose, 1977 [cat. 41]

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EARLY ADVENTURES IN THE MAINSTREAM: ALEX JANVIER, NORVAL MORRISSEAU, AND DAPHNE ODJIG 1962–1975 LEE-ANN MARTIN

It has become a given that mainstream Canadian art and cultural institutions have historically supported and maintained a distinctly Euro-Canadian view of aesthetics and cultural production.

— Steve Loft, 20121

O

f the seven founding members of the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., Alex Janvier, Norval Morrisseau, and Daphne Odjig had the most active and sustained engagement with the “distinctly Euro-Canadian view” in both commercial and public art galleries during the 1960s and early 1970s. While differing in stylistic approaches and formative training, all three artists had access to books on art, studying them throughout the postwar decade of the 1950s.

Living in British Columbia during this time, Daphne Odjig visited art galleries to view paintings and survey exhibition catalogues.2 In public libraries, she examined the first newformat “coffee table” art books on Picasso and other European modernist painters.3 In 1958, Norval Morrisseau met Dr. Joseph Weinstein and his wife, Esther, in the northern mining community of Cochenour, Ontario. As art collectors, the Weinsteins had an extensive collection of books that Morrisseau explored.4 Alex Janvier’s first exposure to modernist art occurred while he was a student at Blue Quills Indian Residential School in St. Paul, Alberta, where the school principal, the Reverend Father Etienne Bernet-Rollande, provided encouragement and access to art books. Beginning in 1950, Janvier took instruction outside the school with painter and university extension

art professor Karl Altenberg, who introduced the young artist to the fine arts section of the University of Alberta library where Janvier developed a strong affinity to such modernist artists as Wassily Kandinsky.5 NORVAL MORRISSEAU Norval Morrisseau’s first exhibition at the Pollock Gallery in Toronto in 1962 has become a legendary chapter in Canada’s art history. In the summer of 1960, Jack Pollock was hired to conduct a series of seminars on contemporary painting techniques in various towns on the northwest shores of Lake Superior. In each area he visited people told him of an “Indian artist who painted pictures on birch bark.” Eventually, in Beardmore, he met Morrisseau and, after seeing his paintings, realized immediately that this was a great Canadian talent.6 Morrisseau then agreed to show his work in a solo exhibition at the prestigious Pollock Gallery in September 1962. Within twenty-four hours, every painting was sold, with Morrisseau receiving critical acclaim and publicity. A Time article later that month described Morrisseau as a “Primitivist” and quoted Pollock: “By the accident of isolation, he is a painter untouched and uninhibited. The richness of the legends and his talent elevate his art beyond that of mere decoration.” 7

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DAPHNE ODJIG Prior to the mid-1950s, Daphne Odjig’s output was limited due to the demands of child rearing and the lack of a commercial art market.8 But by

Norval Morrisseau, Nepu Naba: The Merman, 1969, acrylic on kraft paper, 125.0 x 58.4 cm.

Collection of Canadian Museum of Civilization.

This sellout exhibition and subsequent shows at commercial and public galleries throughout the 1960s attest to the widespread appeal of his art. These galleries, operating within the prevailing Euro-Canadian aesthetic framework, predominantly showed works from New York inspired by abstract expressionism, historic and modern European artists and, of course, Canadian landscapes inspired by the Group of Seven. Morrisseau’s subject matter and innovative virtuosity obviously commanded attention as a “breath of fresh air.”

The mystique around the artist and his culture appealed to the sentiments of early 1960s notions of liberalism. Indeed, in these postwar years when world travel and exploration was on the increase, Morrisseau aptly filled the role of the “exotic” at home. Although his exhibitions were not always sellouts, Morrisseau showed his work repeatedly at the Pollock Gallery throughout the 1960s and into the early 1980s, as well as in solo exhibitions at Hart House Gallery, University of Toronto (1965) and at the Musée du Québec, Quebec City (1966), among others. By 1975, his work had shown at the Bau-Xi Gallery in Vancouver and the Shayne Gallery in Montreal.

the late 1950s and early 1960s, Odjig was working in multiple mediums in both cubistic abstraction and more figurative work. In 1965, Odjig moved to northern Manitoba where her husband, Chester Beavon, was posted as a community development officer. The Chemawawin Cree Nation adjacent to Easterville had been relocated to the south shore of Cedar Lake in 1962–63 when Manitoba Hydro activated the dam in Grand Rapids and flooded their communities and hunting territories. The plight of the Chemawawin Cree generated a major turning point in Odjig’s career in which she moved from landscape painting to pen-andink drawings portraying the predicaments of the people: scenes of daily life; the various hardships of displacement; and the loss of the old, viable economy.9 While in Easterville, Odjig sold her first artworks to Gary Scherbain, then a bureaucrat with the Manitoba Ministry of Welfare.10 Scherbain also brought sketches and paintings

Daphne Odjig, Hauling Firewood, 1967, commercial print, 25 x 33 cm.

Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

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back to Winnipeg, where he sold them to many collectors. These early sales further encouraged and motivated Odjig. In 1967, she had her first public solo exhibition of seventy-eight drawings, pastels, and acrylics at the Lakehead Art Centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario (then Port Arthur).

Odjig had a solo exhibition in 1968 at Brandon University, sponsored by the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood (now the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs), an organization in which Odjig and her sons were active. The Brotherhood’s guest speaker at the opening, secretary-treasurer Isaac Beaulieu, vouched for the “authenticity of the legends the artist depicts in the colourful paintings.” 11 Also in 1968, the Brotherhood sponsored two additional solo exhibitions at hotels in Winnipeg. By 1969, while not yet being shown at commercial galleries, Odjig was gaining recognition locally through solo exhibitions at the Manitoba Legislative Building and the Winnipeg Eaton’s department store, and nationally with her work In the Bosom of Mother Earth, acquired for the national collection of the Department of Indian Affairs in Ottawa.12 In 1970, Odjig was one of the few Canadian artists represented at the World’s Fair in Osaka, Japan, when her painting

Daphne Odjig, In the Bosom of the Earth, 1969, pastel on paper, 82.2 x 110.5 cm.

Daphne Odjig, Mother and Child, 1967, oil on paper, 90 x 61 cm.

Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

Earth Mother (1969) was commissioned for the Canadian pavilion.

In 1970, the Beavons began reproducing some of the Easterville ink drawings with the help of a friend in Winnipeg who had a small printing press.13 These reproductions became so popular that the couple decided to compile a small catalogue to send to schools and government offices, and so Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Limited was created. Although some advised against saturating the market with unlimited edition prints, the business thrived. Chester resigned from the civil service, and in 1971 they moved to Winnipeg where they opened a small craft store from which to sell arts and crafts and to distribute the reproduction prints. As one of the very few Aboriginal-owned craft shops in Canada at the time, the store attracted the finest

Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

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crafts of First Nations craftspeople throughout the province and across Canada. By this time, the small catalogue had expanded to include colour reproductions of Odjig’s paintings as well as those of Eddy Cobiness, Norval Morrisseau, and Carl Ray. Odjig’s shop soon became not only a meeting place for a growing circle of artists, but also an important venue for artwork that still had not captured the interest of commercial galleries in the city—or across the country. The informal atmosphere of the store and gallery “offered a situation where the artists could work out their feelings about their relationship to their own culture as well as to the established institutions of the Canadian art scene.” 14

Nicoll introduced Janvier to the concept of automatic painting, which freed the artist from the constrictions of design and allowed movement into the realm of the subconscious.18 Janvier related well to Nicoll’s automatic painting style and also to her rejection of the formal landscape conventions of the British Academy practiced by many of her colleagues.19 Upon graduation in 1960, Janvier joined the faculty of the University of Alberta Extension Department in Edmonton, from which he conducted art workshops in various communities throughout northern Alberta. These road trips afforded him private time in the evenings to work on small pen-and-ink drawings and watercolours.

ALEX JANVIER In 1956, Alex Janvier began formal art studies at the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (PITA) in Calgary, now the Alberta College of Art and Design. Janvier’s emerging signature style was first inspired by his classes with Frank Palmer, a noted Alberta watercolourist, while Illingworth Kerr encouraged him to consider the modernist abstractions of Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Joan Miró, among others.15 During Janvier’s time at art college, concepts of abstraction emanating from Europe and New York began to interest Canadian artists, critics, galleries, and collectors.16 Art historians suggest that a true assessment of abstract painting in Calgary must begin with the work of Marion Nicoll, one of Alberta’s first abstractionists and Janvier’s instructor at SAITA. Her participation in an Emma Lake Artists’ Workshop in 1957 propelled her art into a new radical phase that embraced abstraction.17

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Alex Janvier, Subconscious 3, 1960, pencil on paper, 18.2 x 19.3 cm.

Collection of Canadian Museum of Civilization.

The highly calligraphic quality of many of his works from 1961 and 1962 illustrates his growing confidence with abstraction. In what he terms one of the major decisions in his life, he returned to the reserve in 1962. For the next two years, Alex assisted his brother John with the ranching and devoted his evenings to painting with various types of media, composition, and subject matter.

In late 1963, Janvier visited galleries in Edmonton with his portfolio of small works,

mostly pen and India ink, watercolours, and pastels. Here he met Josephina Courtney and John Jacox, owners of the Jacox Gallery.

Courtney was so impressed with these works that she included them in a group exhibition in 1963.

In the summer of 1964, Janvier had his first solo exhibition of watercolours at the Jacox Gallery.20 This important exhibition introduced him and his works to many regional public and private collections. That same year, he participated in the All Alberta Show organized by the Edmonton Art Gallery (now Art Gallery of Alberta).

Janvier’s abstractions received mixed reactions including several supportive critical reviews.21 However, for the most part in the early 1960s, private collectors and public institutions defined Aboriginal art only as art that contained recognizable, stereotypical Aboriginal imagery recalling a romanticized and idealized past. It was not until the end of the decade that Aboriginal artists, such as the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., began to work collectively toward increased artistic agency. Despite the emergent critical acclaim and commercial success Janvier’s work was attracting by 1964 in Alberta, his abstract art was deemed not “Indian” enough.

His work was largely dismissed because both commercial galleries and other public institutions decreed that Indian artists should not incorporate contemporary art idioms of the day. Both Odjig’s and Morrisseau’s styles lent themselves to this definition of “Aboriginal art” and became popular because of their graphic illustration of oral traditions.

The effect of this double irony on Janvier’s critical acceptance is evidenced in a report by a private consultant, Harry Malcolmson, to the Department of Indian Affairs in the mid-1960s.22 Malcolmson visited several major Toronto art

dealers with twenty Janvier paintings to be considered for exhibition. While all the gallery owners commented that his work showed considerable sophistication and a strong sense of design, only one agreed to show his work. In general, they dismissed his paintings because they did not incorporate identifiable imagery from Janvier’s “Indian traditions.” One gallerist commented that Janvier’s style was “an opportunistic borrowing from readily available

Alex Janvier, Dicession, 1966, acrylic on canvas board, 61 x 76 cm.

Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

art examples.” Interestingly, Jack Pollock of Pollock Galleries, who had organized the sellout exhibition of Morrisseau’s works in 1962, declined to show Janvier’s work because “he did not want his Gallery to be the home of Canadian-Indian art.”

Ironically, in the early and mid-1960s, the majority of commercial galleries in Toronto—and elsewhere across the country—were showing the abstract works of the Painters Eleven, the Automatistes, the Regina Five, and others, including Kandinsky in one Toronto gallery.23 During the next few years, Janvier devoted

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his energies to teaching and administration in several Aboriginal cultural organizations based in Edmonton. Meanwhile, his paintings from the early 1960s were exhibited in two group shows of contemporary Aboriginal art: one organized in 1968 by the Glenbow Museum, Calgary, and another at the McIntosh Memorial Art Gallery in London, Ontario (1970). In January 1972, Alex and Jacqueline Janvier became partners in Janvier Murals and Fine Art, and Alex enjoyed a successful exhibition at Framecraft Gallery in Edmonton.24

solely on economic development for “Indian” arts and crafts, and they all sought recognition based upon the merits of their individual practices.

Their desire for critical acceptance ushered in a new era. In 1974, the group of seven artists who had been meeting informally at Odjig’s shop applied for incorporation as the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. (PNIAI). The primary motivation of the group was to free Indian art from the restrictive limitations of governmentdefined marketing strategies that isolated their art from mainstream institutions and imposed an emphasis on “Indianness.” 26 Instead they

WORKING TOGETHER

planned to establish a funding source through sales of their work in exhibitions at commercial galleries throughout the country. This fund would allow time for more-established professional artists to paint and also would encourage emerging artists through both the group’s travel to Aboriginal communities and the development of a scholarship program. To this end, the PNIAI exhibited together throughout 1974 and 1975.

Most notable among these exhibitions were Canadian Indian Art ’74 (June 4–July 14) at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto (curated by Tom Hill on behalf of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development) and Fierté sur toile : Tableaux par sept artistes indiens canadiens / Colours of Pride: Paintings by 7 Professional Native Artists at the Dominion Gallery, Montreal (March 11–April 5, 1975). In its exhibition brochure, the Dominion Gallery announced: “The motive for the present exhibition has been to introduce the work of contemporary Canadian Indian artists to collectors, to both broaden and clarify their understanding of this most important field of art.” 27 In a paradoxical twist, John Dennehy, Special Assignments and Review, Indian and Northern

In 1972, the Winnipeg Art Gallery produced a groundbreaking exhibition, Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171, which featured Jackson Beardy, Alex Janvier, and Daphne Odjig. In this first serious curatorial treatment of the artists’ works, curator of non-Western art Jacqueline Fry explained that she deliberately combined the very different formal approaches of the artists “to introduce the public to various aspects of the newly emerging contemporary Indian culture.” Fry extolled the importance of these artists because “they reveal the presence of the living, creative sources that, firmly rooted in the multi-cultured world of today, open the way to a more understanding world tomorrow.” 25 The Treaty Numbers exhibition succeeded in bringing attention to the artists’ works, but it also highlighted the experiences and tensions with the mainstream art world that the three artists shared. As a result, they agreed to work collectively in an attempt to gain wider recognition for Aboriginal art and artists throughout Canada. They all strongly opposed the government’s marketing strategies that focussed

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Affairs Canada (INAC), had actually persuaded Dr. Max Stern, the owner of the Dominion Gallery, to exhibit the works of the group.28 Central Marketing Service (CMS) in Ottawa collaborated with INAC in covering the costs of a bilingual press release as well as framing, transportation, and insurance for the seventy to eighty paintings, while the Dominion Gallery paid for publicity in local newspapers. CMS also made the film Colours of Pride available for showing at the gallery, while INAC supplied photographs and resumés of the artists and covered the production costs for the small exhibition brochures.

It is ironic that INAC representatives assisted in the coordination of this exhibition given that the artists formed PNIAI specifically to challenge

the department’s marketing stranglehold on Aboriginal artists. However, the PNIAI members did achieve one important objective: their work was exhibited at this prestigious gallery as that of artists—Indian artists, but artists just the same.

However, as this essay demonstrates, Janvier, Morrisseau, and Odjig had already achieved singular recognition in the previous decade.

Solo exhibitions by Morrisseau at the Pollock Gallery in 1962 and the Musée du Québec in 1966, by Janvier in 1964 at the Jacox Gallery and the Edmonton Art Gallery, and by Odjig at the Lakehead Art Centre in 1967 put in motion a trajectory of inclusionary strategies that continues today.

notes 1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Steve Loft, “Who, Me? Decolonization as Control,” in Decolonize Me, ed.

Heather Igloliorte, exhibition catalogue (Ottawa: Ottawa Art Gallery, 2012), 77.

Elizabeth McLuhan and R. M. Vanderburgh, Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective 1946–1985, exhibition catalogue (Thunder Bay, ON: Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art, 1985), 9.

Rosamund M. Vanderburgh and Mary E. Southcott, A Paintbrush in My Hand: Daphne Odjig (Toronto: Natural Heritage/Natural History Inc., 1992), 42.

Greg Hill, “Norval Morrisseau—Shaman Artist,” in Norval Morrisseau: Shaman Artist, ed. Greg Hill, exhibition catalogue (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2006), 18.

Lee-Ann Martin, The Art of Alex Janvier: His First Thirty Years, 1960–1990, exhibition catalogue (Thunder Bay, ON: Thunder Bay Art Gallery, 1993), 8.

Jack Pollock, “Norval Morrisseau: A View from His Agent,” unpublished document, n.d., Canadian Museum of Civilization.

“The Arts: Myth & Symbol,” Time, September 28, 1962.

Elizabeth McLuhan, “Daphne Odjig: Her Art,” in Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective 1946–1985, 21.

Heather Pringle, “Spirit’s Journey: The Life and Art of Daphne Odjig,” Equinox 5 (July–August 1986): 55.

Ibid., 57.

Kaye Rowe, “Mythology and Daily Life: Odjig Show Rates Rave Reviews,” Brandon Sun, November 13, 1968, 15.

Susan Hiebert, “A Feeling of Rightness: A Portrait of an Artist,” Indian Bulletin, April 22, 1969.

R. M. Vanderburgh, “Daphne Odjig: Her Life,” in Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective 1946–1985, 12.

14 McLuhan, “Daphne Odjig: Her Art,” 13.

15 Unless otherwise cited, all information on Alex Janvier comes from the author’s conversations with the artist over the past twenty years.

16 Denise Leclerc, The Crisis of Abstraction in Canada: the 1950s, exhibition catalogue (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 1992), 36.

17 Roald Nasgaard, Abstract Painting in Canada (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2007), 144.

18 Martin, The Art of Alex Janvier, 9.

19 Christopher Jackson, Marion Nicoll: Art and Influences (Calgary, AB: Glenbow Museum, 1986).

20 Frank Hutton, “Edmonton Showing Planned by Artist,” Edmonton Journal, February 20, 1964.

21 Dorothy Barnhouse, “Alberta Artist Finds Frustration in Search for Work in His Field,” Edmonton Journal, June 2, 1964.

22 Harry Malcolmson, “Re: Oil Paintings by Alex Janvier,” (undated report for the Aboriginal Art Centre, AANDC). Thanks to Kevin Gibbs for identifying this report.

23 Author survey of articles and advertisements in Canadian Art, vols.

18–21 (1961–1964).

24 Dona Harvey, “Gallery hosts three artists,” Edmonton Journal, February 25, 1972.

25 Jacqueline Fry, Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171: Three Indian Painters of the Prairies, exhibition catalogue (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1972), n.p.

26 McLuhan, “Daphne Odjig: Her Art,” 13.

27 “Indian Artists,” File 1, Box 507, Series 10 (Artist Files), Dominion Gallery fonds, National Gallery of Canada Archives, Ottawa.

28 Secrets des Artistes, May 3, 1975, 24.

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Jackson Beardy, Myth Image, 1972 [cat. 3]

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“WINNIPEG, WHERE IT ALL BEGAN”—RHETORICAL AND VISUAL SOVEREIGNTY AND THE FORMATION OF THE PROFESSIONAL NATIVE INDIAN ARTISTS INC. CATHY MATTES

I

n March 2011, Alex Janvier and Joseph Sanchez conducted art workshops with youth and local artists Louis Ogemah (Anishinaabe), Lita Fontaine (Dakota/Anishinaabe/Métis), Darryl Nepinak (Saulteaux), and Jackie Traverse (Anishinaabe) at the Ndinawe Youth Centre in downtown Winnipeg.1 For several days, youth and practicing artists painted together on large sheets of paper, encouraging one another in times of doubt, joking and laughing, and quietly working side by side. The end results were paintings that reflected personal visual narratives, cultural concepts, community cohesiveness, and various levels of experience.

After the workshops were over, Alex Janvier told me that he considered the process of collaborative painting to be “Tribal Painting.”

This process involves standing together and contributing to community by navigating personal space and priorities, differing opinions, roles, and responsibilities, and encouraging creative process and critical thinking. Janvier asserted that the “Tribal Painting” that took place during the workshops at the Ndinawe Youth Centre followed the ways in which First Nations historically worked together for the sake of the collective. “Tribal Painting” is also a metaphor for the “visual” and “rhetorical” sovereignty that developed during the existence of the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. (PNIAI).

Jolene Rickard (Tuscarora) suggests that as part of an ongoing strategy for survival, the work of Indigenous artists needs to be

understood through “the clarifying lens of sovereignty and self-determination.” 2 Through the concept of sovereignty, artists represent their histories, cultures, and identities and make social change. The artists who shaped this formative organization contributed to Indigenous sovereignty because their art and actions became vehicles for cultural empowerment. They became instigators of social change as they navigated multiple fields: their own communities, a range of political jurisdictions and networks, artistic worlds, and the heart of downtown Winnipeg. As members of PNIAI traversed these fields to seek inspiration, support, and solidarity, they “painted tribally,” and their actions and efforts have resonated with contemporary artists of Aboriginal ancestry and their supporters ever since.

When discussing visual and rhetorical sovereignty and the formation of the PNIAI, a distinction exists between solidarity amongst individuals and individuals who provide support to one another. Support is positive, but can be taken away as easily as it can be given. Solidarity, however, takes commitment and courage. It is not a smooth process where the parties involved are in total agreement, but rather one where each party shows a willingness to take chances, be confronted, and commit to forward movement.

Sovereignty may develop from the giving and receiving of support and a search for solidarity, but it is more complicated and involves more than these two concepts. The impact of Indigenous sovereignty is long-lasting and impermeable.

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Amanda Cobb (Chickasaw) recognizes that, “at base, sovereignty is a nations power to self-govern, to determine its own way of life, and to live that life—to whatever extent possible—free from interference.” 3 Following World War II, the term sovereignty was adopted

by Indigenous activists and leaders striving for self-determination, land rights, treaty rights, and cultural integrity.4 It became an ideology that best articulated their concerns and agendas for social change, and the basis from which analyses of histories and cultures were made. However it is important to note that prior to this time various Indigenous nations had theorized about sovereignty in order to distinguish themselves from the other human, spirit, and animal worlds surrounding them. According to Michelle Raheja, they did so in part through songs, stories, diverse forms of visual art, and important visual documents such as wampum and pictographs.5 This suggests that although the applications of sovereignty may vary or even incorporate European notions of political autonomy, the sovereignty of Aboriginal nations is inherent and ancient and a valid framework for cultural, artistic, and political discourse.

Recent scholarship delineates different forms of Indigenous sovereignty to challenge the homogenization or misuse of the concept.

Two in particular, “visual sovereignty” and “rhetorical sovereignty,” are beneficial in discussing the development of the PNIAI. “Visual sovereignty” explores how sovereignty is a creative act of self-representation that permits the flow of Indigenous knowledge about issues such as land rights, language, and cultural preservation. It intervenes in larger discourses on Indigenous sovereignty, and recognizes the right to create space visually for self-definition

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and self-determination.6 Visual sovereignty also recognizes the art of Aboriginal artists as being a vibrant visual language that affirms inherent Indigenous relationships to the land, songs, ceremonies, spoken language, and stories.7 Within the space of visual sovereignty, the art of the members of the PNIAI can be recognized as sovereign expressions of Indigeneity.

Characterized by bright colours, abstracted landscapes, and stylized images of animals, humans, spirits, and the earth, their diverse work visually interprets oral stories and legends, addresses post-contact history from an Aboriginal perspective, contemplates spirituality, and maps the land in abstract painted form and drawing.

When their art began to cause excitement on the Canadian contemporary art scene in the late 1960s and early 1970s, First Peoples had already begun to recognize it as a vital expression of Aboriginality. It became an instigator in the search for Indigenous sovereignty across the land as it recalled, provoked, and affirmed Aboriginal cultural continuance and presence. Their art was impossible to ignore.

“Rhetorical sovereignty” provides a framework to discuss the social change actions of the contributing artists, beyond their visual languages. According to Scott Richard Lyons (Ojibwe/Mdewakanton Dakota) “rhetorical sovereignty” is “the inherent right and ability of peoples to determine their own communicative needs and desires in this pursuit, to decide for themselves the goals, modes, styles, and languages of public discourse.” 8 It importantly recognizes that sovereignty is an act of communication, and “requires addressing communicative goals, selected means of communication, and the anticipated audiences.” 9 Rhetorical sovereignty also places control over representation, imagery,

language, and rhetoric into First Peoples’ hands, along with the right to decide how First Peoples should be constructed in public discourse.10 It is interconnected with “visual sovereignty” and can be used to discuss the social change actions that circled their artistic production and the impact of the geographic location, downtown Winnipeg, on the formation of the group.

Winnipeg provided the perfect atmosphere for the development of the PNIAI. It was a hub of artistic development as artist-run centre culture emerged, and organizations like Plug In Gallery (now Plug In ICA) surfaced. There was also a high population of Aboriginal people living in or coming to the city, adding to a ripe and energetic cultural climate. Important and vocal Aboriginal political organizations formed here at the time the group was coming together, including the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood, that turned to the group to affirm publicly their inherent rights and cultural and political presence. Winnipeg was also where they received support and guidance from certain scholars, journalists, and art collectors who were open to and appreciative of their goals and helped them navigate the media and the contemporary Canadian art scene.

The New Warehouse Gallery (also home to Odjig Indian Prints) was located in the Exchange District of Winnipeg, and Daphne Odjig was known to encourage struggling artists, purchasing and promoting their art. It was here that Jackson Beardy met with Odjig to discuss their common concerns. They sought out others, and artists began congregating at her gallery to receive support, discuss challenges, strategize, and critique one another’s art. Through these initial actions, solidarity amongst various artists emerged.11 When I met Odjig several years ago and mentioned that I worked in the arts community

in Winnipeg, she smiled and recalled “ahh Winnipeg, where it all began.” Her conversation with me was centred on where galleries and hot spots were located, who the key Winnipeg-based players were in their development, the types of conversations the artists had, and the attempts to connect with non-Aboriginal art galleries and groups in the Exchange District, which according to her did not go that well. When I spoke with Sanchez and Janvier, who until recently had not been back to Winnipeg since the 1970s, their memories were dictated by buildings, streets, and the cold climate, suggesting that Winnipeg and its geographic landscape took hold of their hearts. It was here that they collaboratively developed visual and rhetorical sovereignty, and so the city, including all of its structures, streets, and senses, has left a permanent imprint. It is important to remember, however, that although Odjig generously suggested Winnipeg is “where it all began,” these artists were creating, exhibiting, and selling their art before they created the PNIAI in downtown Winnipeg. Their processes as artists and social change agents began in their families, communities, and personal experiences of being and becoming artists of Aboriginal ancestry. They carried collective memories from family and community forward through their visual language and social change actions and, although removed from their own communities, the heart of downtown Winnipeg provided a perfect backdrop.

As the cultural and political fires burned in Aboriginal communities across the land, the group recognized the crucial role their art could play in colonial resistance and cultural empowerment. Members of the PNIAI wanted to create space for contemporary artists of Aboriginal ancestry to receive support, contribute

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to solidarity, and contemplate sovereignty by providing opportunities to exhibit their art, engage with other artists, and embed their contemporary art within Aboriginal communities and the Canadian art world. In addition to attempting to gain entry into contemporary art galleries, they were also concerned about opportunities for emerging artists, and believed that exposure to their work would benefit other First Peoples and possibly inspire the younger generation to create. Their goals to establish a scholarship fund with a percentage of their sales

As we develop a new language of art history that is located in Indigenous cultures, we must ‘create’ a radical space devoted to creative cultural expression that responds to, and engages with, an Indigenous cultural sovereignty . . . It is in this way that we create self-defining narratives of art and culture that promote inclusion and complementary discourse respecting unique cultural imperatives and dynamic communities. This is not an oppositional stance, a victim stance or an identity stance. This is the process of

and to ride the railway across the country to discuss their art with other First Peoples suggest that all members were visionary thinkers, and they recognized their art as a vehicle for cultural empowerment. These ideas were innovative and show they strategized how they would be represented, and how they would represent. All of these goals exemplified that they thought and acted in terms of rhetorical sovereignty.

Sovereignty has value as a category for discussing the PNIAI, not only because it describes the art and actions of its members, but ultimately because it removes dialogue about their work from the conventions of the Western art historical canon, avoiding binaries between traditional and contemporary, artist and social change agent, fine art and folk art. According to Mohawk curator and art theorist Steve Loft:

nation building.12

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The PNIAI provided that initial radical space, and provided room for artists to take risks and to create art that expressed their own embodied collective memory in diverse mediums. According to Hans-Georg Gadamer, “understanding is not to be thought of so much as an action of one’s subjectivity, but as the placing of oneself within a process of tradition, in which past and present are constantly fused.” 13 The art and actions of the PNIAI continue to resonate with many today, in part because of the artistic talent and tenacity of the artists, but also because of the visual and rhetorical sovereignty that emerged when these forward-thinking artists gathered together in downtown Winnipeg. Their art and actions are emblematic of honouring the past, while affirming contemporary cultural presence and Indigenous sovereignty, in its various forms.

notes 1

2 3

4

5 6

The workshops at Ndinawe Youth Centre were organized by artist Niki Little in conjunction with Frontrunners, a multi-exhibition project curated by the author, and organized by Urban Shaman Gallery and Plug In ICA (May–July 2011).

Jolene Rickard, “Sovereignty: A Line in the Sand,” in “Strong Hearts: Native American Visions and Voices,” special issue, Aperture 139 (Summer 1995): 51.

Amanda J. Cobb, “Understanding Tribal Sovereignty: Definitions, Conceptualizations, and Interpretations,” in “Indigeneity at the Crossroads of American Studies,” special issue, American Studies 46, no. 3/4 (Fall/Winter 2005): 118.

Lisa King, “Speaking Sovereignty and Communicating Change: Rhetorical Sovereignty and the Inaugural Exhibits at the NMAI,” American Indian Quarterly 35, no. 1 (Winter 2011): 80, doi:10.1353/ aiq.2011.0003.

Michelle H. Raheja, “Reading Nanook’s Smile: Visual Sovereignty, Revisions of Ethnography and Atanarjuat (Fast Runner),” American Quarterly 59, no. 4 (December 2007): 1164.

Julie Hubbs, “Visual Sovereignty,” Race in Cinema: History, Practice and Resistance (blog), November 16, 2012, prezi.com/w9l_7bmwsjyj/racein-cinema/.

7 8 9 10 11

12 13

Neal McLeod, Cree Narrative Memory: From Treaties to Contemporary Times (Saskatoon: Purich Publishing, 2007), 54.

Scott Richard Lyons, “Rhetorical Sovereignty: What do American Indians Want from Writing?” College Composition and Communication 51, no. 3 (2000): 449-50, www.jstor.org/stable/358744.

Lisa King, “Speaking Sovereignty and Communicating Change,” 79.

Amanda Cobb, “Understanding Tribal Sovereignty,” 129.

“A Conversation to Remember: The Art History of The Indian Group of Seven (Daphne Odjig, Alex Janvier and Joseph Sanchez),” a symposium held August 21, 2009 in conjunction with The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: a Retrospective Exhibition, a touring exhibition installed at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM, June 26– September 20, 2009.

Steve Loft, “It’s not open heart surgery . . . so . . . here we go . . . ,” Urban Shaman: Retrospective (Winnipeg: Urban Shaman Gallery, 2009), 27.

Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method (New York: Seabury Press, 1975), 325.

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Norval Morrisseau, Self-Portrait, 1975 [cat. 62]

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PAPER TRAIL: PNIAI ARTISTS IN WINNIPEG NEWSPAPERS, 1966–1977 CARMEN ROBERTSON

The social and economic situation hasn’t improved that much, but the entire awareness of what is possible has vastly increased. I think a lot of people are beginning to get an inkling of what place they should occupy in Canadian society.

— Harold Cardinal 1

T

he early 1970s were heady times for Indigenous peoples in Canada. In 1969, when then Minister of Indian Affairs Jean Chrétien released the White Paper that would have spelled the end of the Indian Act and fulfilled Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s assimilationist vision of Canada, an organized Native voice swiftly responded.2 These events led to a strong National Indian Brotherhood (NIB) that for the first time represented Indigenous peoples on the national stage. Additionally, two groups advocating Aboriginal women’s rights emerged. Indian Rights for Indian Women (IRIW) in 1970 and the Native Women’s Association of Canada (NWAC) in 1974 added women’s political interests to the equation.

Strong leaders stepped forward in all arenas. In the arts, then Winnipeg-based artist Daphne Odjig inspired and mentored artists as she laid the groundwork for the Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated (PNIAI).

In the 1970s the newspaper remained a key source of information. The mainstream press, typically a disciplining force and a source of popular education for readers, responded to the political and social changes afoot in the early 1970s by vacillating between pitching Aboriginal people as violent and finding opportunities to praise and promote behaviours it deemed appropriate to assimilation.3 Press coverage

continued to champion assimilation even while Trudeau steered away from it as official policy.

A 1970 editorial in the Regina Leader-Post, for example, posited, “The once apathetic and isolated Indian is now being asked to share in the formation of policies pertaining to his affairs.”

And despite the success of the NIB in creating a unified voice, the media cast the White Paper outcome not as a victory for the assertion of political solidarity for Indigenous peoples, but as a direct threat to the country auguring future problems. Language such as “militant” and “warpath” coupled with the organization of a national Aboriginal voice spelled trouble in the press.4 A front-page story in the Winnipeg Free Press in 1971 with the headline “Indians, Whites At Odds,” hyperbolically warned that “an Indian war could develop if Indians don’t stop hunting deer at night on their land.” 5 Tempering stories of impending violence, the press sought reports that demonstrated how assimilation could erase cultural difference and achieve Canada’s commitment to a unified nation. Indigenous arts coverage in the press most often served this aim.

Mining the pages of the Winnipeg Free Press and the Winnipeg Tribune in the 1960s and early 1970s uncovers a relatively small number of stories about contemporary Indigenous arts.

Most numerous were reports related to the emerging Inuit art market. Reports of funding

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for local Indigenous arts projects demonstrated to readers both the burden and the generosity of the government. A 1972 feature story about Cree artist and Manitoba government employee “Noel Wuttenee” [sic] who hoped for additional government funds to train locals in a handicraft industry exemplifies this tone. Wuttunee explained a dire situation, “[Local Indigenous people] even lacked the knowledge to obtain raw materials, hides, beads and other things needed to produce handicrafts.” 6 Stories such as this positioned

the sun from shining on this seemingly idyllic scene. Bernier’s track record did not warrant the valorization Morrisseau was paid to portray.

In a Kenora Miner and News article, Bernier explained to the press the difficulties he faced in getting local Ojibway to work. “Our own people are working with them, trying to motivate them,” he stressed. “It will take time.” 8 “Only the ones that are ambitious do it [work].” Intimating an inherent laziness, Bernier added, “about 90 percent of the reserves get government assistance

government agencies as benevolent guardians to Indigenous peoples who required assistance.

A small photograph and story that ran in the Winnipeg Free Press in June 1972 illustrates ways in which mainstream politicians allied themselves with Indigenous arts in efforts to promote political agendas. Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP and Resource Minister Leo Bernier from Kenora, Ontario, 250 km east of Winnipeg, is shown receiving a painting commissioned by the Kenora district chamber of commerce painted by Norval Morrisseau. In the photograph, Bernier stands above the largescale moosehide portrait, looking down at it in judgment. According to the article, Morrisseau, a “well-known painter,” depicted the minister with a rattle in his left hand, a symbol of power over the birds, fish, animals, rocks, trees, paralleling Mr. Bernier’s portfolio responsibilities. In his right hand he is holding a white man and an Indian living together in harmony. Mr. Morrisseau, a 40 year old Ojibway, has earned acclaim throughout Canada for his paintings of Indian folklore.7 In the painting Bernier looms overlarge, yet Morrisseau unerringly paints clouds that hinder

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Page shot of the Winnipeg Free Press from June 10, 1972.

Reproduced by permission of Winnipeg Free Press.

of one kind or another.” 9 Bernier’s comments are framed to juxtapose the alleged indolence of Aboriginal people with the activeness of government employees. Morrisseau’s symbolic representation of the two groups sharing a peace pipe in the outstretched hand of Bernier appears to have been little more than political rhetoric.

Since the 1960s, prior to the formation of

the PNIAI, Winnipeg newspapers had printed stories about a number of the members including Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig, Carl Ray, and Jackson Beardy. Morrisseau, especially, was no stranger to the media. By 1966, when the Winnipeg Free Press interviewed Morrisseau regarding his hopes for inclusion in the upcoming Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67, they framed him as a senior Indigenous artist in Canada, interviewing him over other artists from Winnipeg, such as Joe Land, Noel Wuttunee, and Ross Woods, also included in the competition. The paper also names the other seven artists invited: George Clutesi, Tom Hill, Alex Janvier, Jean-Marie GrosLouis, Francis Kakikiya [sic], Duke Redbird, and Gerald Tailfeathers. The report explains that from these eleven artists invited to a preliminary seminar in Ottawa to “encourage artistic efforts of Indians,” nine murals based on a theme “to symbolize the religious belief of the Canadian Indian” would be chosen by a panel of judges formed by the National Gallery in Ottawa.10 “Mr. Morrisseau said the other artists had praised his work,” explained the Winnipeg Free Press, “raising his hopes that his mural would be among those chosen to represent Indian art.” 11 The story included a cropped photo of the thirty-fouryear-old artist holding up Graveyard Scavenger.

No mention was made in the article of Carl Ray, Morrisseau’s assistant in the Expo 67 mural project, though it emphasized the misinformed monolithic construction of Indigenous religious belief.

The Winnipeg Free Press art critic John W. Graham offered the only artistic analysis of contemporary Indigenous art in the Winnipeg press, thus providing readers with a way to understand this art. This review, like much coverage of Indigenous culture in the media,

Page shot of the Winnipeg Free Press from September 27, 1966.

Reproduced by permission of Winnipeg Free Press.

remained skewed by misunderstandings. A 1968 Daphne Odjig exhibition sponsored by the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood was the subject of Graham’s first review of her work. Dismissive of a number of her pieces, in part because Odjig “lacks formal training,” he found promise in her “inventive use of images, pattern and spaces.” 12 Graham explains: While the art of the Coast Indians of British Columbia is well-known and recognized, and much attention has been focused on the carvings and prints of the Eskimos of the northern settlement, there has been little significant parallel development in this region, where the traditional society was by nature nomadic. . . . . . . While there may be little of cultural heritage in the visual terms of painting for her to build on, there is a rich and potent background of folk tales and legends from which she has built her images and style.13 Despite his authoritative voice, Graham demonstrates a weak understanding of Indigenous arts in Canada. Still, with Graham’s

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stamp of approval, other stories surfaced regarding Odjig and her business pursuits related to the production of prints and the opening of her new gallery. Reviews of her work remained uncommon.

One typical element in news reports concerning Aboriginal artists since Morrisseau entered the mainstream art world in 1962 was to highlight a lack of formal art training. In 1971, Winnipeg Tribune reporter Mary Bletcher wrote a story featuring Odjig’s activism in promoting Indigenous art. Odjig, ready for the ubiquitous question regarding training, responded: “I don’t think schools can bring out something a person hasn’t got. They teach technical aspects. . . . And Indian artists especially, because of their cultural background, have a unique way of expressing themselves.” 14 This rejoinder, however, did not prevent other reporters from habitually casting Indigenous artists as unschooled.

The Winnipeg press also covered Carl Ray’s early career. In 1968, J. R. Stevens wrote “Paintings Recreate Ojibwa Past,” an ethnographically focused story of then twentyfive-year-old Ray, whose work was proposed for an exhibition at Brandon University, along with paintings by “primitive Indian painter Jackson Beardy.” 15 Spending only one paragraph discussing his artworks, choosing instead to describe the stories, Stevens hypothesized that Ray’s art might “create new interest in Indian culture.” 16 Four years later Graham reviewed Ray’s art exhibition at Galerie Fore. He judged Ray’s art as impressive, given its cultural challenges: “Unlike the Indian nations of the West Coast with their heritage of totemic imagery, for the Cree people of Manitoba and Ontario the interpretation of their folk lore in pictorial form was taboo.” 17 While mostly laudatory, the still

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misinformed Graham separated Ray’s work from mainstream art, downplaying its significance.

Mounted in fall 1972 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171 was a pivotal exhibition featuring the work of Jackson Beardy, Alex Janvier, and Daphne Odjig, curated by Jacqueline Fry, that offered Graham impetus to reveal his bias and champion an assimilationist art discourse privileging art that he felt surpassed an “ethnic aesthetic” expression.18 He argued that their works “move on from that common ground [cultural heritage] and reveal them to be three graphically articulate individuals, meriting the same consideration as that afforded any professional artist.” 19 Noting Odjig’s “increasing sureness” and describing Beardy as a “bridge” between Odjig and Janvier, Graham pronounced this show “important.” Framing good art as Eurocentric modern art, he cautioned, “The Indian artist . . . must guard against the trap of an imposed stereotypical imagery if he is to achieve recognition as an individual artist.” “Of the three,” according to Graham, “Alex Janvier has produced the most elegantly sophisticated expression.”

Praising Janvier’s art as a pivotal evolutionary step toward modernism, Graham adds: In the words of Picasso, if you want to draw, you must shut your eyes and sing, and so Alex Janvier has done. . . . Inextricably part of a multi-layered and multi-cultural society, such creative statements give promise of greater appreciation of the contribution to be made by this part of the whole mosaic.

In March 1975, Globe and Mail arts reporter James Purdie similarly favoured Janvier’s art (over Morrisseau’s), explaining that Janvier’s “university education in art has led him to

extract . . . abstractions and dreams for filtering through the inner eye of a modern intellect.” 21 Graham and Purdie both privileged Indigenous art they felt reflected a universalizing modern art aesthetic—formal training and abstraction equalled, in their estimation, real art.22 When the press covered the formation of the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., it did so through this lens of entrenched ideas regarding both modern art and colonialism.

One story surfaced in the Winnipeg papers in late 1973 announcing the formation of the group. The report was terse and gave few details but offered a positive spin on the creation of the organization. After all, the PNIAI made Winnipeg look good as a facilitator and centre for engendering positive change. A headline in the Winnipeg Tribune, under a large photograph of Joseph Sanchez and Eddy Cobiness viewing their art, stated, “‘Neglect’ of Indian Art Spurs Group.” The article lightheartedly announced, “They’re artists and there’s seven of them but their names bear no resemblance to A. Y. Jackson, Lawren Harris, or Frank Johnston, members of the Group of Seven.” 23 Explaining the reason for formation as “the neglect of Indian art” the report noted that the mostly Manitoban group intended to work with young native artists. The paper quotes Sanchez: “There’s a lot of talent being wasted because of the lack of exposure and encouragement” and Odjig confirmed that “the need is definitely there.” 24 A Canadian Press story published in the Edmonton Journal that December succinctly describes the PNIAI as an organization formed to ensure that “Indian art received that same attention that is being paid now to Eskimo sculpture and Indian crafts.” 25 Confirming five of the members were Manitoban, the paper praised both Janvier, who

paints “a sophisticated presentation of native symbols,” and the “internationally-known Norval Morrisseau.” The report included comments by Janvier, who seized the opportunity to challenge prevailing assimilationist notions common in press reports: “They say there is a bicultural thing in Canada, but it’s more than that.” “The Indian is the third culture,” explained Janvier,

Page shot of the Winnipeg Tribune from November 30, 1973.

Courtesy of University of Manitoba Archives and Special Collections, Winnipeg Tribune fonds.

“with no relating basis anywhere else in the world.” 26 When the Winnipeg Free Press finally announced the formation of the group it was not until the following June 1974, with a photograph of Eddy Cobiness and cutline that only indirectly mentions the group. Cobiness is shown presenting one of his drawings to then Winnipeg mayor, Steve Juba. Offering a centennial gift to the city “from the Professional Native Indian Artists’

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Association [sic],” the PNIAI had no doubt hoped this media event would spur enhanced press coverage.27 Instead, the paper, after misidentifying the group, describes the collective simply as “a newly formed association” with no other details about its organization or membership. While the report notes that the group was holding a debut group exhibit at the Eaton’s store in downtown Winnipeg (the photograph is taken at the exhibition), it provides scant information. Sadly, this entry does little more than fill an empty space in the paper with an uplifting story. After this initial coverage, the press paid little attention to the group.

A 1974 Winnipeg Free Press business report on robust art sales in Winnipeg galleries pointed to ongoing support for and interest in buying art created by the original Group of Seven—not the PNIAI group of seven. Still, the essay admits the importance of an Indigenous arts scene to Winnipeg art collectors. Stressing the successes of Inuit art sales, the report heralded Winnipeg’s diverse interests in art collecting and devoted its final paragraphs to the tenuous economic situation of Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd. craft store, obliquely referring to the PNIAI. The story explained that the Odjig enterprise is still thousands of dollars in debt due to its effort to provide a means for Indian artists to reach the public by not only selling but printing their work. Its efforts have been rewarded with “very steady increase in interest” by tourists and now a tremendous upsurge in interest on the part of Winnipeg people. . . . Despite increased demand Odjig has not raised the price of prints it sells. . . . At the same time, well-known Indian artists such as Odjig do command high prices once their

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work is on the open market. Nine years ago, for example, an Odjig painting would have cost $35 but now fetches $4,000.28 Emphasizing increased prices of Odjig’s work signalled success, and further endeared her to Winnipeggers. Almost a year after the PNIAI’s inception, a story announcing the opening of her new Warehouse Gallery also mentioned the yearold “group of seven” and acknowledged Odjig’s ambitious plans for a number of exhibitions of their work and the work of emerging artists such as Don LaForte, Alvin Redman, and Wilma Simon.29 The report glowingly praised Odjig, who echoed Harold Cardinal’s sentiment crediting an increased sense of Native pride, “We are starting to know who we really are,” and acknowledged her integral role in helping to make Winnipeg a leader in the Indigenous art scene.30 In each of the press reports a strong interest in proper behaviour remained central to claiming Indigenous art achievements. Odjig, especially for her entrepreneurial spirit as a gallery owner, served as a paragon in the Winnipeg press. Her conduct as a businesswoman, an artist, and a mother remained impeccable, and the press lamented her departure.31 And it seems that without Odjig’s sustained presence, interest quickly melted away, at least in the Winnipeg papers, and news of the PNIAI was little more than positive filler on a slow news day. Yet, once Odjig moved to British Columbia the papers sought a new Indigenous artist to take her place.

Morrisseau took up residence in Winnipeg at that time, but his earlier star status as a senior artist and spokesman had diminished when his behaviour was deemed unbecoming by the press.

A number of derogatory news reports in the 1970s highlighting his unruly behaviour led to this

Winnipeg Free Press pronouncement: “Although Morrisseau’s art is bathed in brilliant sharp colours, the man remains distant, mysterious and cloaked in shadows and dull greys.” 32 For

Canada,” trumpeted the Winnipeg Free Press, satisfied with its new artist, whose conduct conformed to colonial standards the press sought to claim and mold as it saw fit.33

Winnipeg newspapers, the more tractable Jackson Beardy replaced Odjig as Winnipeg’s own. “He has become a, if not the, major Indian artist in

notes 1 2

Regina Leader-Post, June 27, 1970.

Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s vision of the “just society” included dismantling the Indian Act and devolving the responsibilities of the Department of Indian Affairs to the provinces. See Michael D. Behiels, “Aboriginal Nationalism in the Ascendancy: The First Nations’ First Campaign for the Inherent Right to Self-Government, 1968–1997,” in Canadas of the Mind: The Making and Unmaking of Canadian Nationalism in the Twentieth Century, ed. Norman Hellmer and Adam Chapnick (Montreal: McGillQueen’s University Press, 2007), 263.

3 For further explanation and analysis of press constructions of Indigenous peoples see Mark Cronlund Anderson and Carmen Robertson, Seeing Red: A History of Natives in Canadian Newspapers (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2011).

4 Anderson and Robertson, Seeing Red, 155–72.

5 Ron Campbell, “Hunting Deer at Night: Indian ‘War’ Threats,” Winnipeg Free Press, November 17, 1971, 1.

6 John McManus, “Indian Artist Working to Help Native People,” Winnipeg Free Press, December 2, 1972, 31.

7 “A painting by an Indian Artist of Ontario Resources Minister,” Winnipeg Free Press, June 10, 1972, 7.

8 Kenora Miner and News, March 15, 1974.

9 Ibid.

10 “Murals by Indian Artists Eyed for Expo Pavilion,” Winnipeg Free Press, September 27, 1966, 11.

11 Ibid.

12 John W. Graham, “Unusual Quality in Indian Work,” Winnipeg Free Press, December 3, 1968, 6.

13 Ibid.

14 Winnipeg Tribune, December 14, 1971.

15 J. R. Stevens, “Paintings Recreate Ojibwa Past,” Winnipeg Free Press, December 7, 1968, 52.

16 Ibid.

17 “Cree Artist in Rare Show: A Critique by John W. Graham,” Winnipeg Free Press, May 15, 1972, 34.

18 “Indian Art Praised: A Critique by J. W. Graham,” Winnipeg Free Press, October 4, 1972, 57.

19 Ibid.

20 Ibid.

21 Toronto Globe and Mail, March 1, 1975.

22 Graham and Purdie were not alone in their preference for Indigenous arts that seemingly embraced modern abstract imagery. The National Film Board documentary The Colours of Pride (1974) promoted a similar assimilationist hierarchy of four artists’ practices from Morrisseau, through Allen Sapp, and Odjig, up to the work of Janvier.

23 Winnipeg Tribune, November 30, 1973.

24 Ibid.

25 This story may have been written in Winnipeg but was sent out over the Canadian Press wire service and picked up by the Edmonton Journal, a common practice among Canadian newspapers. Edmonton Journal, December 29, 1973.

26 “New ‘Group of Seven’ is Emerging in Art,” Edmonton Journal, December 29, 1973.

27 Winnipeg Free Press, June 22, 1974.

28 Elaine Brown, “Demand for Art Rising but City Dealers Unable to Survive on Sales Alone,” Winnipeg Free Press, August 13, 1974, 13.

29 “Native Awareness Helps Art—Odjig,” Winnipeg Free Press, December 9, 1974, 4. It was noted that Alvin Redman and Wilma Simon were exhibiting for the first time. Members of the group also exhibited at Gallery 115, whose October 19, 1974, gallery announcement included Morrisseau, Odjig, Ray, Janvier, Cobiness, and Joshim Kakegamic (Winnipeg Free Press, Music and Arts Section, 2).

30 “Native Awareness Helps Art.” 31 See “Odjig: Exhibition Offers Retrospective of Works by Indian Artists,” Winnipeg Free Press, March 21, 1977, 3.

32 “Indian Artist is Wedged between Two Cultures,” Winnipeg Free Press, July 26, 1977, 17.

33 “Mural a Rich Testimony to Verbal Indian History,” Winnipeg Free Press, May 23, 1978, 21.

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Eddy Cobiness, Camp Fire, 1973 [cat. 15]

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THE NEW GROUP OF SEVEN: A REACTION TO THE STATE OF INDIAN ART IN CANADA IN THE SIXTIES AND SEVENTIES VIVIANE GRAY

Art, to me, cuts down barriers between have and have not. Makes into the hearts of people you’ve never met before.

Speaks in a tongue you cannot understand, and makes the handiwork of the Spirit close at hand.

— Alex Janvier, 1976 1

O

ur visual culture is still part of our lives in the twenty-first century due largely to the courage and vision of our artists. Despite overwhelming obstacles, they continued to create works of art that reflected both their cultural traditions and new world views. Their message, as artists, carried the same message as their ancestors: Canada’s First Nations have always wanted to coexist with other Canadians, but on their own terms—not as conquered peoples, but as equals.

The First Nations in Canada have a long tradition of creating art. Our heritage objects in museums and private collections throughout the world are evidence of our rich artistic past. However, in the twentieth century, First Nations artists struggled to be recognized as artists by Canada’s art institutions and public galleries. Why did it take so long for Aboriginal art to be recognized by Canadian art institutions? Unfortunately, our contemporary art history reflects a reality of intolerance, misunderstandings, and misgivings. It is a history affected by Canadian politics and social mores.

The Indian Act was one of the reasons that First Nations art was hidden from the view of Canadians until the mid-twentieth century.

Northwest Coast art was not recognized until the 1960s because the Potlatch Law, an 1884 Indian Act amendment restricting key Northwest

Coast ceremonies, was not repealed until 1951, and this law affected the creation, use, and distribution of traditional art forms.2 Restrictions on the potlatch were extended to a wide range of ceremonies and cultural practices in other regions and even the wearing of traditional dress at unsanctioned events. Under the Indian Act, First Nations were not considered “Canadian” until 1960 when the act was amended to include enfranchisement, or the right to vote. As social scientist Wayne Warry succinctly states: “Until then, it was impossible to be an Indian and a full member of society.” 3 Despite government policies that isolated First Nations from mainstream Canadians, First Nations people enriched their lives through their art, writing, music, theatre, and dance. According to Gitxsan artist Doreen Jensen, “in the 1950s and 1960s, Indian artists took the contemporary practice of traditional Northwest Coast art out of hiding and began a dialogue with non-Native culture.” 4 For First Nations, the determination to survive within their various cultures required the age-old tradition of communicating with others.

This aspect of Native self-determination is what makes First Nations art history so interesting.

Artists are not just technicians. They are teachers, tribal leaders, spiritual visionaries, and warriors.

It is not surprising that a First Nations artist is also a curator, educator, project manager,

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politician, writer, actor, cultural diplomat, and advocate of First Nations rights.

One of the first and best examples of artistic self-determination was West Coast artist George Clutesi (1905–1988) of the Tseshaht Band (Nuuchah-nulth). While working as a janitor, he was encouraged to paint by artist Emily Carr, who also provided him with art supplies.5 Clutesi was the first artist to hold a solo exhibition of his paintings in 1944 at the Provincial Museum in Victoria, British Columbia. He became a successful visual artist and was equally successful as a writer, actor, dance and singing performer, philosopher, and educator of the Tseshaht culture. Clutesi was among a group of artists who were highly visible during the 1940s through exhibitions and conferences organized by the British Columbia Indian Arts and Welfare Society.6 Despite this recognition, early attempts to promote First Nations contemporary arts and culture in British Columbia met with only modest success, as the Canadian public was not ready to accept the twentieth-century reality of First Nations. They were more comfortable with the romanticized past. Examples of this perspective were the first two exhibitions of Northwest Coast art at the Vancouver Art Gallery, People of the Potlatch (1956), and Arts of the Raven: Masterworks of the Northwest Coast Indian (1967).

Both exhibitions limited their focus to traditional objects, with only the later exhibition including works by contemporary artists.

THE SIXTIES The sixties was an exciting period, and world events led to social and technological changes that affected everyone—rich and poor. During this time, political and social changes were

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taking place in Canada that would forever change Canadian art history. A national arts policy developed in 1951 as a result of the MasseyLévesque Commission report led to the creation of the Canada Council for the Arts and awakened the need to appreciate and support the arts of all Canadians.7 The new National Gallery opened in 1960 in Ottawa.

Many First Nations reserves were getting electricity in their homes by the early 1960s, and access to television and radio opened our eyes to the world for the first time. CBC radio featured a regular documentary series, The Way of the Indian (1961), and contemporary news and issues were discussed on Indian Magazine (1965, later Our Native Land) with hosts Johnny Yesno and Bernelda Wheeler. The CBC television drama Quentin Durgens, MP featured “Thy Brother’s Keeper” (1968), an episode starring Cree actor Terry Lavallee.8 According to artist, art historian, and curator Tom Hill, “Native communities during the 1960s accepted art as an expression of Native identity and rediscovered nationalism.” 9 Regional political organizations were forming, including the first national political organization, the National Indian Council (1961–68), founded as an umbrella group for status and non-status Indians and Métis.10 In 1966–67, the federal government publicly released The Hawthorn Report: A Survey of the Contemporary Indians of Canada: Economic, Political, Educational Needs and Policies, the two-volume findings of a study commissioned in 1964 by the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.11 The report made it overwhelmingly clear that First Nations people were among the most disadvantaged in Canada.12 The Massey-Lévesque Commission Report and the Hawthorn Report contributed to the

establishment of the Cultural Affairs Division in the Indian Affairs Branch, Department of Citizenship and Immigration in 1964. The purpose of the first Indian arts program in the federal government was to identify, preserve, and stimulate “Canadian Indian culture” by providing grants for research and for the preservation and promotion of traditional and contemporary culture in art, dance, music, writing, and theatre.

It would also develop an art collection for Canadian and international exhibitions and was responsible for the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67 in Montreal.

Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67.

Courtesy of Aboriginal Art Centre, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

Alex Janvier (Dene Suline/Saulteaux), an artist from Le Goff Reserve, Cold Lake, Alberta, worked with the Cultural Affairs program in 1965 developing cultural policy. Tom Hill, Seneca artist, curator, and arts administrator from Six Nations, Ontario, also worked with the Cultural Affairs Division at that time as art consultant.

Hill credits Janvier for the philosophy behind the creation of the Indian art collection at Indian and Northern Affairs: “It was through some of

his efforts that struggling painters and cultural organizations received financial assistance. He encouraged the government to hire other Indian artists for the exterior murals of the Indian pavilion at Expo 67.” 13 Artists from across Canada were commissioned to produce art for the Indians of Canada Pavilion including: George Clutesi (Nuuchah-nulth), Noel Wuttunee (Plains Cree), Gerald Tailfeathers (Kainai), Ross Woods (Dakota), Alex Janvier (Dene Suline/Saulteaux), Tom Hill (Seneca), Norval Morrisseau (Anishinaabe), Francis Kagige (Anishinaabe) and Jean-Marie Gros-Louis (Wendake). Carl Ray (Cree) was not included in the first selection but assisted Norval Morrisseau on his mural. Expo 67 was the biggest impetus for contemporary First Nations art in Canada as it offered artists the opportunity to change people’s perceptions. Equally significant were the friendships formed between Morrisseau, Ray, and Janvier that were later instrumental in the formation of the Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated (PNIAI) in the 1970s.

First Nations artists such as George Clutesi, Tony Hunt (Kwakwaka’wakw/Tlingit), Alex Janvier, Francis Kagige, Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig (Odawa/Potawatomi), Henry Speck (Kwakwaka’wakw), Gerald Tailfeathers, and Roy Thomas (Anishinaabe) were active throughout the 1960s. George Clutesi had been exhibiting his work since 1944, and by 1969 had also written two books, Son of Raven, Son of Deer (1967) and Potlatch (1969). Tony Hunt, whose work was featured in Arts of the Raven, had exhibited at the Bon Marché Gallery in Seattle, Washington (1965) and Galerie Libre, Montreal (1967).

When he was fifteen, and still a student at the Blue Quills Indian Residential School, Alex Janvier’s painting Our Lady of the Teepee was

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shown at the 1950 International Exhibition at the Vatican Museum in Rome. In 1960 Janvier graduated from the Alberta College of Art with a fine arts diploma (honours), making him one of the first accredited First Nations artists in Canada. In 1964, Janvier was offered a solo exhibition at the spring All Alberta Show at the Jacox Gallery in Edmonton, Alberta.

He later recalled, “That was in 1964, a time when . . . Canadian Indians didn’t count much around Edmonton.” 14 In 1968, he exhibited with Norval Morrisseau and Gerald Tailfeathers at the University of Calgary.

Many of these artists were self-taught, and a fresh, innovative style merging oral traditions, pictographic images, and natural forms emerged in Ontario. Norval Morrisseau attained overnight success in 1962 when his first solo exhibition at the Pollock Gallery in Toronto sold out.

Morrisseau had solo exhibitions at the Musée du Québec (1966) and the exhibition Norval Morrisseau: Légendes indiennes du grand nord canadien at the Galerie Saint-Paul, Saint-Paulde-Vence, France (1969). In 1965, Morrisseau and Selwyn Dewdney co-authored Legends of my People, the Great Ojibway, and Morrisseau’s illustrations were also included in Herbert T. Schwarz’s Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways (1969).15 Daphne Odjig from Wikwemikong, Ontario, had three solo exhibitions during the 1960s, and was accepted into the British Columbia Federation of Artists in 1963. After raising her family, she had her first solo exhibition in 1967 at the Lakehead Art Centre in Port Arthur, Ontario, and another at Brandon University the following year.16 Francis Kagige, also from Manitoulin Island, had three solo exhibitions and five group exhibitions by 1970, and his work (alongside Daphne Odjig’s)

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was published in I am an Indian (1969), the first anthology of First Nations writing.17 Henry Speck from Alert Bay, British Columbia, was one of the most prolific artists practicing the traditional arts of the Kwakwaka’wakw.

In the 1960s, Speck participated in eight group exhibitions and had sixteen published reviews of his works. Gerald Tailfeathers, from Stand Off, Alberta, was also a successful and recognized painter in the 1960s. By 1970, he had one solo exhibition and nine group exhibitions in Canada and the United States. Anishinaabe artist Roy Thomas from Longlac, Ontario, had four solo exhibitions in the early 1960s. Thomas was at the forefront of artists painting in the Woodland style that originated with Norval Morrisseau.

Just as First Nations were embracing the cultural revival of the 1960s, the federal government introduced a policy in 1969 to abolish Indian rights, the Indian Act, and the legal relationship between Indian people and the government.18 The policy, dubbed the “White Paper,” was seen as cultural genocide or forced assimilation and was vigorously opposed by First Nations politicians. The White Paper was not approved, but the controversy made Canadians aware that First Nations people and their issues were part of Canadian reality. It was then that Cree writer and political activist Harold Cardinal published The Unjust Society (1969), one of the first publications by a First Nations writer that raised consciousness for all Canadians.19 THE SEVENTIES The 1970s was a time of cultural renaissance for Canada’s First Nations. Government grants were available for activities such as theatre, dance, music, film, and summer powwows. The

Cultural Education Centres program of the federal government led to the establishment of the Kitanmax School of Northwest Coast Indian Art and ’Ksan Cultural and Educational Centre in Hazelton, British Columbia (1970), the Woodland Indian Cultural Education Centre in Six Nations, Ontario (1972), the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural College in Saskatoon (1972), and the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation on Manitoulin Island, Ontario (1974). The First National Indian Cultural Conference was held at the Beacon Arms Hotel in Ottawa from March 23 to 25, 1970. It was sponsored by the Cultural Development Division at Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) and the Citizenship Branch of the Department of the Secretary of State as a way to consult with artists and cultural groups from across Canada.

The conference attendees were mainly cultural workers, First Nations politicians, non-Native educators, and museum specialists from the National Museum of Man (now the Canadian Museum of Civilization). Only two First Nations artists attended: Gerald Tailfeathers and filmmaker Alanis Obamsawin (Abenaki).

In the 1970s, the National Film Board (NFB) produced forty-two films with an Indigenous focus and started a two-year training program co-funded by INAC. Between 1975 and 1976, the Cultural Affairs Division of Indian Affairs, under the direction of Tom Hill, produced two films with the National Film Board: The Paradox of Norval Morrisseau (1974), and The Colours of Pride (1974) featuring the work of artists Norval Morrisseau, Allen Sapp (Cree), Daphne Odjig, and Alex Janvier.20 For the first time in Canada, educational programs for Indian art and culture were developed. Manitou College at La Macaza, Quebec, began a three-year program in 1973 but closed in 1976. Artists Robert Houle

(Anishinaabe), Domingo Cisneros (Mestizo), and Edward Poitras (Cree/Métis) were art instructors at La Macaza. The Saskatchewan Cultural College’s art mandate was moved to the newly established Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (University of Regina) in 1977, with artist and educator Bob Boyer (Métis) as founding (and long-serving) chair of the Department of Indian Fine Arts.

There were several economic development initiatives by INAC to develop and promote arts and crafts. Joshim Kakegamic, Henry Kakegamic, and Goyce Kakegamic (Anishinaabek) founded the Triple K Co-operative in 1973. The company, located in Red Lake, Ontario, produced original limited-edition prints of several artists including Saul Williams and Norval Morrisseau. The Ministic Carvers Co-op was formed in 1969 by a group of Cree sculptors at Garden Hill, Island Lake, Manitoba, and continued to produce, exhibit and market soapstone sculpture throughout the 1970s.21 To assist the Indian arts and crafts industry, INAC created economic development programs including Central Indian Marketing Services (CIMS) in 1974 as a wholesaler of Indian arts and crafts in Canada and the United States. CIMS focused on promoting authenticity and fine quality in Indian arts and crafts. The revival of Indian arts and crafts in the sixties and early seventies prompted the need for a national organization. The National Indian Arts and Crafts Corporation (NIACC) was established in 1975 to develop and promote Canadian Indian arts and crafts. NIACC was a non-profit organization that represented provincial and territorial Indian arts and crafts societies and organizations in Canada.

From 1967 to 1979, the Cultural Affairs Division of INAC continued to acquire art for the departmental Indian art collection. According

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to David General, head of the Cultural Affairs Section and manager of the Indian art collection in 1978, “The idea that this would develop into an Indian art collection came after Expo 67 . . .

The main purpose of the collection was to design exhibitions to promote Indian art.” 22 The program also supported music and the performing arts, Native languages, and literature. In 1970 the Cultural Affairs Section began publishing the quarterly cultural magazine Tawow and in 1972 published Indian Arts in Canada, the first Canadian publication on First Nations art.23 In 1976, NIACC created the National Indian Arts Council (NIAC) to assist them in developing policies for promotion and marketing, educational projects, and copyright in order to maintain high standards of quality in the development and production of Indian arts and crafts. The first board members of the National Indian Arts Council included Bill Reid, Alex Janvier, Tom Hill, Jackson Beardy, Jacqueline Fry, Viviane Gray, and Bill Ellis. The NIAC dissolved in 1977 as the board disagreed with NIACC and CIMS on their marketing strategies, which focused more on crafts than fine arts. Central Indian Marketing Services ceased operations in 1978, but NIACC continued to operate well into the mid-1990s.

Indian and Northern Affairs sponsored art exhibitions throughout the 1970s to promote First Nations artists and to change attitudes about Indian art. The Cultural Affairs Division of INAC supported three exhibitions—all curated

by Tom Hill in 1974 and 1975. Canadian Indian Art ’74 at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto was a survey of Indian art and craft created in Canada between 1972 and 1974. According to Tom Hill, this was the first time a museum was interested “not in anthropological specimens, but in Indian artists and what they have to say.” 24

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Links to a Tradition: Symbolism in Contemporary Canadian Indian Art, a touring exhibition in 1974, was shown at the McIntosh Gallery, University of Western Ontario, and at Canadian consulates in the United States. Contemporary Native Art: The Woodland Indians in 1975–76 opened at the Royal Ontario Museum and travelled to the Canadian Forces base in Lahr, Germany, and Canada House in London, England.

There were several more exhibitions of First Nations art in public art institutions in Canada during the seventies. One of the most important was Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171 at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 1972. Curated by French anthropologist and art educator Jacqueline Fry, it featured Alex Janvier, Jackson Beardy, and Daphne Odjig. According to Jan Kamienski of Focus/Arts, this exhibition was “one of the first ‘formal’ exposures for the three artists. One would like to see more.” 25 Other exhibitions in the seventies included Canadian Indian Painting at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto in 1973; Contemporary Indian Art: The Trail from the Past to the Future in 1977 at the Mackenzie Gallery, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario; Indian Art ’77 at the Woodland Indian Education Cultural Centre, Brantford, Ontario; and Art of the Woodland Indian at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario in 1978.

Despite the federal government’s interest in and support of First Nations art in the seventies, very little changed in terms of public opinion, policies, and institutional practices. In 1978, Tom Hill was asked, “Where do art institutions such as the Art Bank of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Canada Council and the National Gallery of Canada draw the line between what they call Canadian art and Indian art?” 26 Tom Hill replied, “I don’t know and I don’t think they

know themselves and that’s what bothers me a bit.

What bothers me is that I don’t believe they think Indians are quite Canadians or they wouldn’t have made it so difficult for us to be part and parcel of their institutions.”

The first National Native Artists Symposium was held on Manitoulin Island on October 1, 1978, and the second in Regina at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (SIFC) in September 1979. According to Alfred Young Man, Indian artist, curator, and scholar, these conferences were organized by artists of Native ancestry “to

1956, the Vancouver Art Gallery hosted its first exhibition of Northwest Coast art, People of the Potlatch, followed by Arts of the Raven in 1967. The National Gallery of Canada included one painting

by Norval Morrisseau in Three Hundred Years of Canadian Art in 1967. Masterpieces of Indian and Eskimo Art from Canada, an exhibition organized in 1969 by the Musée de l’homme in Paris, France, and the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, consisted of anonymous historic pieces, with no work by contemporary artists.30

get their creations professionally accepted by the general public, educational institutions, galleries and museums in Canada and around the world.” 27 In 1979, the Department of Indian Affairs made an unsuccessful attempt to transfer the Indian art collection to the National Gallery of Canada. Bob Knox, Director-General, Indian Affairs Program Support Directorate, reported in the Ottawa Citizen that “the National Gallery would not take the responsibility of handling the collection because ‘ethnic art’ is not their business . . . This reflects the false impression that Indian art is historical, not contemporary.” 28

Left to right: Joseph Sanchez (second from left), Daphne Odjig, Eddy Cobiness, Carl Ray, Winnipeg Mayor Stephen Juba (second from right) and Jackson Beardy (far right), circa 1975.

Courtesy of Aboriginal Art Centre, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

THE NEW GROUP OF SEVEN Before 1970, few commercial art galleries were buying or promoting Native art in Canada, and there were only five group exhibitions featuring First Nations art at public art galleries and museums in Canada. In the 1927 exhibition Canadian West Coast Art: Native and Modern curated by Eric Brown, Director of the National Gallery of Canada, traditional pieces from the National Museums of Canada collection were hung with contemporary works by artists such as Emily Carr.29 Twenty-nine years later, in

Even though many First Nations artists such as Jackson Beardy, Tony Hunt, Alex Janvier, Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig, and Bill Reid had achieved international professional status in the 1970s, their work was still not being shown in public and private art galleries in Canada.

There was also a wave of new artists in the early seventies seeking recognition and opportunities to exhibit their work. Among the artists emerging across Canada at this time were Sam Ash, Shirley Bear, Benjamin Chee Chee, Eddy Cobiness, Ron Hamilton, Walter Harris, Robert Houle, Doreen

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Jensen, Roy Kakegamic, Don Laforte, Clifford Maracle, Jerry Marks, Earl Muldoe, Art Price, Carl Ray, Art Sterritt, Neil Sterritt, Alan Syliboy, Roy Henry Vickers, and Leo Yerxa. They faced the same challenges as mid-career and senior artists.

Most First Nations artists of the 1970s could not make a living as artists.

The Warehouse Gallery soon became an exhibition venue and a place to meet other artists.

Among the artists gathering at Odjig’s gallery was Joseph Sanchez, an artist of Taos Pueblo descent living in Winnipeg. He remembers: The 1972 gatherings at Odjig Indian Prints and the Warehouse Gallery at 331 Donald Street were the seed that resulted in Professional Native [Indian] Artists Inc. aka The Indian Group of Seven, officially incorporated in February of 1974.31 Although, as many as 50 artists were invited only seven answered the call to come to Winnipeg. The group is Daphne Odjig, Norval Morrisseau, Alex Janvier, Jackson Beardy, Carl Ray, Eddy Cobiness and expatriate Marine, American Joseph M. Sanchez.32

Alex Janvier and Jackson Beardy, circa 1975.

Courtesy of Aboriginal Art Centre, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

First Nations artists who lived outside of their reserves or communities often did not fit into Canadian society. Like expatriates in their own country, they would find one another in towns and cities and form friendships— sometimes through church groups, schools, or social gatherings such as artists’ events. This was the case for artist Daphne Odjig, who moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1970. She opened Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Limited and a small shop that was later to include the Warehouse Gallery. Odjig worked with Norval Morrisseau to reproduce some of his paintings as limited-edition prints, and she also met Jackson Beardy, who was promoting the sculpture of the Garden Hill Cooperative.

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Why the need to create the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., or PNIAI? There is not much written about the PNIAI. The biographies and exhibition histories of the artists involved in PNIAI are informative, but references to the PNIAI or the “Indian Group of Seven” in exhibition catalogues are sparse and often confusing. To better understand the state of Indian art in the seventies, I decided to review primary documentation about the PNIAI and their exhibitions and to interview two of the practicing artists of the group: Alex Janvier who has a studio and gallery in Cold Lake, Alberta, and Joseph Sanchez, the youngest artist in the group, currently living in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Alex Janvier remembers that the group was originally open to other artists. At one point, Bill Reid expressed an interest in the group. He would have given the PNIAI much-needed media attention since he worked for the CBC. However,

Reid’s agent, Bill Ellis, reportedly dissuaded him from joining. According to Janvier, the artists who had worked together at Expo 67 wanted to be treated as professional artists.33 Even though these artists received national recognition from Expo 67 and their individual exhibitions, they had difficulty being accepted by Canadian galleries and art institutions. Janvier recalls a 1974 meeting with John Dennehy, on assignment to Indian Affairs from the Secretary of State, to prepare their incorporation papers. He and several artists of the PNIAI used the opportunity while in Ottawa to look for a venue for a group exhibition. The Canadian War Museum in Ottawa was offered as a possible venue, but Morrisseau and Cobiness found the offer insulting to their aspirations to be treated as professional artists.

Dennehy offered to meet with Dr. Max Stern, a renowned international art dealer and owner of the Dominion Gallery in Montreal, Quebec, and introduce him to “true Canadian art” created by the artists of the PNIAI. Stern collected and sold works by Canadian artists such as Paul-Émile Borduas, A. Y. Jackson and other members of the Canadian Group of Seven, and Emily Carr, and by international artists such as Henry Moore, Rodin, Kandinsky, and Emilio Greco. This meeting was a coup for the PNIAI. According to the Montreal Star, Stern was “a powerful force in the world of art . . . He not only discovers, collects, advises and exploits but he is also instrumental in determining the course and price of art in the market place.” 34 Stern scheduled his first exhibition of Canadian Indian art by the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. in the spring of 1975.

Colours of Pride: Paintings by 7 Professional Native Artists / Fierté sur toile : Tableaux par sept artistes indiens canadiens opened March 11, 1975,

and ran until April 5, 1975.35 An exhibition review in the Montreal magazine Secrets des Artistes on April 5, 1975, revealed the astonishment of Montreal viewers to discover Indian art: Colours of Pride was a success and the Montreal public was able to appreciate the talent and originality of these artists. I use the word “artist” deliberately, as many still consider Indian art to be crafts. However, this is not the case for the painters we are talking about here, it is totally different.

Norval Morrisseau, circa 1975.

Courtesy of Aboriginal Art Centre, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada.

[Fierté Sur Toile a été une réussite et le public montréalais a pu apprécier le talent et l’originalité de ces artistes. Je dis bien artistes, car plusieurs croient encore que le travail des Indiens est surtout de l’artisanat, mais dans le cas des peintres dont nous parlons aujourd’hui, c’est tout a fait different.]36 The PNIAI had two more exhibitions in 1975— the Wallack Galleries in Ottawa and the Art Emporium in Vancouver. These may have been

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the last recorded exhibitions by the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. Following these exhibitions, art galleries in Toronto and Ottawa showed more interest in Indian art. Alex Janvier attributes this change of attitude to the Dominion Gallery exhibition.

Janvier does not know how the group stayed together. Except in the case of the Dominion Gallery exhibition, which received financial assistance from Indian Affairs for the 1975 PNIAI exhibition, the artists paid for their trips, shipping, and telephone calls. He recalled, “Daphne Odjig was the one who helped form the group and kept them together.” 37 After 1975, the artists began to lose touch with one another as they became involved with individual projects. The cohesiveness of the group became impossible to sustain as the artists aligned themselves with various art dealers and galleries. The only information I could find about the PNIAI after 1975 was a copy of a letter, dated June 8, 1984, from Eddy Cobiness to William Cook, Indian Affairs Manitoba Regional Office, on behalf of the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. requesting financial assistance to promote his work through a promotional video.38 There is no record of a response from Indian Affairs.

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The seventies saw Canada’s First Nations art renaissance, and the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. was part of this phenomenon. The PNIAI was not a long-term group, but their ability to change attitudes about First Nations art was the foundation for contemporary First Nations art. The individual accomplishments of the artists in the PNIAI are noteworthy in First Nations art history. Norval Morrisseau and Daphne Odjig were the first Indian (First Nations) artists to have retrospective exhibitions at the National Gallery of Canada.39 In 1993 Alex Janvier painted the Canadian landmark Morning Star, a mural covering 418 square metres of the southeastern dome of the Grand Hall at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, Gatineau, Quebec. Joseph Sanchez received the Allan Houser Memorial Award at the 2006 New Mexico Governor’s Awards for the Arts for artistic excellence and community involvement. Until his retirement in 2009, Sanchez was the Chief Curator and Interim Deputy Director of the Institute of the American Indian Arts Museum—now the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Today, Alex Janvier, Daphne Odjig, and Joseph Sanchez continue to influence younger artists through their passion for life and art.

notes 1

2

3 4 5 6

7

8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19

With permission of the artist, excerpt from 1976 Alex Janvier artist resumé, Dominion Gallery fonds, Box 313, File 4, Dominion Gallery Collections 1968–2000—Indian Artists Exhibitions, National Gallery of Canada Archives and Library.

An Act respecting Indians, R.S.C., 1985, cited as the Indian Act, is a federal statute first passed into legislation in 1876 that consolidated and revised previous legislation related to “Indians” and survives to the present time altered through a variety of amendments. The Indian Act defines who is (and is not) an Indian pursuant to the act, governs lands “reserved for Indians,” and establishes the authority of the federal government over “Indian” people and lands. See John Leslie, Ron Maguire, Robert G. Moore, The Historical Development of the Indian Act (Ottawa: Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, 1979). The potlatch (a ceremony that included feasting, gift giving, and dance related to the primary economic system of the nations of the Pacific Northwest Coast) was made illegal through an amendment to the Indian Act, referred to as the Potlatch Law. Wayne Warry, Ending Denial: Understanding Aboriginal Issues (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009), 34–35.

Doreen Jensen, “Metamorphosis,” in Topographies—Aspects of Recent B.C. Art, eds. Grant Arnold, Monika Kin Gagnon, and Doreen Jensen (Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1996), 97.

Carr also left her art supplies to Clutesi in her will. See Gerta Moray, Unsettling Encounters: First Nations Imagery in the Art of Emily Carr (Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 2006), 344.

For a discussion of George Clutesi, Ellen Neel, Judith Morgan, and other contemporary artists active in mid-twentieth-century British Columbia, see Marcia Crosby, “Making Indian Art ‘Modern,’” Ruins in Process: Vancouver Art in the Sixties, vancouverartinthesixties.com/ essays/making-indian-art-modern. See also British Columbia Indian Arts Society fonds, 1942-1983, Accession 2011.118, British Columbia Archives.

The Massey Commission is the name commonly applied to the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences. In 1951 the commission issued a report that gained recognition as a document of utmost importance in the cultural history of Canada, advocating the principle of federal government patronage of a wide range of cultural activities, including the establishment of the Canada Council. The Canadian Encyclopedia, s.v. “Massey Commission,” www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/emc/masseycommission.

The Way of the Indian, thirteen-episode CBC documentary series, 1963, E.78.C2 W3, City of Vancouver Archives; Our Native Land, CBC Programs, digital archives; Episode Guide: Quentin Durgens, M.P., TVarchive.ca.

Tom Hill, curatorial essay, in Beyond History, ed. Tom Hill and Karen Duffek, exhibition catalogue (Vancouver: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1989), 6.

Carl Waldman and Molly Braun, Atlas of the North American Indian (New York: Facts on File, 2009), 270.

Indian and Inuit affairs were the responsibility of the Department of Citizenship and Immigration from 1950 to 1965, until the creation of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development in 1966.

Peter D. Elias, Development of Aboriginal People’s Communities (Concord, ON: Captus Press, 1991), 4.

Tom Hill, “Canadian Indian Art: Its Death and Rebirth,” Artmagazine 5, no. 18 (Summer 1974): 11.

“Personality Profile: Alex Janvier,” Native People 10 (November 11, 1977): 3.

Norval Morrisseau and Selwyn Dewdney, Legends of my People, the Great Ojibway (Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1965); Herbert T. Schwarz, Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways (Toronto: McCelland and Stewart, 1969).

Bonnie Devine, The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig (Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2007), 19–22.

Kent Gooderham, ed., I am an Indian (Toronto: Dent, 1969).

Tracey Lindberg, “Changing Policy and Modern Day Agreements,” in Discovering Indigenous Lands: The Doctrine of Discovery in the English Colonies, ed. Robert J. Miller et al. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 162.

Harold Cardinal’s The Unjust Society: The Tragedy of Canada’s Indians (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 1969) was written in response to Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s popular 1968 election campaign slogan, “The Just Society.”

20 Monica Pine, “Tom Hill: Artist Promotes Native Culture,” Glebe Report 5, no. 3 (March 11, 1977): 8.

21 Loren R. Lerner and Mary F. Williamson, Art and Architecture in Canada: A Bibliography and Guide to the Literature (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991), 444.

22 Melissa Lazore, “D.I.N.A. Art Collection,” The Native Perspective, 3, no. 2 (1978): 41.

23 The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs published Tawow, a quarterly magazine on Indian arts and culture, from 1970 to 1981.

Editors included Jean Goodwill, Tom Hill, Georges Sioui, and Viviane Gray.

24 Lazore, “D.I.N.A. Art Collection,” 41.

25 Jan Kamienski, “Symbolism links three gallery shows,” Focus/Arts (August 26, 1972): 20.

26 Melissa Lazore, “An interview with Tom Hill,” The Native Perspective, 3 no. 2 (1978): 40.

27 Alfred Young Man ed., Networking: Proceedings from the National Native Indian Artists Symposium IV, July 14-18, 1987 (Lethbridge, AB: University of Lethbridge, 1988), 5.

28 Rita Seagnetti, “Indian art gathers dust,” The Ottawa Citizen, March 2, 1979.

29 Brown exhibited “artifacts” from the National Museum’s collection as works of art, bemoaning a “disappearing” artistic tradition, seemingly unaware of the federal policies that created the loss. For a discussion of Canadian West Coast Art: Native and Modern, see Diana Nemiroff, “Modernism, Nationalism and Beyond: A Critical History of Exhibitions of First Nations Art,” in Reesa Greenberg et al., eds. Thinking About Exhibitions (London UK: Routledge, 1996), 292–94.

30 Diane Nemiroff, “Modernism, Nationalism and Beyond,” 301.

31 An application to incorporate as the PNIAI was prepared in February 1974, then revised and resubmitted to Consumer and Corporate Affairs (now Corporations Canada) dated March 13. “Anisinabe” was added to the name PNIAI in the revised application, which outlines objectives that closely align with a 1973 proposal to INAC. Their application was approved over a year later with the issuing of Letters Patent, dated April 1, 1975, which granted corporate status under the revised name Anisinabe Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. However, the Group continued to associate under the name PNIAI.—Ed. 32 Joseph Sanchez, artist resumé, 2012.

33 Alex Janvier, interview with author, Ottawa, Ontario, October 24, 2012.

34 Lou Seligson, “Max Stern: Big Gun in the World of Art,” Montreal Star, November 2, 1972, A-5.

35 Archival files for the exhibition Colours of Pride: Paintings by 7 Professional Native Artists / Fierté sur toile : Tableaux par sept artistes indiens canadiens at the Dominion Gallery in Montreal contained two dates. A letter dated January 28, 1975 from Susan Saigal, Central Marketing Services, Ottawa, to Michel Moreault, Dominion Gallery had hand written dates for exhibition of March 11 until April 5, 1975. A letter dated February 19, 1975 from Michel Moreault to Monsieur Dumont included March 11 to April 5, 1975 as exhibition dates. A note to file with information on the exhibition also had March 11 to April 5, 1975. However, a letter dated February 25, 1975 from Michel Moreault, Dominion Gallery to Doreen Hughes, Entertainment Section of the Montreal Star included the exhibition information for the newspaper but the dates had been changed by hand from March 11 to April 12.

36 “Sept Peintres Indiens Exposent à la Galerie Dominion,” Secrets des Artistes, April 5, 1975, 24.

37 Alex Janvier, interview, October 24, 2012.

38 Eddy Cobiness to William Cook, Director of Operations, Indian Affairs and Northern Development, June 8, 1984, Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Cobiness also refers to John Dennehy as his spokesperson. Artist file, Eddy Cobiness, Aboriginal Art Centre, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development: letter file no. 28-11.

39 Norval Morrisseau: Shaman Artist was the first retrospective exhibition by a First Nations artist at the National Gallery of Canada, February 3– April 30, 2006. Daphne Odjig was the first female First Nations artist to have a retrospective exhibition, The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibition, at the National Gallery of Canada, October 23, 2009–January 3, 2010.

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244

ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF INDIGENOUS ART, CULTURE, AND POLITICS IN CANADA 1885–1985 A TIMELINE compiled by Sherry Farrell Racette & Michelle LaVallee

T

he chronology that follows is by no means comprehensive, but rather it provides a sketch that reflects the narrative of the PNIAI, its members, and the difficult era that gave rise to its creation. The timeline captures some of the key activities during a 100 year time period and is presented in three parts: PNIAI history, arts & curatorial community history, and socio-political history.

The timeline displays how histories, politics, and culture intertwine. It provides wider context and background to get at the questions: What was Canada like for Aboriginal people leading up to the 1960s and 1970s? What was this period like

for artists? How did the PNIAI artists respond to this environment? What did they achieve for themselves and the future? With a focus on the efforts of this group, alongside the contributions of their contemporaries, we can see how the momentum which they generated opened doors for the many others who have continued the fight against exclusion, marginalization, and chronic underfunding. What is clearly evident is that the activities of the group surmounted the barriers faced by previous generations and continue to inspire the work of Indigenous artists and curators to this day.

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Pauline Tekahionwake Johnson (Mohawk, 1861–1913) publishes her first poem, “A Cry from an Indian Wife,” in the Week, a Toronto magazine.

The poem is based on the battle of Cut Knife Hill during the Northwest Resistance.

An independent Department of Indian Affairs is created in 1880, which reports to the Department of the Interior.

1885 Jonas Odjig (b. 1861) is active during the 1880s as a stone carver, painter, and farmer on Manitoulin Island. From 1836 to 1862 the island had been set aside as “Manitoulin Indian Reserve,” only to see large tracts of land ceded in 1862 for EuroCanadian settlement.

The Northwest Resistance erupts in Saskatchewan from two distinct conflicts: the people’s hunger and the government’s failure to honour treaty promises to the Cree; and federal surveyors and land speculators encroaching on Métis lands in the North Saskatchewan and Qu’Appelle River valleys.

1886 Zacharie Telari-o-lin Vincent (Huron-Wendat, 1815–1886) of Wendake (Lorette), QC, dies after achieving international notice as a painter of landscapes and self-portraits.

1892 From 1892 to 1906, Pauline Johnson develops a stage persona and performs, rather than reads, her poetry, touring internationally.

1895 Pauline Johnson publishes her first book, White Wampum.

Masks, regalia, and other sacred arts are confiscated during raids on ceremonies which have been outlawed since 1884. Several Canadian museums are designated as recipients, but many priceless items are sold to private collectors.

An amendment to the Indian Act expands on a list first created in 1884 of banned ceremonies and traditional arts practices, such as the production of dance regalia. The sun dance and many religious and cultural practices join the potlatch and the Tamanawas dance on the list of criminalized activities.

Percy “Two Gun” Plainswoman (Kainai, 1895–1961) is born in southern Alberta. He becomes the first Kainai to make a living as an artist. He paints portraits and landscapes.

1897 Haida artist Charles Edenshaw (circa 1839–1920; active 1880–1910) is a prolific and widely recognized artist, whose carvings are collected by most major anthropological museums. In 1897, he provides Franz Boas with the drawings published in Primitive Art (1927). He is the first Northwest Coast artist to work in gold.

1885 – 1905

1899 Treaty Eight cedes 840,000 sq. km in northern Alberta, British Columbia, northwestern Saskatchewan, and the southern Northwest Territories. Treaty Ten, signed in 1906, cedes an additional 220,000 sq. km.

1905 The provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan are created.

Over the course of 1905 to 1906, Treaty Nine, also known as the James Bay Treaty, cedes 336,300 sq. km in present-day northern Ontario.

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1906 The Northwest Territories Act is passed.

From 1906 to 1915, First Nations leaders lobby government officials in Victoria, Ottawa, and London, UK. The Allied Tribes of British Columbia, formed in 1916, is organized solely for taking claims and cases to court.

1912 Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec are expanded to their present boundaries.

1914 Section 149 of the Indian Act is amended to forbid the celebration of “any Indian festival, dance or other ceremony.”

World War I (1914–1918) involves Canada as a member of the British Commonwealth. Over 4,000 First Nations, Métis, and Inuit men volunteer (onethird of all able-bodied men). They earn at least 50 medals for bravery and heroism.

1916 Dominic Odjig enlists in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force, 119 th Overseas Battalion.

1919 Daphne Louise Odjig is born September 11 on the unceded territory of Wikwemikong First Nation, Manitoulin Island. She is the first of four children born to Dominic Odjig and his English war bride, Joyce Peachey. The family lives with her grandfather Jonas Odjig in the family home that still stands today.

1920 The Indian Act makes attendance at residential school compulsory. Parents face criminal charges and jail for non-compliance.

1921 Treaty Eleven, which covers most of the Northwest Territories, is signed after government negotiators assure the Dene that their freedom to hunt, trap, and fish will not be restricted.

1924 Ludger Bastien (Huron-Wendat, 1879–1948) becomes a Conservative representative in the Quebec National Assembly (1924–1929), the first First Nations individual to be elected to a provincial legislature.

1925 James Beaver (Cayuga, 1846–1925) of Six Nations Reserve dies after achieving regional fame as a prolific painter of landscape and architecture.

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1906 – 1925

The highest court in Canada, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, rules that Aboriginal title is a pre-existing right.

PNIAI

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The Exhibition of Canadian West Coast Art: Native and Modern, organized by the National Gallery of Canada and the National Museum of Canada (now the Canadian Museum of Civilization), exhibits named “modern” artists alongside masks and other traditional art forms. Two paintings by Frederick Alexie are included.

The Indian Act is amended to prevent First Nations from retaining legal counsel to pursue land claims.

An amendment to Section 140 forbids First Nations in Western Canada from participating in festivals and exhibitions or making public appearances in traditional dress without the permission of Department of Indian Affairs and its representatives. Sections 114, 140, and 149 of the Indian Act are known collectively as the “Culture Ban.”

1927

The head of the University of Oklahoma art department invites six Kiowa artists to be mentored on campus, with access to studio space and supplies. The five men become known as the Kiowa Five. Jack Hokeah, Monroe Tsatoke, Spencer Asah, James Auchiah, and Stephen Mopope are better known than Lois Smoky, the lone woman, who leaves the group after one year. By 1928 the Kiowa Six have exhibited in the U.S. and Europe.

1930 The Great Depression has the Canadian economy in its grip for most of the decade. The gross national product drops 40% between 1929 and 1939.

The Métis of northern Alberta form a communitybased organization to defend land and hunting rights when northern forest reserves are transferred to the province and opened up for settlement.

1931 The Native Brotherhood of British Columbia, a province-wide rights organization, is founded in the Tsimshian community of Port Simpson. It is modelled after the Alaska Native Brotherhood.

1932 Norval Morrisseau is born to Grace Theresa Potan Nanakonagos and Abel Morrisseau. Information regarding Morrisseau’s birth is somewhat contradictory. Both Fort William and Sand Point Reserve, ON, have been claimed as his birthplace, and his date of birth has been variously cited as March 13 or 14, 1931, 1932, or 1933. As the eldest child, he is raised by his maternal grandparents on Sand Point Reserve near Lake Nipigon.

The Kiowa Five participate in the Venice Biennale.

1927 – 1934

Rheumatic fever seriously affects Odjig’s health, forcing her to leave school in grade eight.

1933 Eddy Cobiness (Cobenais) is born on July 17 at Warroad, Minnesota, in the Lake of the Woods borderlands. His parents move between tiny Buffalo Point Reserve, Ontario, and Red Lake Reservation in Warroad.

1934 Anthony Walsh, the teacher at the Inkameep Day School in British Columbia, submits his students’ artwork to the Royal Drawing Society Annual Exhibition at Guildhall, London, UK. Edward Baptiste (14 years) wins commendations in several categories.

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L’Association des Métis de l’Alberta is formed with Joseph Dion, Malcolm Norris, and Jim Brady as the executive.

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1935 Alexan Simeon Janvier is born on February 28 to Harry and Mary Janvier on Cold Lake Reserve in northern Alberta. His mother is from the Moberly Lake Saulteaux and his father is the last hereditary chief of the Cold Lake Denesuline. Led by a visionary leader, Janvier’s Anishinaabek ancestors had journeyed more than 3,000 kilometers to Moberly Lake, British Columbia. Seeking the leader’s vision of a lake at the foot of a mountain, the group left Lake Superior, lived in Manitoba for a time, then continued on to Moberly Lake in the Rocky Mountain foothills.

1936 Indian Affairs is no longer a separate department after responsibility is assumed by the Indian Affairs Branch of the Department of Mines and Resources, which encourages a traditional landbased economy of hunting, fishing, and trapping.

1938 Morrisseau attends St. Joseph Indian Residential School (Roman Catholic) in Fort William (Thunder Bay), ON.

An exhibition of Inkameep Day School student art shows in London, Paris, Dublin, and at the Empire Fair in Glasgow, Scotland.

Alberta’s Métis Population Betterment Act creates ten Métis colonies, eight of which continue as selfgoverning communities today.

In Victoria, Alice Ravenhill founds the Society for the Furtherance of British Columbia Indian Arts and Welfare, later the British Columbia Indian Arts and Welfare Society.

Canada declares war on Germany and enters World War II (1939–1945). First Nations are exempt from the draft, but approximately 4,000 men (and some women) enlist, along with an unknown number of Métis and Inuit. The federal government “temporarily” expropriates reserve lands for military purposes.

Odjig moves to Parry Sound, ON, to live with her maternal grandmother following the deaths of her mother, Joyce, and grandfather Jonas Odjig.

1939 Cobiness’s father dies on the trapline. His mother, Rose, supports the family working summers in a Warroad fishery and winters at a hotel.

Odjig moves to Toronto seeking employment.

She adopts the surname “Fisher,” the English translation of Odjig.

The Canadian Handicrafts Guild adds Inuit art to their preservation mandate and establishes the “Indian and Eskimo Committee.”

The Supreme Court of Canada rules that Inuit are Indians as defined by article 91 (24) of the British North America Act. The federal government’s jurisdiction over “Indians and lands reserved for them” is extended to the Arctic.

1940

1935 – 1941

Frederick Alexie or Alexcee (Tsimshian/ Haudenosaunee, 1853–1940) dies. A fisherman, painter, and carver, he was the first Northwest Coast artist to be promoted nationally and exhibited as a named artist.

The British Columbia Provincial Museum (now Royal BC Museum) in Victoria erects old totem poles in a park adjacent to the museum in an effort to preserve and conserve the individual poles and the artistic legacy they represent.

1941 Morrisseau is released from St. Joseph’s Residential School and sent to elementary school in Beardmore, ON.

The British Columbia Provincial Museum (now Royal BC Museum) opens “Thunderbird Park,” named after the many thunderbirds carved on the totem poles. Seven Inkameep students perform dramatized traditional stories at the opening ceremony. On the way to Victoria, they record fifteen traditional songs at a Vancouver studio.

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1942 Gerald Tailfeathers studies graphic arts at the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art in Calgary (now Alberta College of Art and Design).

1943 Janvier enters the Blue Quills Indian Residential School (Roman Catholic) near St. Paul, AB.

The British Columbia Indian Arts and Welfare Society initiates an annual art exhibition.

Carl Ray is born on January 10 or 18 to James and Maggie Ray at Sandy Lake in northwestern Ontario. He is the youngest of five children.

1944 Quincy Pickering Jackson Beardy is born on July 24 to John and Dinah Beardy (nee Monias) on the Garden Hill Reserve, Island Lake, in northeastern Manitoba. He is raised by his grandmother, a noted herbalist and midwife.

Accompanied by his grandfather, Morrisseau goes on a vision quest where he encounters the bear, which becomes his spirit guide.

1945 Cobiness sells his first pencil drawings for five dollars each. He buys a pen and ink set and unlined paper.

Odjig marries Paul Somerville and moves to British Columbia. She loses her Indian status due to Indian Act legislation.

Canadian painter Emily Carr (1871–1945) bequeaths her art supplies and brushes to George Clutesi (Tseshaht, 1905–1988), an artist she met through a mutual friend.

World War II ends.

George Clutesi becomes a contributor to the Native Voice and makes regular appearances on CBC radio telling traditional stories.

The Native Brotherhood of British Columbia begins publishing the Native Voice. The initial printing of 7,000 copies is distributed to “all tribes in BC as well as to the different points in Canada and the United States where they have been ordered.”

Editor Jack Beynon (Tsimshian) solicits support from organizations allied with the Indian rights movement and covers local, provincial, and national news, culture, and history.

1947

Mungo Martin (1879–1962, Kwakwaka’wakw), noted traditional carver, is hired by the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia to restore and replicate totems and other sculptural forms.

The Indian Association of Manitoba is established.

1942 – 1948

1948 Joseph Marcus Sanchez is born in Trinidad, Colorado, on February 24 to parents of mixed Spanish, German, and Pueblo descent. He is raised on the White Mountain Apache Reservation in northeastern Arizona.

250

Judith Morgan (b. 1930), a Gitxsan/Tsimshian student from the Port Alberni Residential School and the first scholarship recipient from the British Columbia Indian Arts and Welfare Society, exhibits at the Native Indian Affairs conference. Ellen Neel (1916–1966, Kwakwaka’wakw), the first female totem carver, challenges the emphasis on the preservation of “old” art, declaring, “If our art is dead, then it is fit only to be mummified . . . and tucked away in museums . . . to me, the art is a living symbol of my people. Our art continues to live.”

The Conference on Native Indian Affairs organized by the British Columbia Indian Arts and Welfare Society is held at the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. The two-day event marks a turning point in public appreciation of Northwest Coast art and increases public support for traditional arts, music, and dance.

PNIAI

ARTS/CURATORIAL

POLITICAL & SOCIAL

The British Columbia Archives acquires five of Judith Morgan’s paintings inspired by her study of the Northwest Coast collections at the provincial museum and archives.

Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent establishes the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences. The commission involves a national review of Canada’s arts, sciences, and a wide range of cultural and academic institutions related to Canadian cultural development and sovereignty. Lawyer and diplomat Vincent Massey is appointed as chair.

1949 Ray enters McIntosh Indian Residential School (Roman Catholic) at Kenora, Ontario.

George Clutesi, working as a janitor at the Port Alberni Residential School, hitchhikes to Victoria to speak to the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences.

As a representative of the Fraser Canyon Indian Arts and Crafts Society, Clutesi speaks of the need for cultural teaching “taught again to the Indian himself by the proper authorities.” Vincent Massey reportedly tells him “to go home and dance.”

Clutesi subsequently forms the Somass Native Echoes performance group.

James Houston and the Canadian Handicrafts Guild organize the first exhibition and sale of Inuit art in Montreal, QC.

1950 Janvier’s painting Our Lady of the Teepee represents Canada at the Vatican Show of Religious Paintings in Rome, Italy.

Morrisseau develops a serious illness that does not respond to medical treatment. When a medicine woman gives him the name Miskwaabik Animiki (Copper Thunderbird), Morrisseau recovers.

The Board of Trustees for the Hazeleton Public Library (with several Gitxsan members) in the Skeena River region of northern British Columbia initiates the planning of a museum and contemporary culture program to address both heritage conservation and the racial and social tensions dividing its small community.

The Indian Affairs Branch is transferred to the Department of Citizenship and Immigration.

1951 Beardy enters the Portage la Prairie Indian Residential School (Methodist).

A new edition of the Indian Act quietly removes most of the repressive legislation related to ceremony, dance, and traditional arts. The Culture Ban is lifted. The new edition also grants women the right to vote in band elections.

Janvier paints St. Joseph the Carpenter for the Blue Quills Residential School.

1953 The opening ceremony at Wawadit’la (Mungo Martin House) at Thunderbird Park, Victoria, BC, hosted by Mungo Martin, is the first legal, public potlatch to be held after the law prohibiting potlatch ceremonies is removed from the Indian Act.

1954 Rita Letendre (French/Abenaki, b. 1928), having left the Ecole des beaux-arts in Montreal in 1949, becomes immersed in Montreal’s avant-garde art scene and exhibits in the Automatiste group show La matière chante.

1949 – 1954

Cobiness joins the United States Army. He becomes a Golden Gloves boxer, drawing and sketching during his leisure time.

Henry Hunt (b. 1923, Kwakwaka’wakw) becomes his father-in-law Mungo Martin’s assistant and chief apprentice in the British Columbia Provincial Museum’s (now Royal BC Museum) apprenticeship program at Thunderbird Park.

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1956 Janvier completes grade twelve and graduates from St. Thomas College in North Battleford, SK. Morrisseau contracts tuberculosis and is admitted to the Fort William TB Sanitorium where he meets Harriet Kakagamic, the daughter of a fellow patient.

The Vancouver Art Gallery presents People of the Potlatch, its first exhibition of Northwest Coast Art. Curated by Audrey Hawthorn and J. A. Morris, the exhibition marks a shift in discourse from decay and loss to celebration and renewal. A book and a film narrated by Bill Reid (Haida, 1920–1998) accompany the exhibition.

Morrisseau has a vision of Gitchi Manidoo, who approves his desire to paint the legends and culture of the Anishinaabek.

Ray leaves school in order to help support his family following his father’s death.

1957 Cobiness is discharged from the army and returns to Warroad, MN.

James Houston introduces Inuit artists in Cape Dorset to printmaking.

Morrisseau marries Harriet Kakagamic.

Bill Reid and Douglas Cramner (Kwakwaka’wakw, 1927–2006) are hired by the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia to build Haida houses and totem poles on the museum grounds.

John Diefenbaker leads the Progressive Conservative Party to form a minority government.

It is the first Tory victory in 27 years. A snap election in 1958 returns him to power with a majority. As a lawyer in Prince Albert, Diefenbaker had represented many First Nations and Métis clients.

1958 Morrisseau moves to Cochenour, ON, where he finds employment as a flotation operator at the nearby gold mine.

Henry Beaudry (Cree, b. 1921), a WW II veteran, prisoner of war, and great-grandson of Chief Poundmaker begins painting after health problems force his retirement from the Canadian National Railways.

James “Akay-na-muka” Gladstone (Cree, adopted Kainai, 1887–1971) of Alberta is nominated to the Canadian Senate, two years before status First Nations win the right to vote. He holds his Senate seat until March 1971.

The Winnipeg Friendship Centre is the first Friendship Centre to incorporate in Canada. It has a First Nations and Métis board, the first of its kind.

1959 The Skeena Treasure House opens as the first component of the ’Ksan Historical Village and Museum in Hazelton, BC. The West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative Ltd. (also Kinngait Co-operative) is established in Cape Dorset. Cape Dorset artists create their first catalogued print series of 41 works, which are shown at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in 1960.

1956 – 1960

1960 After a struggle with Indian Affairs bureaucrats, and with the support of faculty Marion Nicoll and Illingworth Kerr, Janvier is able to remain in art school and graduates from the Fine Arts Program of the Alberta College of Art (now Alberta College of Art and Design) with honours.

Morrisseau moves his family to McKenzie Island near Red Lake in northern Ontario, where he begins to work full-time as an artist. He often paints on birchbark, brown kraft paper, or cardboard.

Morrisseau meets Selwyn Dewdney, who had begun documenting rock art sites in 1957.

Morrisseau begins writing Anishinaabek legends and submits the first draft of a manuscript to Dewdney within months of their first meeting.

Odjig’s husband Paul Somerville dies in an automobile accident.

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Pitseolak Ashoona (Inuit, circa 1906–1983) creates her first print for the Cape Dorset annual print series.

Kenojuak Ashevak (Inuit, 1927–2013) releases Enchanted Owl in the Cape Dorset annual print series. It is the most widely recognized work by any Inuit artist.

Around 1960, Elda “Bun” Smith (Mohawk, 1918– 1976), her husband Oliver Smith, and four other potters create Mohawk Pottery on Six Nations Reserve, merging ancient forms with wheel-thrown vessels.

The unconditional right to vote is extended to “all Status Indians” by unanimous vote of the House of Commons. Prior to this, the right to vote required the relinquishment of Indian status.

Against the vigorous opposition of the Catholic church, a powwow is organized at Wikwemikong on Manitoulin Island.

PNIAI

ARTS/CURATORIAL

POLITICAL & SOCIAL

1961 Janvier is employed as an art instructor for the University of Alberta’s Department of Extension in Alberta.

The National Indian Council forms as an umbrella group for Treaty, Status, and Non-status Indians, and Métis.

The Mohawk of Kanesatake near Oka, QC, submit a request that their land be declared an official Indian reserve. They receive no response from the federal government.

1962 Morrisseau meets Toronto Gallery owner Jack Pollock, who organizes Morrisseau’s celebrated first solo exhibition.

Henry Hunt succeeds Mungo Martin as master carver at the British Columbia Provincial Museum (now Royal BC Museum).

Morrisseau is interviewed by guest host June Callwood for CBC television’s current events show Close Up. Senator Allister Grosart becomes Morrisseau’s first patron. He provides the artist with $900 so he can spend the summer painting at Lake Nipigon.

Robert Davidson (Haida, b. 1946) is featured in the Native Voice as the youngest carver on the Queen Charlotte Islands. Four years later, he is the anonymous young argillite carver in the NFB short film Haida Carver.

Douglas Cramner, Alfred Scow, and Dick Bird establish the Talking Stick, a commercial gallery and studio, the first Native-owned gallery in Vancouver.

1963 Beardy studies commercial art at the Technical Vocational School in Winnipeg after leaving residential school.

The Indian Affairs Branch drafts a bill to create an Indian Claims Commission similar to one created in the U.S.in 1947. The bill never moves past draft legislation.

Morrisseau helps organize a cross-country art contest with the National Indian Council.

Morrisseau’s second exhibition at the Pollock Gallery is a resounding flop.

Odjig is admitted to the British Columbia Federation of Artists.

Odjig marries Chester Beavon.

1964 Beardy works in the display department of the Winnipeg Simpsons-Sears store until he collapses from bleeding ulcers. While hospitalized he sells drawings and watercolours to the nurses and doctors.

Robert Markle, born Robert Maracle (Mohawk, 1936–1990), exhibits at Toronto’s Isaacs Gallery, noted for promoting new “cutting-edge” contemporary Canadian art. At this time Markle does not publically acknowledge his heritage.

Odjig attends the fourth annual Wikwemikong Powwow, a pivotal event in her life and arts practice. After hearing stories from elders, her sister-in-law Rosemary Pelletier-Fisher suggests that Odjig should paint the legends. With Tom Peltier, Odjig also organizes an art exhibition at the powwow that is seen by Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, who arranges the acquisition of the entire show by the Cultural Affairs Section. The purchase becomes the foundation of the Indian Art Centre Collection.

Tom Hill (Seneca, b. 1943) enters the Ontario College of Art and Design.

A new “Social Programs” division is established within the Indian Affairs Branch.

1961 – 1964

Chief Henry Speck (Kwakwaka’wakw, 1908–1971), chief, Hamatsa dancer, and ceremonial singer, has a solo exhibition at the New Design Gallery. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalogue.

Odjig accompanies Chester Beavon on his posting to Grand Rapids, where he works as a Community Development Officer.

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Quebec author Yves Thériault, whose fiction explores Native issues, is appointed director of the new Cultural Affairs Section. Tom “Jomin” Peltier (Anishinaabe, 1936–2009) is appointed as special advisor.

The Cultural Affairs Section is created within the Social Program Division “for the development of Indian arts, special exhibitions and projects related to Indian culture.” The Cultural Affairs Section is also charged with liaising with the Indian Advisory Committee struck to “encourage participation . . . in the forthcoming Centennial celebrations.”

1965 Beardy’s work is exhibited at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

Beardy receives a commission from the Indian Affairs Branch and has his first solo exhibition at United College (now the University of Winnipeg).

While hitchhiking in northern Manitoba, Beardy meets Ray, a self-taught artist also interested in preserving oral traditions. Ray tells him about Morrisseau’s work.

Janvier is hired by the Cultural Affairs Section of the Indian Affairs Branch to help develop cultural policy.

Legends of My People: The Great Ojibway, written and illustrated by Morrisseau, and edited by Selwyn Dewdney, is published by Ryerson Press.

Rita Letendre produces her first prints at the Tamarind Lithography Workshop in Los Angeles, California.

Robert Markle’s works in the Eros 65 exhibition are seized by the morality police, and gallery owner Dorothy Cameron is charged with obscenity.

The controversy closes her gallery, and Markle’s paintings become the focus of anti-censorship activism by Canadian artists.

Ray contracts tuberculosis and spends a year in the Fort William TB Sanitorium.

Sanchez completes his first surrealist painting, Tennis Shoes on Their Way to Heaven.

1966 Beardy attends summer art classes at the University of Manitoba.

Janvier is commissioned to create 80 paintings for DIAND. Morrisseau is filmed by the National Film Board of Canada. The footage is later used in the documentary The Paradox of Norval Morrisseau.

Chester Beavon is transferred to Easterville, MB, where Odjig does pen and ink drawings of the daily life and struggles of the Chemahawin Cree displaced by the construction of the Grand Rapids dam. She also begins working on legend paintings.

Odjig meets Gary Scherbain, who markets her work from his home. That summer she meets Beardy at the Wikwemikong Powwow.

Ellen Neel passes away at only 49 years old, leaving six children. A renowned carver, her works are found on the University of British Columbia campus and in Stanley Park in Vancouver, where she had a studio, Totem Art Studios. Neel was the first Northwest Coast artist to explore textile design.

Bill Reid introduces himself to Robert Davidson, who is giving a carving demonstration in a Vancouver department store. Davidson’s brief apprenticeship with Reid introduces him to new materials and opportunities.

Tom Peltier establishes the Manitou Arts Foundation on Manitoulin Island to support and encourage young artists.

The Hawthorn Report, titled A Survey of the Contemporary Indians of Canada: Economic, Political, Educational Needs and Policies is the result of extensive research conducted by anthropologist Harry B. Hawthorn. Commissioned by the Indian Affairs Branch in 1963, the report is a shocking indictment of the living conditions and social realities of First Nations. It advocates significant change in policy directions.

The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) is created in October 1966 by authority of the Government Organization Act.

The ’Ksan establish the Gitaanmaax [Kitanmax] School of Northwest Coast Indian Art.

1967 Beardy meets Morrisseau.

1965 – 1967

Beardy marries Eliza Harper.

Janvier and Beardy serve as advisors to the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67. Janvier is fired for being “rebellious.”

Janvier and Morrisseau are among the artists commissioned to create murals for the Indians of Canada Pavilion. Both create pieces that meet with criticism. Janvier’s nine-foot circular mural, The Unpredictable East, is renamed Beaver Crossing — Indian Colours and placed on the rear of the building. Morrisseau’s design, Earth Mother and Her Children, is modified and is largely executed by Ray, who has come as his assistant. Ray’s design, Earth Mother, is also used in the interior of the pavilion.

A work by Morrisseau is included in the National Gallery of Canada’s centennial exhibition, Three Hundred Years of Canadian Art.

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The Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67 expresses both government policy shifts and the desire of First Nations’ artists and leadership to complicate the celebratory tone of the centennial year by “telling the truth.” Three artists are chosen to create large murals: George Clutesi, Norval Morrisseau, and Francis Kagige (Anishinaabe, b.

1929); a further six artists to create work for five large round panels: Alex Janvier, Noel Wuttunee (Cree, 1926–2011), Gerald Tailfeathers, Ross Woods (Lakota), Tom Hill, Jean-Marie Gros-Louis (Wendake, 1933–2013). Other artists who worked or consulted on the pavilion include: Henry and Tony Hunt (Kwakwaka’wakw, b. 1942), Carl Ray, Duke Redbird (Métis/Anishinaabe, b. 1939), Jackson Beardy. Over three million visitors tour the pavilion.

Bill Reid and Elda “Bun” Smith show work in the Canadian pavilion’s Canadian Fine Crafts exhibition.

Robert Davidson carves a totem pole at the Expo 67 site that is later presented to the city of Montreal.

Canada’s centennial year is a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation highlighted by several national projects: the Canadian Centennial train that crosses the country, the Canadian Voyageur Pageant, and Expo 67, the World’s Fair in Montreal.

During consultations with DIAND, First Nations leaders step away from the National Indian Council and establish the National Indian Brotherhood (now Assembly of First Nations).

PNIAI

ARTS/CURATORIAL

1967 (cont’d) – Morrisseau meets art dealer and author Dr. Herbert T. Schwarz while working on his mural at Expo 67.

1967 (cont’d) – George Clutesi publishes Son of Raven, Son of Deer, a collection of twelve traditional stories. The book meets with critical and commercial success.

Odjig has her first solo exhibition at the Lakehead Art Centre, Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay), ON. Sanchez enlists in the United States Marine Corp.

POLITICAL & SOCIAL

Willie Seaweed (Kwakwaka’wakw/Gitxsan, 1873–1967) passes away. An artist who continued to work during the Culture Ban, his work was created for banned ceremonies and is associated with innovative stylistic shifts that developed in the 1920s.

Kenojuak Ashevak is appointed to the Order of Canada.

Indian Handicrafts of Manitoba Inc. is established in Winnipeg.

1968 Beardy and Morrisseau receive Canada Centennial Medals.

Cobiness moves to Winnipeg with his wife, Helen, and their five children.

Tom Hill becomes the director of the Cultural Affairs Section. He supervises the creation of programs and exhibitions, and builds the DIAND collection of contemporary art.

Janvier teaches art classes at Saddle Lake Indian School near St. Paul, AB. Odjig has a solo exhibition at Brandon University sponsored by the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood and curated by Bernard Polly.

America’s military involvement in the Vietnam War peaks. An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 men come to Canada to evade conscription.

Len Marchand (Okanagan, b. 1933) becomes the first Status First Nations member of Parliament, elected as the Liberal MP for Kamloops-Cariboo riding in British Columbia.

Mary Two-Axe Early forms the Equal Rights for Native Women Association to fight gender discrimination.

Odjig is commissioned by Dr. Herbert Schwarz to illustrate a collection of erotic stories reportedly gathered from “Native” sources.

Odjig moves to Ashern, MB. Odjig meets Ray. Ray’s paintings of Cree legends are exhibited in Winnipeg.

1969 Janvier marries Jacqueline Ann Wolowski.

Morrisseau meets Odjig.

Morrisseau’s Peintre indien du Grand Nord Canadien at Galerie Saint-Paul, Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France is a critical and popular success. Picasso and Chagall are among the 12,000 people who attend.

Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways, written by Herbert T. Schwarz and illustrated by Morrisseau, is published by McClelland and Stewart.

Ray receives a Canada Council grant.

Ray exhibits work in his second solo show at the McIntyre Building of Confederation College in Thunder Bay, ON (November 28–30).

Robert Davidson carves a 12 metre pole for the village of Masset, Haida Gwaii, BC. It is the first pole to be raised at Masset in 90 years.

Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Jean Chrétien, minister of Indian Affairs, release the Statement of the Government of Canada on Indian Policy, commonly known as The White Paper. At the heart of the policy is the elimination of “Indian” as a legal category. First Nations leadership and communities vigorously oppose the policy.

Dr. Lloyd Barber is appointed Indian Claims Commissioner from 1969 to 1977.

Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, establishes the Indian-Eskimo Studies Program, renamed the Department of Native Studies in 1972.

Sto’lo activist Rose Charlie incorporates the Indian Homemakers Association of British Columbia as an independent organization to improve the lives of women and their families.

Ray marries Helen Goodwin.

The senior class of Queen Elizabeth high school in Sioux Lookout, ON, presents a painting by Ray to former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker.

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1967 – 1969

Now that the Buffalo’s Gone, a theatrical performance of “stories, legends, poems and songs” at Winnipeg’s Studio Theatre, includes an exhibition of paintings by Morrisseau, Beardy, and Ray.

Allen Sapp (Cree, b. 1928) has a solo exhibition at the Mendel Art Gallery in Saskatoon, SK. It is a popular and critical success, viewed by approximately 13,000 people.

PNIAI

ARTS/CURATORIAL

POLITICAL & SOCIAL

Tiktak: Sculptor from Rankin Inlet at Gallery 111, featuring the work of John Tiktak (Inuk, 1916–1981), is one of the first solo exhibitions of an Inuit artist in a public gallery. The conscious choice of “sculptor” rather than “carver” recognizes Tiktak as an artistic peer. The University of Manitoba School of Art also publishes an exhibition catalogue through the University of Manitoba Press.

The Manitoba centennial celebrates the 100th anniversary of Manitoba’s entry into Confederation.

The Cultural Affairs Section launches Tawow magazine to “provide an opportunity for Indian people to express themselves” in writing. The first editor is Jean Goodwill (Cree, 1928–1997). The first issue features an article on Morrisseau; a review of Potlatch, George Clutesi’s new book; articles by Andrew Bear Robe and Mary Jane Lavallee; poetry

by Mireille Sioui; and coverage of the Canadian Prairie Dance Group’s European tour.

The Supreme Court of Canada ruling on R v.

Drybones declares that the section of the Indian Act forbidding public alcohol consumption cannot be reasonably interpreted and applied, making it unenforceable. It is a divided decision.

1969 (cont’d) – Ray’s and Beardy’s paintings are exhibited at Brandon University in conjunction with a Human Rights Conference.

Sanchez comes to Canada when he receives orders to go to Vietnam.

1970 Beardy is commissioned to create paintings for the Manitoba centennial that are later exhibited at a gala celebration at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. After a security guard refuses to let Beardy and his family enter, the Manitoba press picks up the story that they have been turned away from the gala. Beardy is humiliated and angered at the racism he experienced, but accepts an apology and a tour of the exhibition the next day with Gérard Pelletier, the Secretary of State, and James Richardson, the Minister of Supply and Service.

Beardy serves as a member of numerous arts organizations during the 1970s, including the National Indian Arts Council, Manitoba Arts Council, Prison Arts Foundation, and Canadian Artists Representation/le Front des artistes canadiens (CARFAC). He also receives the Young Achievers Award, which is presented to him by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

The Indian Association of Alberta, led by Harold Cardinal, releases Citizens Plus or the “Red Paper” in response to the 1969 White Paper.

The federal Fisheries Act infringes upon and restricts Aboriginal rights.

The first National Conference on Indian Culture is held in Ottawa. Ironically, there are only two First Nations individuals in attendance.

Jeannette Corbiere Lavell (Anishinaabe, b. 1942) launches a legal challenge using the 1960 Bill of Rights when she loses her Indian status after marrying a non-Indian. It is the first court case to deal with gender discrimination.

The Winnipeg Centennial Corporation publishes Indian Art: Manitoba Centennial, 1870–1970, a portfolio of ten prints featuring Beardy, Morrisseau, Odjig, Ray, Ester Bushie, and Don Laforte.

The Manitoba Indian Brotherhood sponsors Manitoba’s first large inter-tribal powwow. It is promoted as “Manitoba Indian Days.”

Cobiness’s work is presented to Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to The Pas, MB; to Jean Chrétien, the Minister of Indian Affairs; and to Manitoba Premier Ed Schreyer.

Morrisseau is appointed to the Royal Canadian Academy of Art (RCA).

Odjig creates Earth Mother, a commissioned work for the Canadian pavilion at Expo ’70, Osaka, Japan.

Odjig reproduces her Easterville drawings and, encouraged by the response, she and Chester Beavon move to Winnipeg and establish Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd.

1969 – 1971

Sanchez marries Ann Nadine Krajeck on August 13, in Vancouver.

1971 Beardy returns to Winnipeg, leaving Garden Hill. He is employed as a field researcher for the Museum of Man and Nature (now the Manitoba Museum). He travels extensively throughout the north collecting Cree legends.

Dr. Ahab Spence, the co-coordinator of art and handicraft for the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood, sends ten works by Cobiness to DIAND. Janvier is commissioned to create a mural for Ermineskin Elementary School in Hobbema, AB.

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The National Film Board of Canada releases Pitseolak: Pictures Out of My Life, an animated documentary about artist Pitseolak Ashoona.

Joyce Wieland’s True Patriot Love at the National Gallery of Canada is the first retrospective of a major female artist.

The Native Council of Canada (now Congress of Aboriginal People) is founded.

Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (now Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami or ITK) is founded. ITK represents and promotes the interests of Inuit on a wide variety of environmental, social, cultural, and political issues and challenges facing Inuit on the national level.

The Manitoba Indian Brotherhood launches its own centennial celebration to commemorate the signing of Treaty One. Chief David Courchene commissions artist Joe Land (Anishinaabe) to design a logo for the MIB that is subsequently used for the cover of Wahbung: Our Tomorrows, a position paper for the federal government in response to the White Paper.

PNIAI

ARTS/CURATORIAL

1971 (cont’d) – Odjig and Chester Beavon open a small craft store for Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd., located at 331 Donald Street, Winnipeg, MB. Artists begin to come together in a series of informal meetings at the store to discuss their challenges and aspirations.

POLITICAL & SOCIAL 1971 (cont’d) – DIAND initiates the Cultural Education Centres Program to provide funding for local cultural education.

Canada is the first country in the world to adopt an official Multicultural Policy affirming the value of all Canadians regardless of ethnic, racial, linguistic, or religious differences. It confirms the rights of Aboriginal peoples and the status of French and English as the nation’s official languages.

Odjig illustrates and retells traditional stories in a series of ten children’s books, Tales of Nanabush, for the Manitoba Department of Education. They are later published by Ginn and Company.

The Saskatchewan Native Women’s Association is established.

Odjig receives a grant to participate in the Smotra Folklore Festival in Yugoslavia. A group of her paintings is lost enroute.

Yvonne Bédard seeks a court injunction to block a resolution of the Six Nations Band Council to expel her from the reserve. She had returned to live in a house she owned following the breakup of her marriage to a non-Status man.

Odjig is commissioned to paint The Great Flood, a mural for Peguis High School, Peguis First Nation, MB. Odjig is appointed to the first board of directors of the Manitou Arts Foundation.

Odjig and Ray teach at the Manitou Arts Foundation’s summer art camps on Schreiber Island. Blake Debassige and Shirley Cheechoo, Leland Bell, Randy Trudeau, and Martin Panamick are among the students who attend the program.

Ray receives a Cultural Development grant from DIAND. Ray serves as editor of the Kitwin newspaper in his home community of Sandy Lake, ON, and paints a mural for the Sandy Lake Primary School.

Legends of the Sandy Lake Cree, retold and illustrated by Ray, edited by James R. Stephens, is published by McClelland and Stewart, Toronto.

Ray and Morrisseau are invited to participate in the Northern Art Tour sponsored by DIAND. Both artists, but particularly Ray, tour extensively in northern communities and on reserves.

Sanchez meets Odjig in the late fall. Odjig becomes his art dealer, mentor, and friend.

Sanchez has his first exhibition at the Brackendale Art Gallery in Brackendale, BC.

1972 Beardy is employed at the Department of Native Studies, Brandon University, Brandon, MB. Beardy receives a Canada Council grant for writing.

Beardy, Janvier, and Odjig are featured in a threeperson exhibition at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.

Curated by Jacqueline Fry, Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171: Three Indian Painters of the Prairies (August 12– October 10) is the first exclusively contemporary First Nations art exhibition to be held in a public art gallery in Canada.

Janvier moves to Sherwood Park, a suburb of Edmonton, AB. Janvier is commissioned to paint a mural for the Sherwood Medical Clinic, Sherwood Park, AB.

The Saskatchewan Indian Cultural College is established. The art department is headed by Sarain Stump (1945–1974), who in only two years develops influential programs and mentors artists such as Edward Poitras (Cree/Métis, b. 1953), Gerald McMaster (Cree/Blackfoot, b. 1953), and Christine Welsh (Métis).

The National Indian Brotherhood (now Assembly of First Nations) releases the policy document Indian Control of Indian Education.

The National Association of Friendship Centres is officially incorporated.

The Ontario Native Women’s Association is established.

Indian Handicrafts of Manitoba ceases operation.

Robert Houle (Anishinaabe, b. 1947) graduates with a BA in Art History from the University of Manitoba.

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1971 – 1972

Beardy founds Ningik Art and is able to produce and promote his own artwork.

The Woodland Indian Cultural Education Centre (now Woodland Cultural Centre) in Brantford, ON, is founded by the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians following the closure of the Mohawk Institute Residential School.

PNIAI

ARTS/CURATORIAL

POLITICAL & SOCIAL

Manitou Community College is founded in La Macaza, QC. It is the first fully accredited community college under Aboriginal control. It offers a variety of courses in the arts, literature, media, and history.

The Yukon Native Brotherhood releases Together Today for Our Children, initiating the Yukon land claims process.

1972 (cont’d) – Morrisseau is caught in a hotel fire in Vancouver, BC. He suffers severe burns over three-quarters of his body.

The Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature (now the Manitoba Museum) in Winnipeg commissions Odjig’s mural The Creation of the World.

1973 A series of informal meetings that began in 1971 leads to the developement of a proposal to fund the activities of “a true native professional artist association.” The proposal is submitted to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) in December 1973 and outlines the following objectives: n

n

n

n

to develop funds that will enable artists to paint; to develop marketing strategies with commercial galleries that will allow Native artists greater opportunity to exhibit their work; to travel to communities and establish connections with young artists; to develop a trust fund, using a portion of sales from their artworks, for a scholarship program that would assist and aid the development of young/emerging artists.

To secure the funds necessary to meet these objectives, the seven members agree that they would commit a portion of the proceeds from sales of their artwork to the corporation.

Janvier is one of the artists featured in Henning Jacobsen Productions’ Canadian Indian Canvas.

The Colours of Pride, a documentary by Henning Jacobsen Productions commissioned by DIAND and distributed by the NFB, features Janvier, Odjig, Morrisseau, and Allen Sapp, with narration by Tom Hill.

Morrisseau is made a member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.

Morrisseau begins producing original graphic and fine arts prints with the Triple K Co-operative in Red Lake, MB.

1972 – 1973

Morrisseau is incarcerated in a Kenora, ON jail for six months. He has use of an adjacent cell for a studio space, access to art materials, and permission to visit local churches.

The Royal Ontario Museum commissions From Mother Earth Flows the River of Life from Odjig. It will be included in Canadian Indian Art ’74.

Awarded a Manitoba Arts Council Bursary and the Swedish Brucebo Foundation Scholarship, Odjig travels to the foundation’s studio at Visby Island in Gotland, Sweden, for a six-week artist residency.

Ray completes a mural for the Sioux Lookout Fellowship and Communication Centre, Sioux Lookout, ON. The mural is later destroyed in a fire.

Sanchez exhibits work with Tony Allison in Two Artists at the University of Manitoba.

Sanchez completes the wooden sculpture Fertility Totem as part of a Winnipeg centennial project organized by Plug In (now Plug In ICA), an artist-run centre established in 1972 in Winnipeg.

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Oji-Cree brothers Goyce (b. 1948), Joshim (1952–1993), and Henry Kakegamic establish the Triple K Co-operative, a silkscreening company, in Red Lake, ON. They produce prints for Goyce and Joshim Kakegamic, their brother-in-law Norval Morrisseau, Saul Williams, Barry Peters, and Paddy Peters.

Bob Boyer (Metis, 1948–2004) begins work as a community programme assistant at the Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery (now the MacKenzie Art Gallery), Regina, SK. His first solo exhibition takes place at the Art Department Gallery (now Gordon Snelgrove Gallery) at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.

George Clutesi receives the Order of Canada in recognition of his contribution to Aboriginal arts and culture.

Montreal launches Canada’s first lottery to raise money for the 1976 Summer Olympics.

The Supreme Court of Canada rules on Calder et al. v. Attorney-General of British Columbia, a case brought forward by the Nisga’a nation claiming that title to their lands had not been extinguished.

Calder is a landmark decision because the Supreme Court holds that the source of Aboriginal title is derived from the Nisga’a’s historic occupation and possession of the lands in question. While the court is unable to agree whether Nisga’a title had been extinguished, Calder represents a turning point in case law. Many Aboriginal title claims follow in the wake of the Calder decision.

The Cree of James Bay go to court to stop the massive James Bay hydroelectric development project. The Quebec Superior Court rules in favour of the Cree.

François Paulette, chief of the Dene of Fort Smith, NT, files a caveat, now known as the Paulette Caveat, at the Yellowknife Land Titles Office to establish legal interest in one million square kilometres of land, and to halt development until ownership is settled. This is a pre-emptive strategy in response to the proposed Mackenzie Valley pipeline.

An armed blockade is set up by the Bonaparte Secwepemc First Nation at Cache Creek, BC, for six weeks. Shocking living conditions are the primary triggers of the protest. Vehicles are charged a $5 toll fee to pass through Secwepemc territory.

PNIAI

ARTS/CURATORIAL

POLITICAL & SOCIAL

Carl Beam (born Carl Migwans, Anishinaabe, 1943–2005) graduates with a BFA from the University of Victoria and enters the graduate program at the University of Alberta.

The Quebec Native Women’s Association is established.

1974 An application to incorporate as the PNIAI is prepared in February, then revised and resubmitted to Consumer and Corporate Affairs (now Corporations Canada) dated March 13.

“Anisinabe” is added to the title PNIAI in the revised application, which outines objectives that closely align with the 1973 proposal to DIAND. The PNIAI organize a group exhibition (June 18–22) on the eighth floor of Eaton’s Department Store in Winnipeg. They present a drawing by Cobiness to Mayor Steve Juba in honour of Winnipeg’s centennial.

The members of PNIAI exhibit work at the Anthropos Gallery in London, UK. Beardy marries his second wife, Paula Worrell.

When the Morning Stars Sang Together, written

by John S. Morgan and illustrated by Beardy, is published by the Book Society of Canada.

Beardy, Cobiness, Janvier, Morrisseau, Odjig, Ray, and Sanchez are included in Canadian Indian Art ’74 at the Royal Ontario Museum.

Tom Hill and Elizabeth McLuhan co-curate a survey exhibition, Canadian Indian Art ’74 (June 10–August 31), at the Royal Ontario Museum. Held in conjunction with the biennial conference of the World Crafts Council, it is the first Aboriginalled survey of Aboriginal art, featuring over 200 contemporary and traditional works.

Odjig Indian Prints of Canada issues the first edition of Roy Thomas’ prints.

The Ojibwe Cultural Foundation is established at M’Chigeeng First Nation on Manitoulin Island.

Delegates at the Yukon Indian Arts and Crafts Conference at Whitehorse, YT, initiate a discussion on developing strategies to encourage the production and marketing of traditional art and craft.

Alphonse Has an Accident, written by Susan Hiebert and illustrated by Cobiness, is published by Peguis (now Portage & Main Press).

Janvier completes a mural for Onion Lake Elementary School in Onion Lake, SK.

The Native Women’s Association of Canada is incorporated.

The Anishinaabek community of Gull Bay in northwestern Ontario creates its own police force, the first of its kind in Canada.

Judge Thomas Berger is appointed chair of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry established to review plans for an oil and gas pipeline down the Mackenzie Valley.

The Supreme Court of Canada hears the Lavell and Bédard cases together and rules that the Canadian Bill of Rights does not apply to Section 12 (1)(b) of the Indian Act. This decision upholds the status quo, which forces the disenfranchisement of women who marry non-Indians, while non-Indian women who marry Indian men gain status under the act.

The Summer of 1974 is marked by a number of confrontations and tensions. DIAND offices are occupied in Alberta and Ontario. The Ojibway Warrior’s Society occupies Anicinabe Park in Kenora, ON, for five weeks. There are exchanges of gunfire with police, but no casualties or serious injuries.

The Native Caravan Trek to Ottawa, which drew people from across the country, ends with the RCMP forcibly removing peaceful demonstrators from Parliament Hill using a newly created riot squad. Among the group’s requests delivered to Parliament are respect for and recognition of the hereditary and treaty rights of “Indian, Métis, NonStatus and Inuit” in the Constitution of Canada; repealing the Indian Act; and replacing it with new legislation created by Native people. Deplorable living conditions are a key concern expressed by participants.

The NFB releases the documentary film The Paradox of Norval Morrisseau.

Odjig expands her Winnipeg shop, establishes the New Warehouse Gallery, and opens an exhibition of drawings, paintings, and prints by members of the PNIAI. CHIN Radio International in Toronto, ON, commissions Virgin of Light, a painting by Sanchez, to be presented in conjunction with CHIN Radio’s Douglas McGowan Award, recognizing significant contributions to multiculturalism in music.

1975 Glen Crane, director of the Woodland Indian Cultural Education Centre (now Woodland Cultural Centre), initiates an annual juried exhibition, Indian Art, which continues under the title First Nations Art.

Fierté sur toile : Tableaux par sept artistes indiens canadiens / Colours of Pride: Paintings by 7 Professional Native Artists (March 11–April 5), featuring the art of the PNIAI, is presented by Max Stern’s Dominion Gallery in Montreal, QC.

Bob Boyer curates 100 Years of Saskatchewan Indian Art, 1830–1930 (December 12–January 18, 1976) at the Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery (now MacKenzie Art Gallery), Regina.

Professional Native Indian Arts Inc. (June 4–21), presented by Wallack Galleries in Ottawa, is opened by the Honourable Judd Buchanan, Minister of Indian Affairs.

All seven members of the PNIAI are in an exhibition at the Art Emporium, Vancouver, BC (October 27–November 8).

Beardy is one of twenty artists commissioned by the Catholic Conference of Bishops to create works to illustrate the new Sunday Mass Book. Beardy’s work, The Nativity, merges Catholic and Cree symbolism to represent the Virgin Birth.

Jessie Oonark (Inuit, 1906–1985) is elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Art. Indian Craftsmen of Quebec is incorporated on April 30, and is registered with the National Indian Arts and Crafts Corporation.

The New Brunswick Indian Arts and Crafts Association is incorporated.

A joint comprehensive land claim for Aboriginal title submitted by the Mohawks of Kanesatake, Kahnawake, and Akwesasne is rejected on the basis that Mohawks have not been occupying the land in question “since time immemorial.”

The James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement between the Cree, the Inuit, and the governments of Canada and Quebec is the first major agreement between Indigenous peoples and the Crown since the signing of the numbered treaties in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The agreement gives regional Inuit and Cree communities more control over political, social, and economic decisions, but fails to entrench Aboriginal rights.

The Alberta Indian Arts and Crafts Society is established.

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1974 – 1975

The PNIAI are legally incorporated on April 1, 1975 under the revised title Anisinabe Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. The Group continues to exhibit under the name PNIAI.

PNIAI

ARTS/CURATORIAL

1975 (cont’d) – Beardy, Cobiness, Morrisseau, Odjig, Ray, and Sanchez are included in Indian Art ’75 (June–July), the juried exhibition held at the Woodland Indian Cultural Education Centre in Brantford, ON.

POLITICAL & SOCIAL 1975 (cont’d) – The Native Law Centre is founded by Dr. Roger Carter at the University of Saskatchewan to facilitate access to legal education for Aboriginal students, to promote the development of laws and legal systems that better accommodate Aboriginal peoples, and to disseminate information concerning Aboriginal people and the law.

Tuktoyaktuk 2-3, a prose poem by Dr. Herbert Schwarz, illustrated with fifteen commissioned drawings by Cobiness, is published by M. H. Feheley.

Janvier begins A Tribute to Beaver Hills, a mural wrapping around the central staircase in the Strathcona County Building, Sherwood Park, AB. Odjig is invited by the Israeli government to visit Israel and paint her interpretation of Jerusalem for El Al Airlines. The five new works in the Jerusalem Series emphasize the artist’s response to the Walls of Jerusalem.

Colour plates of Odjig’s erotic illustrations are published in Dr. Herbert Schwarz’s Tales from the Smokehouse.

Sanchez returns to the U.S. under Gerald Ford’s presidential amnesty program for draft dodgers and soldiers who left the country to avoid serving in Vietnam. He continues to travel back to his farm in Giroux, MB.

1976 PNIAI exhibition Indian Art ’76 (January) at First National Bank in Minneapolis, MN. The members of PNIAI exhibit in Contemporary Indian Art (October 13–26) at Gallery 115, Winnipeg.

Beardy illustrates the cover for Leonard Peterson’s book Almighty Voice. He also designs the cover for Basil Johnston’s Ojibway Heritage.

Beardy is commissioned to design a mural at St. John’s College, University of Manitoba, interpreting the college’s coat of arms.

1975 – 1976

Beardy, Cobiness, Janvier, Morrisseau, Odjig, and Ray exhibit work in Indian Art 76 (June 19–July 17) at the Woodland Indian Cultural Education Centre (now Woodland Cultural Centre), Brantford, ON. Beardy, Morrisseau, and Ray exhibit work in Contemporary Native Art of Canada—The Woodland Indians (September–December) organized by the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, ON. The exhibition also travels to Aula Luisenschule, Lahr, Germany (March 7–21) and the Canada House Gallery in London, UK (April 7–May 7).

Janvier completes a commissioned mural for the Stony Rapids Motel in Stony Rapids, SK. He also designs a mural for the Muttart Conservatory in Edmonton, AB. Morrisseau’s painting Land Rights expresses the social and political tensions of the time.

Some of My Friends, a fifteen-year retrospective of Morrisseau, opens at the Pollock Gallery in Toronto.

Odjig is featured in the documentary film Three Artists, Three Styles produced by Henning Jacobsen Productions.

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The University of British Columbia awards Bill Reid an honourary doctorate in recognition of his contribution to the cultural life of Canada.

The Ojibwe Cultural Foundation organizes summer art programs at Dreamer’s Rock on the Birch Island Reserve of Manitoulin Island.

The Micmac Arts and Crafts Society of Nova Scotia is established.

The Advisory Committee of the Native Arts and Crafts Corporation of Ontario is incorporated.

The National Museum of Man (now the Canadian Museum of Civilization) organizes “Bo ’Jou, Neejee!”: Profiles of Canadian Indian Art, a travelling exhibition highlighting the museum’s acquisition of a collection of eighteenth-century artifacts from the collection of the late Arthur Speyer, a German collector.

The Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (now First Nations University of Canada) is established through a federated partnership with the University of Regina “to enhance the quality of life, and to preserve, protect and interpret the history, language, culture and artistic heritage of Indian people.” The college admits its first students.

Montreal hosts the Summer Olympics.

PNIAI

ARTS/CURATORIAL

POLITICAL & SOCIAL

The Department of Native Studies and the Mackenzie Gallery at Trent University, Peterborough, ON, organize A Selection of Work: Contemporary Indian Art; the Trail from the Past to the Future (March 29–April 24) featuring 41 works largely drawn from a private collection.

The Berger Inquiry releases its reports, having collected more than 40,000 pages of text and evidence. The Berger Report recommends that no pipeline be constructed in the fragile northern Yukon and Mackenzie River delta regions. It recommends work could proceed in the southern Mackenzie Valley, but suggests sanctuaries and protected areas be created for the protection of vulnerable species.

1976 (cont’d) – Odjig leaves Winnipeg and moves to Anglemont, BC. The PNIAI begin to lose touch with one another as they become involved with individual projects.

Janice Cardigan, Arlene Rosin, and Gary Scherbain purchase Odjig’s gallery at 331 Donald Street, renaming it Wah-sa Gallery.

Ray’s paintings illustrate poet Tom Marshall’s The White City.

The Ray family home and artist studio, built by the artist at Sandy Lake, ON, burn down on July 15.

Sanchez works as a gallery assistant at the Scottsdale Centre for the Arts in Scottsdale, AZ. The Heard Museum in Phoenix, AZ, purchases work by Sanchez.

1977 PNIAI members’ work is exhibited at the Wah-sa Gallery.

The seven members of the PNIAI are among the artists in Contemporary Indian Art: The Trail from the Past to the Future at Trent University.

Beardy is featured in the CBC television documentary Jackson Beardy: The Making of an Artist.

Beardy, Janvier, Morrisseau, Odjig, and Ray are among artists whose work is displayed at Johnson Gallery in Edmonton, AB. Janvier has a solo exhibition at Gallery Stenhusgarden in Linköping, Sweden.

Janvier moves back to Cold Lake First Nation in AB. Janvier, Odjig, and Morrisseau are included in Links to a Tradition, curated by Tom Hill and presented by DIAND. Morrisseau moves to Winnipeg, MB. Odjig receives a Canadian Silver Jubilee Medal.

A limited-edition portfolio of six Odjig silkscreen prints is released by the Canadian Indian Marketing Services, Ottawa.

Concerned about the widespread appropriation of Northwest Coast designs in printmaking, eleven artists establish the Northwest Coast Indian Artists Guild and produce a limited-edition collection of nineteen silkscreens by nine artists including Robert Davidson (Haida) and Joe David (Nuu-chah-nulth, b. 1946).

The Royal Ontario Museum organizes Contemporary Native Art of Canada: Silk Screens from the Triple K Co-operative, Red Lake, Ontario (May 15– June 30), featuring 39 works by six artists.

Ministic Sculpture (August 26–October 29) at the Winnipeg Art Gallery features the soapstone sculpture of the Cree artists of the Ministic Carvers Co-op, Garden Hill, MB. Artist Robert Houle is appointed Curator of Indian Art at the National Museum of Man (now the Canadian Museum of Civilization), Ottawa.

The Canadian Human Rights Act is passed by both the House of Commons and the Senate, creating the Canadian Human Rights Commission as an investigative arm and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to hear and judge cases not resolved by the commission.

The Wandering Spirit Survival School is established in Toronto as an alternative school for First Nations children.

Sandra Lovelace Nichols (Wolastoqiyik, b. 1948) launches a complaint against Canada with the United Nations’ Human Rights Committee, charging Section (1)(b) of the Indian Act is inconsistent with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The Cultural Affairs Section of DIAND appoints Tom Hill as senior cultural officer and David General (Oneida, b. 1950) as fine arts officer.

1976 – 1977

The Cultural Affairs Section organizes Links to a Tradition: An Exhibition of Contemporary Indian Art for the Canadian Embassy in Brazil using works from the department’s permanent collection.

Martin Panamick (Anishinaabe, 1956–1977), an alumnus of the Manitoulin Island Manitou Arts Foundation summer art programs, is killed in a car accident. Although he was only 21 at the time of his death, his paintings were receiving critical attention, and he had illustrated several publications for the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation.

Benjamin Chee Chee (Anishinaabe, 1944–1977) is found hanging in an Ottawa jail cell, where he had been held on minor charges. A promising artist among the “second wave” of Woodland painters, Chee Chee’s sweeping lines and stylized forms were enjoying commercial success.

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PNIAI

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POLITICAL & SOCIAL

Ida Wasacase, the president of the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, hires Bob Boyer to develop an Indian Fine Arts degree program.

Trent University in Peterborough, ON, establishes the first four-year Honours BA in Native Studies.

Language courses in Mohawk and Anishinaabewin are also offered for the first time, and Elders are hired as instructors.

1978 Beardy completes The Four Orders of Creation (or The Great Chain of Being), a mural for the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature (now the Manitoba Museum) in Winnipeg.

The City of Winnipeg commissions Beardy to design a limited edition “Cree-Red River Indian” trade token coin, one of three First Nations themed coins.

The first National Conference on Aboriginal Art is hosted by the Ojibwe Cultural Centre on Manitoulin Island, ON. The conference provides a forum for artists of Aboriginal heritage to meet and discuss their artistic practice and common issues.

Janvier completes The Seasons, a commission for the National Museum of Man (now the Canadian Museum of Civilization).

Joane Cardinal-Schubert (Kainai) is appointed assistant curator at the Nickle Arts Museum at the University of Calgary.

The Royal Ontario Museum presents Janvier’s work in Contemporary Native Art of Canada Series: Alex Janvier.

Walter Harris (Gitxsan, 1939–2009) serves on the Canadian government’s Fine Arts Committee and assists in the purchase of work by Aboriginal artists from across Canada.

Janvier and Odjig attend the first National Native Arts Conference at M’Chigeeng, Manitoulin Island, ON. Other attendees include Leland Bell, Tom Hill, Bill Reid, and David General.

Morrisseau is appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.

A five-year renewal of the Migrating Native Peoples Program is approved with enriched funding, allowing the number of Friendship Centres and the programs offered to expand.

George Manual (Secwepemc, 1921–1989), chief of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, releases the Aboriginal Title and Rights Position Paper “representing the foundation upon which to negotiate a co-existing relationship with Canada.”

The Yukon Indian Arts and Crafts Society (YIACS) is chosen to represent Yukon artists in the National Indian Arts and Crafts Corporation. In the same year YIACS establishes retail and manufacturing divisions.

Toronto city hall purchases Morrisseau’s Ancestral Figure with Spirit Helpers (1978).

Morrisseau invites 24 guests to a tea party/feast at his home and studio in Beardsmore, ON. Guests include artist Robert Houle and gallery owner Jack Pollock.

Odjig receives an Eagle Feather from Chief Wakageshig on behalf of the Wikwemikong First Nation, in recognition of her artistic accomplishments.

Odjig completes The Indian in Transition, commissioned by Dr. William Taylor for the National Museum of Man (now the Canadian Museum of Civilization) in 1974.

1978 – 1979

On September 28, Ray dies of stab wounds following a brutal attack in Sioux Lookout, ON. At the time of his death, two galleries have approximately 80 Ray paintings, and there are another 30 in his studio. A series of cross-Canada exhibitions and sales are held to raise money for his widow, Helen, and their children. Within eighteen months, three artists—Carl Ray, Martin Panamick and Benjamin Chee Chee—have died by murder, accident, and suicide.

Sanchez helps found two arts organizations: Ariztlan Studios and Movimiento Artistico del Rio Salado (MARS) in Phoenix, AZ. Sanchez coordinates the second Southwest Chicano Art Invitational for the Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ (September 10–October 6).

1979 While there is no record of a surrender of charter being submitted, and no certificate of dissolution on file, according to Corporations Canada, the PNIAI corporation was officially dissolved on April 27, 1979.

Joane Cardinal-Schubert is appointed curator of the Nickle Arts Museum (now Nickle Galleries) in Calgary, AB. She remains in this position until 1985.

Fifty women and children march 110 miles from Kahnawake to Ottawa to commemorate 110 years of oppression under the Indian Act.

The second National Conference on Aboriginal Art is held in Regina, SK.

The federal Indian Health Policy is drafted to address the “intolerable conditions of poverty [and] low level of health” in many First Nations communities.

The Yukon Indian Arts and Crafts Society becomes the Yukon Indian Arts and Crafts Co-operative Ltd.

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PNIAI

ARTS/CURATORIAL

1979 (cont’d) – Beardy receives commissions from both the province of Manitoba and the city of Winnipeg. The works are presented to Queen Elizabeth II and Governor General Edward Schreyer.

POLITICAL & SOCIAL 1979 (cont’d) – Three hundred First Nations delegates and chiefs gather in London, UK, to protest the repatriation of the Canadian constitution.

Fifteen residential schools are still operating in Canada.

Beardy is a guest star on an episode of Sesame Street with his son Jason.

Beardy, Odjig, Ray, and Morrisseau are among several artists included in the Maclean’s feature “The New Age of Indian Art.” Cobiness brokers a large sale for the PNIAI to a private collector in Winnipeg who had specifically requested “a collection from the Group of Seven.”

A Morrisseau painting is chosen for the album cover of Bruce Cockburn’s Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws.

In response to the Woodland School phenomenon, Morrisseau establishes the Thunderbird school of Shamanistic Arts. He mentors three apprentice artists.

Odjig is commissioned by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection to paint Rebirth of a Culture.

Sanchez begins working as an assistant at Yares Gallery in Scottsdale, AZ. Sanchez begins working as an artist assistant for American painter Phillip C. Curtis.

1980 Beardy designs the conference logo for the fourteenth Congress of the International Association for the History of Religion, held in Canada (Winnipeg) for the first time. He also gives a talk on the relationship between his art and Cree beliefs.

The International Association for the History of Religion, whose annual conference is held in Winnipeg, commissions Beardy to create a work that is later presented to Prince Mikasa, the crown prince of Japan.

Janvier completes a mural for Caernarvon Elementary School in Edmonton, AB. Morrisseau receives an honourary doctorate from McMaster University.

Robert Davidson and his brother Reg establish the Rainbow Creek Dancers, a dance group that performs both traditional and contemporary Haida songs and dances.

A Quebec referendum held to vote on sovereignty association with Canada is defeated, with 60% voting “No.” The Gabriel Dumont Institute of Native Studies and Applied Research Inc. is incorporated in Saskatchewan as a Métis-governed postsecondary institution with a mandate for research and publishing.

Malaspina College on Vancouver Island, BC, commissions Reg Davidson to create a 9.4 metre, three-figure Eagle crest totem pole. The finished commission is presented to Tamaqawa University in Machida, Tokyo, Japan.

Robert Houle resigns from his position as Curator of Indian Art at the National Museum of Man (now Canadian Museum of Civilization) in response to the lack of support for contemporary Native art at the museum.

1979 – 1981

Sanchez paints the mural La Fiesta es La Síntesis de la Raza for the Del Webb Corporation Fiesta Room at the Arizona State University School of Business.

It is 2.1 metres high and 10.7 metres long.

Bob Boyer becomes head of the Department of Indian Fine Arts at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College and is promoted to associate professor.

1981 Beardy is employed at DIAND to revitalize the Indian Art Centre. He writes the report Indian Fine Arts: A Policy and Programme, which informs the programming and collecting policies of the department for several years.

Odjig appears in the CBC television documentary Spirits Speaking Through.

Sanchez is employed as a preparator with the Phoenix Art Museum in Phoenix, AZ.

Gerald McMaster (Cree/Blackfoot) is hired as Curator of Contemporary Indian Art at the National Museum of Man (now Canadian Museum of Civilization).

The British Columbia Provincial Museum (now Royal BC Museum) in Victoria organizes the touring group exhibition The Legacy: Continuing Traditions of Northwest Coast Indian Art. Lee-Ann Martin (Mohawk) graduates from the University of Maine with a BA in anthropology and art history.

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PNIAI

ARTS/CURATORIAL

POLITICAL & SOCIAL

Beardy is appointed senior arts advisor for the DIAND Art Collection in Ottawa, ON. He retains this position until January of 1984.

Tom Hill is appointed director of the Woodland Indian Cultural Education Centre (now Woodland Cultural Centre) in Brantford, ON.

Beardy receives the Outstanding Young Manitoban Award.

Bob Boyer and Robert Houle co-curate (with Carol Phillips) New Work by a New Generation (July 9– August 29) at the Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery (now MacKenzie Art Gallery) in Regina, SK. It is a cooperative project with the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (now First Nations University of Canada), as part of the World Assembly of First Nations gathering held in Regina in August.

The Constitution Act of 1982 repatriates Canada’s constitution from Great Britain and includes several amendments to the 1867 British North America Act. Section 25, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, acknowledges the rights of all Aboriginal people within the charter. Section 35 specifically recognizes and affirms existing Aboriginal and treaty rights and guarantees them equally to male and female persons.

1982

Janvier completes the mural L’ohwa’ chok Touwah’ (Big Fish Waters), for the town hall in Cold Lake, AB. Odjig receives an Honourary Doctor of Letters from Laurentian University in Sudbury, ON. Sanchez serves as a board member for the National Association of Artist Organizations in Washington, DC. He continues in this position until 1984.

Sanchez serves as a staff member for the World Assembly of First Nations held in Regina, SK.

The National Indian Brotherhood becomes the Assembly of First Nations.

Kenojuak Ashevak is appointed a Companion of the Order of Canada, the highest level of the order reserved for those whose contributions are of the highest degree of merit to Canada and humanity, both nationally and internationally.

1983 The members of the PNIAI exhibit work in Contemporary Indian Art at Rideau Hall, organized

by DIAND. It is the first exhibition of Aboriginal art at Rideau Hall.

Odjig attends the third National Native Indian Artists Symposium, which is hosted by the community of ’Ksan in northern British Columbia.

Sanchez works as an exhibition designer and curator for the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art in Scottsdale, AZ. He holds this position until 1988.

Sanchez offers Odjig instructions on monoprinting during a visit to Arizona.

Bob Boyer is one of six delegates from the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College invited to travel to Beijing and the University of Inner Mongolia as guests of the Chinese Government.

Boyer is invited to give a lecture at the Central Institute of Minorities in Beijing.

The Métis National Council is established.

Robert Davidson is commissioned to create a bronze sculpture, Raven Bringing Light to the World, which is unveiled at the Museum of Anthropology and exhibited at Expo ’86 in Vancouver. It is shown at the Glenbow Museum in Calgary and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, ON, before its final installation at the National Museum of Man (now Canadian Museum of Civilization).

The Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art (now Thunder Bay Art Gallery) presents Wigwas: Bark Biting by Angelique Merasty (June 30–July 24) featuring the work of Saskatchewan artist Angelique Merasty (Cree, 1924-1996).

The third National Conference on Aboriginal Art is held at ’Ksan, BC. The Triple K Co-operative of Red Lake, ON, disbands following the retirement of Henry Kakegamic.

1982 – 1984

1984 Beardy dies on December 8 at the age of 40 in Winnipeg, MB, after suffering a heart attack.

A memorial service is held in the Blue Room of Manitoba’s Legislative Building where hundreds of federal, provincial, and civic leaders as well as Aboriginal leaders and elders join Beardy’s family to pay tribute to his life and work.

Janvier completes a mural for Bonnyville Health Centre in Bonnyville, AB. The CBC releases the television documentary Seeing it Our Way: Alex Janvier.

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Jane Ash Poitras (Cree/Métis, b. 1951) receives the Emerging Native Artist of Alberta Award.

Parliament approves the Western Arctic (Inuvialuit) Claims Settlement Act. Intended to protect Inuit culture and the region’s wildlife, it is one of the first major pieces of legislation to affect Aboriginal peoples covered by the modern Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982).

The Cree-Naskapi (of Quebec) Act, related to the earlier James Bay Agreement, establishes local governments in nine communities in northeastern Quebec in the form of federal band corporations that are no longer under the jurisdiction of the Indian Act.

PNIAI

ARTS/CURATORIAL

POLITICAL & SOCIAL

Norman Zepp and Michael Parke-Taylor co-curate an exhibition of Bob Boyer and Edward Poitras (Cree/Métis, b. 1953), Horses Fly Too (June 8–July 22), organized by the Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery (now MacKenzie Art Gallery) and the Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art (now Thunder Bay Art Gallery).

Bill C-31, an amendment to the Indian Act, addresses gender equality in the act, and restores Indian status to those who were forced to enfranchise or denied status under previous legislation. Women who lost status through marriage, and their children, are the largest group impacted by this legislation.

1984 (cont’d) – Morrisseau, Odjig, and Ray are among the artists included in Norval Morrisseau and the Image Makers, curated by Elizabeth McLuhan and Tom Hill for the Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. The exhibition tours Ontario.

Odjig is commissioned to paint Spiritual Renewal for the Laurentian University Museum and Art Centre in Sudbury, ON (now Art Gallery of Sudbury).

1985 Beardy’s murals Peace and Harmony are unveiled

by Manitoba’s lieutenant-governor. Located on the north and west exterior walls of the Indian Family Centre in Winnipeg, MB, the murals were designed by Beardy a few months prior to his death in 1984. They are rendered posthumously by Jerry Johnson’s graphics art class at R. B. Russell Vocational High School.

Janvier is one of three Canadian artists chosen to tour China as part of a cultural exchange program sponsored by the Canada Council, among other organizations. Selected from nearly 400 applicants, Janvier is joined by Montreal-based artist Betty Goodwin and Toronto-based artist Chris Reed. The exchange involves two weeks of travelling through China and includes stops in Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi’an.

Janvier completes a commission for Esso Oil Resources in Calgary, AB. Odjig’s first retrospective exhibition, Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective, 1946–1985, curated by Elizabeth McLuhan, is organized by the Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art.

Allen Sapp is elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. He is also awarded the Saskatchewan Order of Merit.

The Society of Canadian Artists of Native Ancestry (SCANA) is established to lobby for the inclusion of contemporary Aboriginal art in art institutions across Canada. The first executive committee and advisory board consists of Allison Bastien, Carl Beam, Lee Ann Cameron, Freda Diesing, David General, Tom Hill, Doreen Jensen, Maxine Noel, Leonard Paul, Norman Tait, and Alfred Young Man. Tom Hill and Daphne Odjig are also appointed as senior advisors to the committee.

Duke Redbird represents Canada at the Valmiki World Poetry Festival in Delhi, India.

The University of Toronto awards Odjig an Honourary Doctor of Laws.

Odjig completes a commission for the Glenview Corporation in Ottawa, a diptych entitled Tomorrow We Will Hold Our Past and We Dance through Time.

Odjig serves as an advisor, with Tom Hill, on the board of the Society of Canadian Artists of Native Ancestry (SCANA).

1984 – 1985

Odjig and Janvier are among the artists invited to participate in a special exhibition and symposium at the de Meervaart Centre in Amsterdam.

Coordinated by Gerald McMaster, Curator of Contemporary Indian Art at the Museum of Man in Ottawa (now Canadian Museum of Civilization), the program is titled “Challenges” and explores the ways that artists such as Odjig and Janvier confront the established definitions of “Indian art.”

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SPIRITUALITY & CEREMONY

S

pirituality and ceremony is a theme found in the works of many of the PNIAI members.

Tradition, ceremonial practices, and spiritual beliefs give form to Indigenous worldviews and shape the experience and perception of the world. For each artist, spirituality is a personal and communal journey. They have each embraced and engaged with the traditions of their own communities in varying ways.

Several of these images reflect the artist’s interest in keeping traditions alive and a desire to reveal the contemporary relevance of traditional ways. The artworks mirror personal experience; what we see is what the artist has chosen to share with us about their spiritual journey and their experience with various ceremonies.

Other works explore connections between belief systems or consider the influence of traditions outside their own.

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Joseph Sanchez, Ghost Shirt, 1979-80 [cat. 119]

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Norval Morrisseau, Sundance, no date [cat. 69]

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Joseph Sanchez, La Fenixera, 1980 [cat. 120]

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Norval Morrisseau, Lily of the Mohawk (Katerie Tekawitha), 1974 [cat. 56]

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Norval Morrisseau, Christ, 1974 [cat. 55]

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Carl Ray, Shaking Tent, 1976 [cat. 98]

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Daphne Odjig, Medicine Man in the Shaking Tent, 1974 [cat. 78]

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Eddy Cobiness, Medicine Man and His Vision, 1973 [cat. 17]

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Daphne Odjig, Medicine Man Collage, 1972 [cat. 72]

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Eddy Cobiness, Rainmaker, 1980 [cat. 27]

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Carl Ray, Tree of Life, 1972 [cat. 90]

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Alex Janvier, Flag Ceremony, 1980 [cat. 46]

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Daphne Odjig, Shopping in the Walled City, 1977 [cat. 86]

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Daphne Odjig, Vision, 1975 [cat. 85]

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282

DUALITY & CONFLICT

S

eeking balance and understanding the origins of conflict within our everyday lives is a reoccurring theme in the works of the PNIAI members. This section features works by Daphne Odjig, Norval Morrisseau, Alex Janvier, and Jackson Beardy that explore inner turmoil, and reflect on the personal or cultural imbalance experienced by the artists.

The conflict between good and evil is a concept common to all religions and one which

reaches across cultural boundaries. This age old duality is a theme explored by Odjig, Morrisseau, Carl Ray, and Joseph Sanchez in a continued effort to understand the forces that shape the world we live in. The polarities of good and evil take shape in beings that are connected with the forces of the universe, but they are also manifest in the physical world in the lives and circumstances of individuals.

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Carl Ray Conflict Between Good and Evil, 1975 [cat. 94]

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285

Daphne Odjig, Conflict Between Good and Evil, 1975 [cat. 81]

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Joseph Sanchez, The Archangel Michael (aka the death of Lilith), 1974 [cat. 115]

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Norval Morrisseau, Symbols of Opposites, 1977 [cat. 67]

288

Norval Morrisseau, Obsessions, 1975 [cat. 61]

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Daphne Odjig, Possessed, 1969 [cat. 70]

290

Norval Morrisseau, Spirit Enclosed by a Serpent, 1975 [cat. 63]

291

Jackson Beardy, Pour Les Jeunes, 1977 [cat. 11]

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Alex Janvier, No One Understands Me, 1972 [cat. 30]

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THE NATURAL WORLD & THE EVERYDAY

I

ndigenous world views include an understanding of our inherent connection to the land and other non-human beings. These works are a reminder of this relationship.

Surrounded by storied landscapes, the PNIAI artists draw from their memories and experiences of land, nature, and community.

Complex worlds beyond our own are revealed in individual impressions of mother earth, the elements, and the flora and fauna of a beloved territory. Richly layered with meaning and emotion, the artworks capture a perception of the world that encourages reflection on concepts of life, nature, and their inherent beauty.

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Jackson Beardy, Untitled, 1970 [cat. 1]

296

Norval Morrisseau, Life Regenerating, 1977 [cat. 66]

297

Alex Janvier, Eagle Insect, 1974 [cat. 35]

298

Jackson Beardy, Cycle of Life, 1972 [cat. 2]

299

Eddy Cobiness, Caribou, 1979 [cat. 26]

300

Eddy Cobiness, Two Herons, 1982 [cat. 28]

301

Eddy Cobiness, Scraping Deer Hide, 1974 [cat. 20]

302

Eddy Cobiness, Watering the Horse, 1974 [cat. 23]

303

Joseph Sanchez, Manitoba Landscape, 1972 [cat. 106]

304

Joseph Sanchez, Untitled (Richer, Manitoba Landscape), 1972 [cat. 110]

305

Joseph Sanchez, Self Portrait with Planetary Conjunction, 1972 [cat. 108]

306

Alex Janvier, Earth and Sky, 1974 [cat. 36]

307

Alex Janvier, The Four Seasons of ‘76, 1977 [cat. 42]

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Alex Janvier, The August Sunrise, 1978 [cat. 45]

309

Alex Janvier, Birch Bark Symphony, 1978 [cat. 43]

310

Alex Janvier, Fall Symphony, no date [cat. 47]

311

Eddy Cobiness, Untitled, 1975 [cat. 25]

312

Eddy Cobiness, The Four Winds, 1975 [cat. 24]

313

Daphne Odjig, Back to the Earth, 1973 [cat. 74]

314

Norval Morrisseau, Artist in Union with Mother Earth, 1972 [cat. 52]

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316

Daphne Odjig, From Mother Earth Flows the River of Life, 1973 [cat. 76]

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7 : PROFESSIONAL NATIVE INDIAN ARTISTS INC. MICHELLE LAVALLEE L’ÉLIMINATION DES OBSTACLES La dernière fois qu’il y a eu une cérémonie dans notre bande, je devais avoir environ six ans. C’était un festival des fraises qui se déroulait dans une hutte en écorce de bouleau. Tout le village était là. Le prêtre est venu nous dire d’arrêter nos célébrations. Le prêtre comprend maintenant, mais c’est trop tard. Il n’y a plus de cérémonie.

— Carl Ray1 Mon but personnel dans la vie est de conscientiser le grand public à notre culture et de renforcer la compréhension mutuelle pour ne former qu’un seul pays, un Canada unique.

— Jackson Beardy2 C’est au début des années 1970 que les sept artistes de la Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. (PNIAI) se regroupent pour obtenir l’inclusion de leurs œuvres dans le monde artistique canadien dominant. Passant aux actes dans un climat politique contentieux, dont la politique controversée de 19693 du gouvernement libéral sur les Indiens, la PNIAI résiste aux discours coloniaux et rompt avec les définitions identitaires et les limites imposées aux peuples des Premières Nations. Déçus des stratégies de mise en marché et de promotion du ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien, ses membres se battent contre des pratiques d’exclusion qui traitent les œuvres des artistes « indiens » comme de l’artisanat, catégorisation qui les empêche d’être exposés dans les grands musées et galeries d’art.

Ces artistes veulent non seulement élargir le marché et faire respecter leurs œuvres, mais aussi s‘engager dans une lutte politique plus vaste. Si on ne comprend pas la façon dont certaines forces au sein de la société canadienne contrôlaient alors la vie des peuples des Premières Nations, on ne peut pas comprendre les obstacles auxquels les artistes étaient confrontés. Au cours des années 1960, les attitudes coloniales de supériorité raciale qu’on pensait disparues persistent encore; les peuples des Premières Nations font toujours l’objet de racisme anti-autochtone systémique, de ségrégation officieuse, et continuent d’être soumis à différents types de politiques d’assimilation gouvernementales.

Bien que cela puisse sembler incroyable de nos jours, avant 1960 les membres des Premières Nations ne pouvaient voter que s’ils renonçaient à leur statut d’Indien inscrit.

Le vécu des membres du Groupe est inextricablement lié à la Loi sur les Indiens et au ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien (AINC) dont les politiques affectent la vie quotidienne de ceux qui relèvent de sa compétence.4 Tous les membres de la PNIAI ont ressenti la poigne du Ministère, mais le récit que fait Alex Janvier de sa formation artistique et de sa carrière de fonctionnaire offre un exemple particulièrement frappant des épreuves auxquelles ils pouvaient être confrontés. Tout commence à la réserve de Cold Lake qu’il ne peut quitter sans l’autorisation d’un agent des Indiens de race blanche. Régime de réglementation, le système de permis est utilisé par les agents des Indiens pour surveiller et contrôler de façon stricte les affaires des Premières Nations. 5 L’éducation artistique de Janvier à la fin des années 1950 y est directement liée, comme il l’explique : Pour pouvoir aller à l’école des beaux-arts, il fallait que j’obtienne un permis écrit que je devais avoir sur moi (en

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tout temps). . . J’ai été accepté à l’Ontario College of Art [à Toronto]. Je suis donc allé chercher mon permis et recevoir le feu vert de l’agent. . . Il m’a dit : « Je ne crois pas que tu vas réussir. . . C’est trop difficile pour toi; je vais t’envoyer à Calgary. » Je suis donc allé à Calgary. Voilà comment ça se passait, je n’avais pas mon mot à dire. Pour être à Calgary. . . Il fallait réellement que j’aie sur moi un morceau de papier portant la signature d’un agent des Indiens. Il est arrivé à plusieurs reprises que des policiers le contestent. Tout « citoyen honnête » ou membre du clergé pouvait exiger que je le présente. Comme je n’étais pas au bon endroit — j’étais au centre-ville —, je devais prouver que j’avais le droit d’y être et aussi d’aller à l’école des beaux-arts.6 Même s’il est le meilleur étudiant de son cours à Calgary, Janvier a le sentiment que le monde n’est pas prêt pour lui. « Le problème, c’est que je n’aurais pas dû être là. » Il croit en ce qu’il fait, mais se sent rejeté. « J’ai commencé à ressentir la force du racisme, une force qui m’empêchait d’atteindre l’autre rive. . . J’avais pourtant mérité de passer de l’autre côté. . . mais la société à laquelle j’accédais n’était pas prête pour ça. »7 Les expériences de Janvier ne servent qu’à alimenter son désir d’être artiste et renforcent sa motivation de combattre ces systèmes de contrôle. En 1965, il entre au ministère des Affaires indiennes en tant que consultant pour les arts et l’artisanat, espérant pouvoir ainsi changer les choses de l’intérieur. Toutefois, même là ses efforts sont souvent contrariés. Bien souvent, les barrières sont invisibles et donc impossibles à prouver. Le conservateur autochtone Tom Hill en donne un exemple poignant : « Dans les années [1960], nous avions des “dimanches artistiques”.

Nous étions une vingtaine à peindre toutes sortes de sujets allant des bateaux, des belles fleurs et des paysages jusqu’à nos portraits, ou ce qu’on voulait. Chaque printemps, nous avions une exposition à la réserve. » En 1965 ou 1966, le groupe dépose une demande de financement auprès du ministère des Affaires indiennes où travaille Janvier. La demande est approuvée, mais le groupe ne reçoit pas les fonds. Cet incident causera plus tard une tension entre Hill et Janvier. Ce n’est que lorsque Hill entre aux Affaires indiennes en 1968 qu’il découvre « une lettre de recommandation [de Janvier] où il écrit de belles choses sur ce que nous faisons, les expositions et dit combien il est important de promulguer la culture indienne. . . Le chèque avait été envoyé à l’agent des Indiens ». Dans les dossiers des Affaires indiennes, Hill trouve une lettre de cet agent perplexe à l’idée à donner de l’argent au groupe pour faire de l’art. « L’art, fait-il valoir, encourage le nationalisme », chose à éviter à tout prix. Il est évident que l’agent a décidé de son propre chef d’allouer les fonds à quelque chose qu’il estime plus utile. Il n’en a pas touché mot aux artistes du dimanche. « Nous ne savions même pas que c’est ce qui s’était passé. Et quand j’ai découvert que l’agent était toujours de ce monde, je [l’ai confronté], mais il n’a pas voulu l’admettre. »8 Les membres de la PNIAI ont une autre expérience en commun : ils ont dû affronter le deux poids, deux mesures. L’irrationalité de la situation a dû être plus que frustrante pour les artistes qui se font dire que leurs tableaux sont soit trop « indiens » soit pas assez « indiens ».9 La modernité de leurs œuvres est jugée « incompatible avec le stéréotype de l’Indien ancré dans la société ».10 Odjig se souvient d’avoir vu « dans le journal une annonce qui disait : Nous acceptons tous les nouveaux artistes. J’habitais dans le Nord à cette époque-là et j’ai donc apporté des travaux ». Odjig explique que la femme qui l’accueille à la galerie, si elle semble enthousiaste au premier abord et demande à Odjig de lui laisser des œuvres, se montre très froide envers elle lorsqu’elle revient et ne lui propose pas d’exposer. « C’est à ce moment-là que j’ai décidé : “bon, ils

ne veulent pas de ce qu’on fait, je vais ouvrir ma propre galerie”.

Et c’est ce que j’ai fait. Je me suis dit : “ils devront venir à moi. Je ne m’adresserai jamais plus à une galerie.” Et je ne l’ai plus jamais fait. »11 Les membres de la PNIAI sont affectés par de nombreuses politiques culturelles et mesures politiques qui relèguent les Premières Nations au second plan et régissent de façon stricte tous les aspects de leur vie. Pendant cette période, il existe chez les peuples autochtones un désir inébranlable de se faire entendre et d’assurer la survie de leurs pratiques culturelles. Le contexte social, politique et culturel répressif du Canada de l’époque suscite une vive opposition tant chez les artistes que chez les activistes.

L’impact de ce mouvement culturel et social est évident dans l’art de la PNIAI. Comme l’explique Janvier, « on en a eu assez de se faire régenter par les agents des Indiens, [le gouvernement] et l’Église. Nous avons commencé à nous demander pourquoi ces gens agissaient toujours en maîtres alors qu’il n’y avait aucune raison pour cela. Porter ce morceau de papier [un permis] et vivre dans une famille catholique n’avait aucun sens. Tout ce que je voulais, c’était aller aux beaux-arts. »12 Historiquement, les pratiques sociales, politiques et culturelles de la société canadienne ont favorisé l’exclusion, la marginalisation et le détournement de l’art autochtone dans la culture prédominante.13 Les peuples autochtones, constamment rabaissés ont deux options : accepter une position d’infériorité ou se rebeller contre l’oppression et les définitions qu’on leur impose. La percée culturelle et politique dont ils ont besoin leur est fournie par Expo 67, événement qui permet aux artistes autochtones d’affirmer leur identité culturelle au sein du nationalisme canadien. Sur les murs extérieurs du Pavillon des Indiens du Canada sont exposées huit œuvres commandées à des artistes des Premières Nations de tout le Canada et, sur les murs intérieurs, des représentations de la culture autochtone. Comme les historiennes Ruth B. Phillips et Sherry Brydon le notent dans leur essai « “Arrow of Truth” : The Indians of Canada pavilion at Expo 67 », le pavillon reflète « la survie des traditions [des Autochtones] ainsi que leur participation à la modernité » et « se montre critique des relations historiques et contemporaines entre les Autochtones et les non Autochtones au Canada ».14 Pour la première fois, on permet aux artistes de s’identifier à des idéologies et des causes politiques : c’est le moment idéal pour se servir de l’art comme moyen d’expression politique. Toutefois, au départ, ce n’était pas du tout le cas. Tom Hill décrit les premiers projets créés par une équipe gouvernementale non autochtone présentant une vision romantique qui appuie « les notions standard canadiennes de ce que sont les Indiens ou de ce qu’ils devraient être ».15 Ces plans partent de l’hypothèse que l’histoire des peuples autochtones sera « intégrée au métanarratif d’un seul pavillon. . . afin d‘éviter de mettre trop l’accent sur les réalisations d’un groupe en particulier ».16 Les contributions des Premières Nations au Canada seraient placées dans la période précédant la Confédération et, donc, se trouveraient exclues de l’histoire contemporaine. Un bureaucrate décrit la façon dont il envisage le pavillon : « La contribution de l’Indien, le maïs, les pommes de terre et le tabac peuvent faire partie de la présentation des réalisations agricoles, tandis que la conception et l’utilisation de traîneaux, de canots en écorce de bouleau, de toboggans et de raquettes pouvaient être incluses dans l’histoire des transports. »17 Un autre propose de « placer des artefacts indiens faiblement éclairés dans “une forêt de rêve” ».18 C’est sur cette toile de fond que Janvier, à titre de conseiller culturel, doit aider au développement du pavillon.19 À la suite d’un symposium organisé par la Division des affaires culturelles du Ministère20 qui se déroule à Ottawa en décembre 1965, Janvier commence par réunir un

groupe d’artistes autochtones pour former un comité consultatif.

Au cours d’une entrevue avec Sheila Klotz, Janvier parle de ses réactions aux premiers plans du pavillon qui incluent un monorail traversant l’intérieur d’un tipi stylisé, « une route traversant la Réserve », comme le dit Janvier. 21 Offusqué et consterné, Janvier pousse le comité consultatif à revoir le plan gouvernemental; les modifications alors apportées au pavillon reflètent la réalité de la vie dans la réserve. Lee-Ann Martin explique que s’il a réussi à faire changer les plans du pavillon, Janvier est dorénavant étiqueté comme rebelle et, en octobre 1966, son contrat est résilié. 22 Son œuvre, The Unpredictable East, est reléguée au fond du bâtiment et on lui demande de lui donner un titre moins politique. 23 Martin atteste que, comme « stratégie pour discréditer son travail », cet acte est conforme à la politique gouvernementale qui favorise un art indien qui est « agréable et non conflictuel ». 24 Phillips et Brydon notent que les fonctionnaires jugeaient « important de travailler avec “le bon type” d’Autochtone qui coopèrerait et adopterait « l’idéal canadien » qu’envisageaient les bureaucrates. 25 En dépit de ce paternalisme, le pavillon comporte de nouvelles formes d’expression qui rompent avec les représentations coloniales de l’indianité et parlent de liberté, d’idéologies nouvelles et d’espoir.

Comme l’expliquent Phillips et Brydon, « les œuvres présentées au Pavillon des Indiens du Canada à Expo 67 marquent le début d’un virage qui amènera les artistes autochtones et non autochtones à créer des travaux explicitement référentiels de critique politique, sociale et spirituelle explicites dans les années qui vont suivre ». 26 Les forces du changement qu’on discerne dans les rencontres d’Expo 67 donnent une première indication de ce qui est possible quand des artistes partageant des expériences et des intérêts communs se regroupent pour une même cause. Phillips et Brydon notent que « le projet a forgé un sentiment de solidarité parmi les artistes participants, les organisateurs et les activistes des quatre coins du Canada ». 27 Il a montré comment on pouvait se servir de l’art pour communiquer ses idées. Avec le recul, Tom Hill se souvient qu’Expo 67 « a donné aux artistes un sentiment de puissance » en permettant aux artistes autochtones de tout le Canada de se rencontrer pour la première fois et de discuter des difficultés qu’ils rencontraient avec les Affaires indiennes ainsi que de leur désir d’autonomie. 28 La couverture médiatique de l’époque donne une idée de l’impact qu’a eu le pavillon. Jim Robertson, dans un reportage pour la radio de CBC sur Expo 67 détecte une « note de mécontentement, de remise en question. . . au sujet de la situation des Indiens au Canada », 29 tandis que le journaliste du Winnipeg Tribune, Michael McGarry, écrit : « Ces Indiens du Canada ont décoché. . . une flèche de vérité visant le gouvernement canadien et l’homme blanc. Ils disent “au monde entier” exactement ce qu’ils pensent de nous. »30 Les efforts de Janvier et d’autres pour changer la perception du public au Canada et à l’étranger ne sont pas passés inaperçus. En outre, la vague d’activité chez les artistes autochtones est un signe précurseur annonçant, entre autres, la formation de la PNIAI. LA CRÉATION DU GROUPE DES SEPT : POINT DE DÉPART D’UN NOUVEAU COURANT Comme personne ne voulait nous exposer nos travaux, nous avons donc dû le faire nous-mêmes. Nous nous reconnaissions les uns les autres comme artistes et nous nous entraidions alors qu’on nous refusait l’entrée au monde des beaux-arts. . . . Ensemble, nous avons éliminé des obstacles qui auraient été tellement plus difficiles à affronter seuls.

— Daphne Odjig31 Notre objectif était simple : exposer et être reconnus comme artistes.

— Joseph Sanchez32

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Je crois que le groupe était censé être ce qu’il était, un catalyseur de changement.

— Alex Janvier33 Au cours des années qui suivent Expo 67, les membres de la PNIAI sont parmi les premiers à créer un forum au sein duquel les artistes autochtones pourraient faire entendre leurs voix et leurs points de vue. Alors que les rencontres d’Expo 67 ont été organisées par le gouvernement fédéral, la PNIAI est la première alliance autoorganisée d’artistes créée en vue de la reconnaissance de l’art autochtone contemporain. Cependant la création de cette alliance n’est pas née d’une vision globale, mais des efforts déployés à la base pour répondre aux besoins des artistes autochtones qui convergent vers une ville, Winnipeg, au Manitoba.

En 1970, Daphne Odjig et son mari, Chester Beavon, fondent Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd. et, l’année suivante, ouvrent un petit magasin d’artisanat du même nom au 331 Donald Street à Winnipeg. C’est là que se rencontrent des artistes qui, jusqu’alors, ont travaillé en isolation non seulement à Winnipeg, mais aussi dans les milieux artistiques indiens d’Ottawa et Toronto. « Mon petit magasin est devenu un centre d’accueil », 34 se souvient Odjig. Que vous arriviez de l’Est ou de l’Ouest, « Chez Odjig », comme on avait coutume de l’appeler, était devenu l’endroit où prendre contact avec d’autres artistes. Selon la commissaire d’exposition Shirley Madill, « l’atmosphère détendue et bon enfant de la première galerie dont les propriétaires sont des artistes autochtones permet aux artistes de démêler ce qu’ils ressentaient vis-à-vis de leur propre culture et des institutions établies sur la scène artistique canadienne ». 35 La valeur de « Chez Odjig » devient vite évidente. Comme se le rappelle Tom Hill, « bon nombre de ces artistes ne possédaient pas de studio. . . et Daphne et son mari pouvaient, par le biais de leur magasin, acheter de la peinture et de grandes toiles à moindre coût ». 36 Les artistes se retrouvent chez Odjig qui commence vite à coordonner des expositions : « J’ai même eu une exposition chez moi, rue Waverley, se souvient Odjig. Il y avait des œuvres au dernier étage, au premier et au rez-de-chaussée. »37 Joseph Sanchez, à l’époque jeune artiste américain, se souvient aussi avec émotion, de ce que pouvait leur offrir Odjig : Daphne achetait quelques-uns de nos tableaux et nous, nous avions un endroit où nous pouvions montrer ce que nous faisions aux autres et parler d’art et d’artistes. À la “Odjig Gallery of Native Art”, je rencontrais Jackson Beardy, Carl Ray et Eddy Cobiness. Daphne avait toujours de nouveaux travaux à partager avec nous ou des nouvelles d’autres artistes autochtones [à qui] elle venait juste d’acheter une œuvre. 38 Ce sont les conversations qui se tiennent chez Odjig au cours de cette première année qui ont mené aux premières démarches pour former un organisme. Janvier confirme l’importance d’Odjig dans le processus, déclarant récemment que « c’est [Daphne Odjig] qui a donné naissance à cette vision ». 39 Les rencontres informelles créent des liens entre les artistes qui décident, dans un effort concentré, de former un groupe professionnel uni. Les réunions se déroulent en général chez Daphne, à la North Star Inn ou « Chez Odjig ». Là, ils donnent libre cours aux frustrations qu’engendrent les institutions artistiques canadiennes, débattent de la question de la discrimination, discutent d’esthétique et font la critique de leurs travaux respectifs. Évoquant les débuts du Groupe, Odjig se souvient qu’elle et Jackson Beardy « [avaient] eu de nombreuses discussions [à propos de la formation d’un groupe] avant que tout commence ».

Elle ajoute : « Nous nous disions que ce serait agréable de tous se

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réunir pour discuter d’art et voir ce que chacun faisait. Nous étions curieux. » 40 Eddy Cobiness, lui aussi, s’arrête souvent à la galerie pour discuter de préoccupations mutuelles. Odjig s’était mise en rapport avec lui environ six mois après l’ouverture du magasin par l’intermédiaire de la Fraternité des Indiens pour laquelle il avait réalisé des illustrations et portraits.41 Pour tenter d’élargir la discussion, ils prennent la décision d’inviter d’autres artistes à se joindre à eux.

Comme le raconte Odjig, « bien sûr, nous avions entendu parler de Norval [Morrisseau] ». Ils avaient pris contact avec lui par le biais de son agent. « J’avais entendu parler de Carl Ray. » En effet, il avait eu une exposition à l’Université de Brandon et, au cours des années qui avaient suivi, Daphne et son mari avaient eu l’occasion de le rencontrer plusieurs fois socialement.42 (Beardy avait également rencontré Ray plusieurs années auparavant.) Quant à Alex Janvier, Odjig reconnaît qu’il était « quelqu’un d’assez important à Calgary.

C’était donc un peu intimidant pour nous. Mais après l’avoir rencontré, nous l’avons trouvé formidable. Et il a accepté ». « On va tous se rencontrer chez toi, disait-il, et on va faire des plans. » 43 Selon Odjig, c’est un besoin commun qui les a réunis. « Ils étaient tous partants. Ils pensaient que ce serait merveilleux parce qu’eux aussi se sentaient un peu isolés. » 44 À ce stade, ils ne sont que six. Plusieurs membres se souviennent que c’est Carl Ray qui le premier a suggéré, en plaisantant, l’idée d’un « groupe des sept ».45 Le septième membre est un choix inattendu. Avant de s’installer au Canada, Joseph Sanchez a servi chez les Marines américains.46 Il rencontre Odjig pour la première fois à l’automne 1971 lorsqu’« un jour, il est entré dans le magasin avec une poignée de dessins ».47 Quelques semaines plus tard, il arrive durant une « réunion » des six artistes. Cobiness se souvient de la scène : « Il y avait là ce petit gars. Un petit Indien Pueblo. Il était juste venu voir s’il pouvait vendre quelques pièces et écouter les gens parler. . . De fait, plus la journée avançait, plus il était intéressé. » 48 On l’invite à se joindre au groupe. Sanchez raconte : « Ils m’ont accueilli. . . Ils auraient pu dire que comme j’étais Américain, je ne pouvais pas faire partie de ce groupe. Mais ça n’avait pas l’air d’être très important pour Daphne, ou Alex, ou Carl, ou quiconque du groupe. » 49 Selon Janvier, « ce n’était pas nous qui avions établi » la frontière entre les deux pays et Odjig d’expliquer : « Nous l’aimions bien. . . C’est comme ça qu’il est devenu membre du groupe. »50 Après qu’ils ont passé pratiquement un après-midi entier à chercher un nom ou un concept pour l’organisme, une fois que le septième membre a été invité à s’y joindre, c’est le « groupe des sept » qui reste. Daphne conclut : « Et c’est là que tout a commencé. . . Nous n’avions même pas prévu d’être sept. Ça s’est trouvé comme ça. »51 UN CHIFFRE PORTE-BONHEUR Les témoignages varient, mais, ce qui est clair, c’est qu’en 1972 un Groupe des sept se forme. Au cours des dernières années, la question de savoir si le Groupe était ouvert à d’autres artistes ou si on n’y était admis que sur invitation seulement a suscité de nombreux débats informels. Les règlements de la PNIAI en 1974–75 comportent des dispositions permettant l’ajout de nouveaux membres à la discrétion des sept administrateurs. 52 Ceci dit, d’autres noms ont été avancés. Il s’agit d’artistes à la périphérie du groupe qui auraient pu être des membres potentiels ou qui, pour diverses raisons, n’en ont jamais fait partie officiellement.

Il est certain que de nombreux artistes sont passés par la galerie d’Odjig ou ont exposé, dans divers endroits, avec les membres de la PNIAI, pendant l’existence de l’association et après. Ces artistes comprennent entre autres Bill Reid, Roy Thomas, Clement Wescoup, Sam Ash, Josh Kakegamic, Don Laforte, Gerald Tailfeathers, Francis Kagige, Allen Sapp et Benjamin Chee Chee. 53

Certains qui auraient pu s’y joindre, comme Bill Reid, en ont été activement dissuadés. L’agent de Reid estimait qu’une affiliation à la PNIAI irait à l’encontre des plans qu’il avait pour la carrière de son client. 54 Cependant, Reid participera ultérieurement à des expositions de groupe. Janvier, qui a rencontré Reid et a travaillé avec lui pendant Expo 67, puis au conseil d’administration du National Indian Arts Council (Conseil national des arts indiens) au milieu des années 1970, 55 le reconnaît souvent comme membre honoraire du Groupe. Selon Janvier, Reid les a beaucoup aidés à traiter avec les médias : Nous savions ce qui nous attendait. Mais nous n’avions pas les mots pour exprimer ce que nous voulions dire et riposter. Les médias se servaient toujours de formules préétablies. . . Bill Reid savait comment s’y prendre parce qu’il connaissait les milieux médiatiques et savait à qui s’adresser.

Donc, pour ce qui est de cette partie, je pense que Bill nous a vraiment aidés. 56 S’il n’a pas été un des membres officiels, il est raisonnable de supposer que les contacts qu’avait Reid à la CBC auront aidé la PNIAI à attirer l’attention des médias. 57 Reid n’est pas le seul artiste auquel on a conseillé de ne pas se joindre au Groupe. Selon Janvier et Sanchez, les conseillers de Morrisseau ont également essayé de l’empêcher de s’y joindre.

Tous les deux se souviennent que l’avocat de Morrisseau se tenait derrière la porte pendant les réunions. Ne se laissant pas dissuader, Morrisseau a poursuivi son association avec le Groupe. D’après Janvier, Morrisseau « n’allait pas se laisser mener par le bout du nez ». 58 Il en est de même pour Sanchez. « Personne ne pouvait dire à Morrisseau quoi faire. Il s’est donc joint au Groupe malgré ce que lui disaient ses conseillers. »59 UNIS, MAIS INDÉPENDANTS Ils ont tenté de nous diviser. Pour pouvoir nous isoler individuellement. . . Mais nous nous sommes serré les coudes.

— Alex Janvier60 Chaque artiste est encouragé à suivre sa propre voie. Les pratiques des membres les plus expérimentés, Janvier, Morrisseau, Odjig et Cobiness, qui ont commencé leur carrière dans les années 1950 et 1960, complètent celles des membres plus jeunes dont les travaux reflètent également une inspiration non occidentale. S’ils n’ont pas les mêmes opinions, rôles, priorités et responsabilités, ils restent solidaires, une unité qu’appréciait Sanchez : Nous comprenions qu’il était important de nous rencontrer entre artistes, de discuter de nos besoins et de la façon de nous entraider, de la manière forte que Daphne, Alex et Norval employaient pour obliger les galeries de montrer des tableaux d’artistes comme moi. Je crois que c’est la force des tableaux de Daphne, Norval et Alex qui a convaincu les galeries et les musées d’accepter les œuvres des autres membres. C’était notre stratégie. La force du groupe m’a permis d’exposer dans des endroits auxquels je pouvais seulement rêver. Pour l’exposition à la Galerie Dominion, Max Stern aurait très bien pu ne pas exposer mes œuvres puisqu’il n’exposait pas de travaux sur papier, mais il appuyait le groupe. Et son soutien a ouvert la porte d’autres galeries au groupe. L’approche tout ou rien du groupe assurait mon inclusion dans toutes ces expositions.61 Ce credo dont parle Sanchez permet aux membres moins établis de gagner en popularité. Comme Janvier se souvient avoir dit à l’occasion : « Si le groupe n’expose pas, je n’expose pas. »62 La solidarité est extrêmement importante, comme il l’explique :

La presse ne nous prenait pas au sérieux. Et je crois que nous étions aussi censés échouer. On nous avait donné assez de corde pour nous pendre. Mais ce qu’ils n’avaient pas compris, c’est qu’il y avait sept cordes et donc que ça prendrait du temps. (Rire) On a eu de la chance parce qu’on était « le Groupe » et qu’on ne pouvait donc pas s’en prendre à nous individuellement. C’est plus difficile de s’attaquer à un groupe.

Un groupe, c’est une armée, une petite armée peut-être, mais tout de même une armée.63 Pendant la préparation de la présente exposition, Janvier, Sanchez et Odjig m’ont souvent raconté des anecdotes qui soulignent avec ironie les différences qui existaient entre les membres du groupe. Quand je leur ai demandé s’ils travaillaient ensemble et de quelle façon, Janvier a rapidement répondu : « On ne travaillait pas ensemble. On pouvait à peine supporter d’être ensemble dans la même pièce. »64 Sanchez a souvent dit que le groupe était une anomalie « parce que nous étions très individualistes. Nous venions tous de différentes réserves, avions des antécédents différents. »65 Si on tient compte des sept fortes personnalités en présence, il est difficile d’imaginer comment ils ont pu tomber d’accord sur quoi que ce soit, mais comme l’explique Odjig, « nous nous entendions bien. Mieux que la plupart des gens. . . Nous n’étions pas jaloux les uns des autres. . . Pour nous, les travaux de tous et de chacun étaient formidables, égaux. . . Nous nous comprenions.

Et nous avions tous un bon sens de l’humour, nous blaguions tout le temps. »66 Se rappelant ces taquineries bon enfant au cours d’une réunion, des années plus tard, Odjig montre Alex du doigt et s’exclame : « Il m’insultait souvent et moi aussi je l’insultais, mais c’était pour rire. »67 Sanchez ajoute qu’il était toujours « ce sacré Américain, » tandis que Janvier raconte que Morrisseau appelait Daphne le « sujet britannique » et qu’à plusieurs reprises, il a dit à Sanchez : « Toi! Tu ne fais que des dessins. »68 Bon nombre des histoires que racontent aujourd’hui les membres encore vivants portent sur ceux qui sont décédés. Pour Janvier, Morrisseau était le décideur.69 Sanchez se rappelle que ce dernier « était un bon critique, mais attention, il valait mieux avoir la peau dure parce qu’il allait vous écorcher vif ».70 Quand on mentionne Cobiness, Odjig déclare qu’il était « un merveilleux peintre ».71 Sanchez le qualifie de traditionaliste, le roc, celui qui veillait à ce que les membres du Groupe restent sur une voie plus spirituelle.72 Janvier explique que « Eddy, c’était la conscience du groupe. . . la pensée autochtone qu’il apportait avec lui, la spiritualité. . . Parfois, nous allions trop loin et il nous ramenait sur terre ».73 L’admiration qu’éprouvait Sanchez pour Cobiness est claire : « Eddy c’était quelqu’un d’exceptionnel. Je pense qu’il m’a inspiré à être non seulement un bon artiste, mais aussi une bonne personne. »74 Regardant récemment ensemble des images de l’œuvre de Ray, Odjig s’est exclamée : « Oh, c’est comme ça que je me souviens de Carl Ray, » tandis que Sanchez de poursuivre, « oui, ce qu’a fait Carl est fantastique. J’ai toujours adoré ce qu’il faisait. Et Carl voulait aller en Russie. » Janvier a ajouté : « Il voulait danser sous les grands lustres. »75 Lors d’une rencontre des trois membres, la mention de Beardy fait surgir une image colorée. Selon Janvier, Beardy « se faisait toujours mousser. Sans arrêt, sans arrêt, dans notre dos. Et quand nous le prenions sur le fait, il s’arrangeait toujours pour nous expliquer que c’était pour autre chose! »76 Pour Odjig, Beardy « était quelqu’un de toujours pressé, »77 quelqu’un qui arrivait au magasin ou à une réunion et déclarait qu’il ne pouvait rester que quelques minutes parce qu’il devait aller à une conférence de presse.78 Riant à cette évocation, Janvier se souvient : « Des bottes de cowboy. . . Couvert de bijoux. Tu as raison, il allait toujours parler à quelqu’un d’autre. » À cela, Sanchez secoue la tête et ajoute : « Il devait toujours aller à une réunion. »79

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Comme l’a expliqué Cobiness, le Groupe « ressemblait à. . . une réunion de famille. Nous nous préoccupions tous les uns des autres ». 80 Janvier dit maintenant en plaisantant qu’ils avaient choisi d’être solidaires « malgré leurs différences ». 81 En observant Odjig, Janvier et Sanchez interagir aujourd’hui et en les écoutant évoquer les autres membres du groupe, il est évident que des liens puissants et un grand respect sont nés de leur association il y a plus de quarante ans. Pour Odjig, le groupe « ressemblait à un puzzle », 82 sentiment que partage Janvier qui résume : « Nous étions un assemblage d’éléments différents, absorbés par les changements et par l’intolérance du monde artistique de l’époque, et c’est comme ça que nous avons donné vie à l’histoire. »83 Pour les membres de la PNIAI, le fait de pouvoir partager avec d’autres personnes les mêmes expériences et des antécédents culturels semblables a été à la fois stimulant et avantageux.

Leur camaraderie les a aidés à se frayer un chemin là où il aurait été difficile de le faire tout seul. Si la voix d’un seul artiste peut passer inaperçue, il est plus difficile d’ignorer plusieurs voix qui se combinent pour livrer un message très puissant et très riche.

Travailler ensemble leur a donné une force et une unité qui a attiré l’attention des médias et fait ressortit une image contemporaine des Premières Nations.

LES EXPOSITIONS : SIGNE D’APPROBATION Nous cherchions une occasion qui n’existait pas à l’époque. . . Nous voulions changer le monde de l’art au Canada. . . Nous n’avons pas été bien accueillis, mais nous avons décidé d’aller de l’avant et avons travaillé très fort pour forcer les portes de l’establishment.

— Alex Janvier84 En tant qu’artistes, nous devons faire attention de ne pas devenir victimes d’une autre forme de colonisation, car nous sommes l’une des voix les plus puissantes de notre peuple. . . Nous devons faire notre art comme nous l’entendons.

— Joseph Sanchez85 Pour être acceptés dans le courant dominant, les artistes du Groupe s’engagent dans une lutte constante contre les programmes gouvernementaux, les attentes du public non autochtone et les institutions gouvernementales qui veulent un art qui reflète « l’indianité » à la fois dans le style et le contenu. 86 Odjig s’est toujours considérée comme une artiste canadienne qui se trouve être autochtone. « C’est comme ça que je voyais les choses. Je n’aimais pas qu’ils nous collent l’étiquette d’artiste indien, qui nous séparait des autres artistes. Je voulais abattre cette barrière. »87 Le plus souvent, leurs œuvres sont reléguées aux galeries commerciales ou ethniques, aux musées et centres culturels, aux bureaux et aux couloirs plutôt qu’aux galeries des beaux-arts contemporains où ils estiment qu’elles appartiennent. 88 Comme le dit Janvier : « [On nous] reléguait aux musées. . . au Musée de la guerre et au Musée des Indiens. . . Mais nous avions une autre idée. Nous avions un point de vue différent sur la question ». 89 Les artistes sont convaincus qu’il n’est pas possible de compter sur les commissaires canadiens de l’époque. Janvier affirme : « Il a fallu un œil européen pour que nous parvenions à passer », faisant référence à la commissaire Jacqueline Fry de la Winnipeg Art Gallery. « Elle était française, Jacqueline Fry. Nous l’appelions French Fry. “Ne m’appelez pas comme ça!” disait-elle. . . C’est vraiment grâce à elle qu’on a réussi à percer. »90 En août 1972, Fry organise une exposition consacrée à Beardy, Janvier et Odjig au Musée des beaux-arts de Winnipeg.91 Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171 : Three Indian Painters of the Prairies est la première exposition consacrée exclusivement à l’art contemporain des Premières

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Nations à se dérouler dans une galerie d’art publique au Canada.

C’est aussi une des premières expositions dans le nouvel édifice du Musée des beaux-arts de Winnipeg.92 Les artistes y gagnent en crédibilité auprès des autres institutions et leur profil public s’en trouve rehaussé.

La PNIAI passe une année à s’organiser. Le Winnipeg Free Press du 22 juin 1974 annonce la première exposition d’une « nouvelle association. . . mettant en vedette des artistes indiens du Canada », qui se tiendra du 18 au 22 juin au 8e étage du grand magasin Eaton à Winnipeg. Dans l’article, on peut voir une photo de Cobiness remettant un dessin au maire de Winnipeg, Steve Juba, « un cadeau de la Professional Native Indian Artists’ Association à la Ville pour marquer son centenaire ».93 La même année, les sept membres participent également à une exposition internationale à la galerie Anthropos à Londres, en Angleterre. Dans les mois qui suivent, Odjig agrandit son magasin de Winnipeg qui devient la New Warehouse Gallery.94 Les invitations à l’exposition inaugurale sont imprimées et envoyées. Un article du Winnipeg Free Press, en date du 8 décembre 1974, parle de l’inauguration, rapportant qu’on peut voir « environ 200 tableaux, gravures et dessins », mettant en vedette des œuvres créées par « un groupe des sept, une association d’artistes indiens ».95 Repensant à la genèse de Canadian Indian Art ’74 pour le Royal Ontario Museum, qui exposait les sept artistes de la PNIAI, le commissaire de l’exposition Tom Hill se rappelle qu’« aucune des galeries importantes ne prenait au sérieux [l’art des Premières Nations] ».96 Cette exposition, ainsi que Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171 deux ans auparavant au Musée des beaux-arts de Winnipeg, sont les deux premières occasions où des artistes autochtones sont traités comme des artistes contemporains. Hill se souvient avoir été confronté à une extrême ignorance et avoir dû vigoureusement lutter et défendre la validité d’une exposition autochtone. Il s’est même fait dire par un galeriste qu’il n’était pas question d’organiser une exposition d’art indien, car « on ne fait pas d’exposition sur des critères raciaux ». Hill explique : « C’est une déclaration ridicule.

On a bien les impressionnistes français, les impressionnistes allemands. . . Vous n’allez pas me dire que ce n’est pas racial! »97 En 1979, dans un article de la revue Maclean’s portant sur Morrisseau, on peut lire cette citation de Hill : « Il semble y avoir une politique tacite — que ce qui est peint par des cultures “primitives” n’est pas considéré comme du grand art. La façon de traiter les artistes indiens comme des curiosités ethnologiques n’est rien moins que raciste. »98 Même si les choses commencent à bouger, les sept artistes cherchent toujours à être reconnus comme artistes contemporains par l’establishment artistique canadien. Pour le Groupe, un tournant majeur se produit lorsqu’on leur offre d’exposer au Musée de la guerre à Ottawa,99 proposition que les artistes considèrent comme insultante et qui provoque une réaction de Janvier qui va changer la vie du Groupe : J’ai dit que ce qu’il fallait faire, c’est envoyer Dieu — je parlais de John Dennehy [conseiller pour le Groupe] —, parler à Max Stern [marchand d’art et propriétaire] de la Galerie Dominion, à Montréal. [Stern] était le tsar des arts au Canada. Tout le monde, toutes les galeries l’admiraient. Tout ce que Max exposait, marchait. [Stern] importait de l’art de tous les coins du monde et le faisait connaître au Canada. « Diteslui qu’il fait venir des œuvres d’art du monde entier, qu’il importe toujours quelque chose de nouveau d’ailleurs, de l’étranger. . . Dites-lui que cette fois-ci, il va exposer quelque chose de nouveau, quelque chose de canadien. Et ce sera la première exposition importante du genre. Qu’il a manqué quelque chose au Canada. . . qu’il n’a jamais exposé l’art

autochtone! On va bien voir s’il va mordre ». On envoie donc John Dennehy négocier. Nous ne pouvions pas y aller tous seuls. . . à cette époque-là. Il était absolument impossible pour [des artistes autochtones] d’être même pris au sérieux à ce niveau d’exposition en galerie. Si nous avions essayé nous-mêmes, je ne pense pas que [Stern] aurait accepté. « Intéressant », aurait-il déclaré, puis il aurait trouvé un moyen de refuser. Nous avons donc laissé à John le soin de négocier et je ne pense pas que ça a été facile. Mais pratiquement du jour au lendemain, nous avons l’exposition à la Galerie Dominion. . . notre première exposition majeure. Et toutes les autres galeries qui nous avaient fermé leurs portes. . . après cette exposition, elles ont commencé à nous les ouvrir. . . et d’autres portes aussi qui étaient restées fermées avant.100 Max Stern organise la première exposition d’art indien canadien de la Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. au printemps 1975. Fierté sur toile : Tableaux par sept artistes indiens canadiens (Canvases of Pride ou traduit le plus souvent par Colours of Pride: Paintings by 7 Professional Native Artists) ouvre ses portes le 11 mars à la Galerie Dominion. La prochaine exposition de la PNIAI se déroule à Ottawa en juin 1975 à Wallack Galleries, suivie d’une autre en octobre au Art Emporium à Vancouver.

Ces trois expositions de 1975 sont souvent considérées comme les dernières expositions officielles de la PNIAI où ne figurent que les sept membres. On peut toutefois citer une exception : une exposition dans le hall de la First National Bank à Minneapolis (Minnesota) en janvier 1976.101 Mais les membres de la PNIAI, sous diverses configurations, continueront à exposer avec d’autres artistes après 1975, souvent dans le cadre de la PNIAI ou en affiliation avec elle.102 LA CONSTITUTION EN SOCIÉTÉ L’autodétermination et l’autodéfinition étaient au coeur des aspirations des membres de la PNIAI. Les rencontres informelles qui commencent en automne 1971 mènent à la décision unanime d’officialiser l’association. En 1973, l’idée de se constituer en société commence à faire son chemin et donne lieu à de nombreuses discussions. Comme il existe peu de documentation sur les réunions, les « faits » entourant la décision que prend le groupe de se constituer en société sont vagues. Réfléchissant à la façon dont la décision a été prise, Odjig remarque, en souriant, que « Jackson était très chaud à l’idée. . . de faire les choses correctement ».103 Plusieurs membres soulignent la participation de John Dennehy, qui travaillait pour le ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord Canada (AINC) et le Secrétariat d’État. Le groupe fait sa connaissance grâce à Eddy Cobiness qui le connaît ainsi que son frère Michael Dennehy, un avocat dont le cabinet, Martens and Dennehy, sera plus tard associé à la constitution en société du Groupe.104 John Dennehy est conseiller auprès de plusieurs Premières Nations et est connu pour sympathiser avec les luttes des peuples autochtones. Il souhaite véritablement trouver des moyens de promouvoir le Groupe et l’encourage activement à officialiser son statut. Il estime qu’en se constituant en société, le Groupe pourrait obtenir des fonds qui lui permettraient d’atteindre ses objectifs, particulièrement en ce qui a trait aux expositions, au marketing et à l’éducation.

Sanchez se rappelle que toutes sortes de noms sont avancées, mais que l’inclusion du mot « professionnel » était très importante pour le Groupe. Le nom sur lequel tout le monde s’entend finalement, « Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated », apparaît pour la première fois le 30 novembre dans un article du Winnipeg Tribune qui annonce la formation de la nouvelle association.105 Le nom réapparaît en décembre 1973 dans une proposition à AINC

de financer les activités « d’une véritable association d’artistes autochtones professionnels ».106 Les termes « Native Indian » peuvent sembler redondants, mais il est possible qu’ils aient été employés pour distinguer les membres des Premières Nations des personnes dont les ancêtres seraient originaires de l’Inde.107 Il est certain que l’emploi du mot « Indien » aurait été conforme à la terminologie juridique du Gouvernement. Par le biais du cabinet d’avocats Martens and Dennehy, les sept artistes préparent en février 1974 une demande officielle pour se constituer en société sous le nom de Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated.

Quoi qu’il en soit, les documents ne sont pas acceptés et le Groupe doit revoir et redéposer sa demande auprès du ministère de la Consommation et des Affaires commerciales le 13 mars 1974.

Contrairement à ce qu’on a longtemps pensé, le Groupe ne sera légalement constitué que le 1er avril 1975. Les lettres patentes montrent les signatures de trois des sept administrateurs : Quincy Pickering Jackson Beardy, Joseph Marcus Sanchez et Daphne Louise Odjig Beavon. Elles donnent aussi le nom de constitution officiel, Anisinabe Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated (numéro de société 057450-3).108 Cette version de son nom n’a pas été relevée dans les travaux de recherche ou d’érudition antérieurs portant sur le Groupe. Elle n’est pas non plus employée dans sa correspondance ou ses activités officielles.

Selon les règlements administratifs de la société, le conseil d’administration doit se composer de sept dirigeants : le président, les premier, deuxième, troisième et quatrième vice-présidents, le secrétaire et le trésorier. Sans procès-verbaux officiels, il est impossible de confirmer qui occupait quel poste. Les membres survivants se rappellent toutefois que pour des raisons pratiques et des questions de proximité, il est fort probable que Beardy a été élu premier président de la PNIAI. Ultérieurement, J. P. Michell, chef intérimaire de la Direction des arts et de l’artisanat du ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien, résumant les points saillants d’une réunion avec le Groupe dans une lettre datée du 5 juin 1975, note qu’Odjig est identifiée comme étant premier président, Beardy comme deuxième président et Cobiness comme secrétaire-trésorier.109 Aussi bien dans la proposition de décembre 1973 au Ministère que dans les règlements administratifs, il est stipulé que la société peut nommer un gestionnaire à l’externe. Dans la lettre du 5 juin, il est noté en outre que « M. John Dennehy continuera d’agir en tant que coordinateur auprès du gouvernement et fera diverses propositions au nom de la P.N.I.A.A. [sic] ». Un article du Edmonton Journal du 29 décembre 1973 et une autre lettre du Ministère qui date du 9 juin 1975 mentionnent que Terry Greene, un artiste ojibwé de Kenora, a été nommé gestionnaire (ou coordinateur) du Groupe et que sa tâche est de présenter des propositions et d’organiser des expositions.111 La date, la durée et la relation entre ces postes ne sont pas claires.

La proposition de décembre 1973 fait la lumière sur les intentions globales du Groupe. Selon le document, le Groupe entend poursuivre les objectifs suivants : Employer un groupe de (sept) artistes professionnels pour peindre de l’art indien traditionnel contemporain et verser aux artistes un salaire et des indemnités.

Les artistes exposeraient et vendraient leurs œuvres par l’intermédiaire de l’association.

Les artistes travailleraient et se rendraient, en groupe ou seuls, dans les communautés locales pour stimuler l’initiative chez les jeunes artistes et exposer les œuvres d’art de l’association.

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Leurs tableaux seraient exposés dans les principaux centres artistiques et à l’occasion d’expositions importantes, au Canada ainsi qu’à l’étranger.

Les revenus provenant de la vente de tableaux originaux et des redevances de droits d’auteur seraient divisés en deux.

Une partie reviendrait aux artistes, l’autre, ou un pourcentage des revenus, irait dans un fonds de fiducie.

Le fonds en fiducie servirait à aider les artistes autochtones amateurs à se perfectionner en leur octroyant des bourses d’études, prix et des subventions, etc., et donc, à encourager les nouvelles vocations artistiques.

Les artistes pourraient espérer recevoir également une aide supplémentaire du Service de commercialisation, du Conseil des arts du Canada, des Affaires indiennes et d’autres sources, par exemple le Secrétariat d’État.

La production, la qualité ainsi que les principales décisions concernant la structure interne de l’association artistique incomberaient entièrement au groupe qui nommerait un gestionnaire/coordinateur.112 La proposition comprend aussi une demande d’aide pour couvrir les salaires et les frais de déplacement de chacun des artistes.

Après avoir été déposée au bureau de Toronto du Ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien, la proposition est étudiée par un certain nombre d’organismes gouvernementaux, dont le Conseil des arts du Canada et le Secrétariat d’État.113 Les objectifs mis en avant dans les documents finaux de constitution en société cadrent bien avec la proposition au Ministère. Les points principaux comprennent les propositions de « consacrer à l’occasion la totalité ou une partie d’un ou des fonds qui en découlent. . . » pour : . . . rendre possibles, aider, faire connaître et promouvoir la culture et les arts indiens et encourager les jeunes artistes; . . . couvrir la tenue de manifestations artistiques, de formations, d’expositions, de réunions publiques, d’ateliers, de cours et de conférences sur la culture et les arts indiens, tant sur le plan national qu’international. . . . établir, construire, fournir, doter, équiper, gérer, entretenir et diriger, sans avantages pécuniaires pour ses membres, des activités et des installations éducatives pour l’étude de la culture et des arts indiens. . . . établir des bourses d’études, des prix et autres formes de programmes d’incitation pour aider au développement des artistes indiens amateurs.114 Les objectifs expriment clairement les fins pour lesquelles les fonds seraient utilisés, qu’ils aient été recueillis par les artistes eux-mêmes ou par le biais des programmes gouvernementaux.

Ce qui est nouveau, c’est l’idée d’établir des installations et des programmes permanents. Les règlements administratifs précisent aussi que les administrateurs de la société ne recevront pas d’autres rémunérations que le remboursement des frais de déplacement et d’autres dépenses afférentes aux affaires de la société.

En repensant au rôle que la PNIAI a joué dans l’histoire de l’activisme des Premières Nations dans les arts, Lee-Ann Martin observe : « Ce groupe possède déjà deux des plus importantes caractéristiques des organismes ultérieurs — l’appui à l’artiste individuel et le lobbying pour les artistes dans leur ensemble. »115 En insistant sur la reconnaissance professionnelle et sur la présentation et la commercialisation de leurs œuvres, l’intérêt et

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les aspirations artistiques de la PNIAI sont d’envergure nationale et internationale. Son but est de ratisser large, et de guider et d’appuyer tous les jeunes artistes autochtones canadiens. Comme en témoigne une déclaration de Cobiness dans une brochure de promotion de ses œuvres, les artistes attachent de l’importance à la relève : « J’ai travaillé avec de nombreux jeunes de talent que j’ai eu l’occasion de rencontrer. Ils ont tant à contribuer au monde de l’art visuel. J’espère, qu’en leur donnant moi-même le bon exemple, vous aurez aussi un jour la chance de les connaître. »116 UNE QUESTION DE GAGNE-PAIN En dépit des nobles ambitions affichées dans la proposition à AINC et les documents de constitution, il est difficile de prouver qu’il y ait eu des résultats tangibles. Si Cobiness se rappelle la fois où il a reçu un chèque pour assister à une réunion avec le Groupe pour discuter d’une nouvelle exposition,117 Odjig, Sanchez et Janvier ne se souviennent pas d’avoir reçu quoi que ce soit pour les activités du Groupe. Janvier se rappelle avoir payé de sa poche ses voyages à Winnipeg pour les rencontres chez Odjig : « On le faisait par nous-mêmes. Je devais faire l’aller et retour Edmonton — Winnipeg en avion parce que je n’avais pas les moyens de rester à Winnipeg. À 50 dollars le billet par voyage, j’étais fauché. Je devais piocher dans le budget familial, ce qui voulait dire de la soupe pour toute la famille pendant toute une semaine. »118 Sanchez, lui non plus, ne croit pas avoir reçu de fonds pour assister à des vernissages, mais se rappelle « avoir reçu un billet de CHIN Radio International pour aller à Toronto pour les Junos et se faire mesurer la tête pour le musée de cire ».119 La station CHIN Radio International de Toronto avait aussi commandité le tableau de Sanchez, Virgin of Light. Il devait être remis pour le prix Douglas McGowan octroyé par la station en reconnaissance des contributions importantes au multiculturalisme dans le domaine musical, à l’occasion des Junos édition 1974.

Les efforts que les membres déploient pour obtenir des fonds publics connaissent un succès mitigé. Dans leur proposition aux Affaires indiennes, ils demandent un montant de 10 000 $ par membre pour couvrir leur salaire plus 5 000 $ pour les dépenses liées à des conférences et à des cours dans diverses communautés, universités, écoles, etc. Selon une note de service préparée pour le ministre des Affaires indiennes en date du 17 juin 1975, la PNIAI se serait vu refuser par deux fois des fonds par le Conseil des arts, « d’abord parce que le Conseil ne traite qu’avec les particuliers, puis pour d’autres raisons ».120 Ce document, ainsi que la lettre du 9 juin 1975, indiquent que la Direction des arts et de l’artisanat avait déjà octroyé 11 000 $ à la PNIAI depuis ses débuts en 1973 jusqu’en février 1975, date à laquelle la Direction des affaires culturelles du Secrétariat d’État assume la responsabilité du dossier.121 Toutefois, aucune documentation n’indique qui a reçu cet argent ni la façon dont il a été dépensé. Sanchez imagine que les fonds, s’ils ont été reçus, ont dû servir à payer la salle de conférence à la North Star Inn, et aussi à couvrir les frais de la constitution en société.122 Janvier ne cache pas les difficultés qu’ils ont rencontrées : « Nous n’habitions malheureusement pas tous au même endroit.

Comme nous venions de tous les coins du pays, ce n’était pas toujours facile de faire ces expositions. Mais nous avons trouvé un plan pour exposer dans différentes villes. »123 Alors que les expositions se matérialisent et que l’intérêt ne fait que croître, les artistes estiment que les galeries en retirent plus d’avantages financiers qu’eux-mêmes. Selon Janvier, elles bénéficient « non seulement des ventes, mais elles reçoivent aussi de l’argent du gouvernement.124 Tout le produit des ventes allait au propriétaire de la galerie et nous recevions ce qui restait. »125 Ils sont aussi déçus de ne pas recevoir de financement de la Division des arts et de l’artisanat d’AINC, contrairement à ce que leur avaient fait croire

John Dennehy et Willlard Ahenekew (qui travaillait pour le secteur des arts et de l’artisanat). Janvier croit que « les fonds allaient à l’artisanat et qu’il ne restait rien pour les beaux-arts ».126 LA DISSOLUTION DE L’ASSOCIATION Comme les procès-verbaux des réunions officielles ont disparu, il est impossible de déterminer le nombre de fois où les sept artistes se sont rencontrés. Ceci dit, Sanchez et Janvier se rappellent tous les deux qu’il y a peut-être eu « trois ou quatre » rencontres avant la constitution en société.127 Il est possible de trois ou quatre réunions aient eu lieu après pour organiser des expositions. Il convient de signaler qu’à part les réunions officielles à la North Star Inn, il est peu probable que tous les sept membres aient assisté à chaque rencontre.128 En 1975, après une série effrénée d’expositions, les médias cessent pratiquement de couvrir la PNIAI. En ce qui a trait à la dissolution du Groupe, les avis sont partagés : soit le Groupe s’est démantelé en 1975, soit il ne s’est jamais officiellement dissout. Dans une entrevue en 1990, Cobiness se rappelle qu’il est arrivé un moment, environ cinq ou six ans après la formation de la société, où Beardy a voulu démanteler le Groupe, mais que tous les autres n'en ont disconvenu.129 Ni Janvier, Odjig ou Sanchez ne se rappellent une « rupture » officielle. Toutefois, ils s’entendent pour dire qu’à la fin des années 1970, ils avaient commencé à emprunter des voies différentes. Janvier affirme que « personne n’a donné l’ordre d’arrêter », souvenir que partage Odjig qui déclare que « nous ne nous sommes pas dissouts et personne n’a dit c’est la fin du groupe. . . Il a simplement disparu graduellement ».130 Il est difficile pour le Groupe de maintenir sa cohésion quand plusieurs artistes s’alignent avec des galeries et des marchands d’art différents. Lee-Ann Martin avance que le Groupe s’est dissout, en partie, parce que « les artistes avaient besoin de se consacrer à leurs pratiques artistiques individuelles ».131 Et d’ajouter : « Le groupe s’est frustré quand il a pris conscience que le ministère des Affaires indiennes était en train de mettre sur pied ses propres programmes de commercialisation qui faisaient concurrence à ses initiatives. »132 Odjig a aussi déclaré qu’il est arrivé un moment où ils ont commencé à sentir que travailler en société devenait trop impersonnel : « On ne voulait pas de président, de secrétaire. On ne voulait rien de tout ça. On voulait simplement se rencontrer. »133 Il a également été suggéré que les tensions que le Groupe a connues ont été causées par d’autres personnes, y compris par les avocats des artistes et par d’autres travaillant sous l’égide du gouvernement, qui ont commencé à s’immiscer dans les affaires de la PNIAI.134 Janvier fait allusion à la possibilité qu’une personne hors du groupe, agissant de son propre chef ou peut-être de connivence avec un membre à l’insu du reste du groupe, ait fait pression pour démanteler ou perturber le Groupe. Cette interférence est peut-être liée à la discorde causée par l’idée de création d’un « sceau » qui a été proposée à la PNIAI. Janvier se souvient : « Ils voulaient que nous soyons un tampon, que nous servions à approuver l’art [autochtone], et ils voulaient aussi faire toutes ces gravures et les vendre dans le monde entier comme des œuvres d’art autochtones “authentiques” . . . sanctionnées par la Professional Native [Indian] Artists Inc. . . Ils voulaient un sceau qui serait apposé sur chaque gravure. »135 Les programmes de développement économique de l’époque visent une approche plus commerciale contrairement aux artistes qui préfèrent une approche plus professionnelle qui les respecte comme artistes contemporains.136 Malgré tous leurs efforts pour rester unis, les membres trouvent trop ardu de coordonner les expositions et de recueillir des fonds sans soutien extérieur ou expertise additionnelle. Odjig

se souvient : « Je n’avais plus de temps pour moi. Je n’avais plus le temps de peindre parce que je devais [aussi] m’occuper de la galerie et du magasin. . . J’étais vraiment frustrée. »137 Un des facteurs qui a contribué à la dissolution du Groupe est la décision que prend Odjig en 1976 de vendre son magasin et sa galerie, et de déménager en Colombie-Britannique. Sans lieu de rencontre central, les membres de la PNIAI, de plus en plus absorbés par leurs projets individuels, commencent à perdre contact les uns avec les autres. Le décès tragique de Ray en septembre 1978 ne fait qu’accélérer la désintégration du Groupe.

Il n’existe pas de preuve officielle de l’abandon d’une charte, ni de certificat de dissolution, mais, selon Corporations Canada, la PNIAI a été dissoute officiellement le 27 avril 1979, par suite du défaut de l’association de déposer un rapport d’activités au cours des deux années précédentes.138 Passé cette date, la seule preuve d’activité officielle de la PNIAI est la copie d’une lettre, en date du 8 juin 1984, écrite par Eddy Cobiness à William Cook du Bureau régional du Manitoba des Affaires indiennes, au nom de la Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. dans lequel il demande une aide financière pour une vidéo de promotion.139 DE L’IMPORTANCE D’UN NOM Dans les articles, les catalogues d’exposition et les reportages de toutes sortes qui parlent de la PNAI, on retrouve de nombreuses variations du titre, dont « Association d’artistes indiens professionnels », « Groupe autochtone des sept » et « Groupe des sept artistes autochtones. » De nos jours, le sobriquet qu’on rencontre le plus souvent est « Groupe indien des sept ». Gary Scherbain, un journaliste de Winnipeg qui fréquentait le Groupe au moment de sa formation, a déclaré à plusieurs occasions en avoir été l’auteur.140 La seule fois où ce nom apparaît dans les années 1970 est dans le numéro d’avril 1974 du journal The Saskatchewan Indian, dans lequel John Warner, professeur au Département de sociologie de l’Université de Saskatchewan (Campus de Regina) commente sur les « progrès considérables de la peinture indienne au Canada », citant en exemple : « Au Manitoba. . . un certain nombre de peintres autochtones se sont unis pour former une association indienne dans le genre Groupe des sept. »141 Toutefois, les sept artistes ne se sont jamais surnommés eux-mêmes Groupe indien des sept. Janvier, Sanchez et Odjig ne se rappellent pas la première fois qu’ils l’ont entendu, mais ce n’est pas le sobriquet qu’ils préfèrent. Dès les tous débuts, les membres du Groupe étaient conscients de l’humour et de l’ironie de leur association avec le premier Groupe des sept mais, quand on leur a posé la question récemment sur le mot « Indien » accolé à ce titre, ils ont soit déclaré qu’ils le tenaient tout au plus pour un nom choisi par les médias dominants ou pour une tentative de dévaloriser le groupe ou de se moquer de lui.142 À première vue, le mot sert à distinguer la PNIAI du premier groupe. Dans certains milieux, il a pu même montrer qu’on était fier de l’identité autochtone du Groupe. De nos jours toutefois, il n’est pas difficile de voir que la comparaison entre les deux Groupes des sept continue la tradition colonialiste en renforçant le besoin d’employer l’esthétique européenne pour légitimiser les initiatives autochtones.

Selon ce point de vue, la comparaison diminue ou marginalise l’esthétique et les cadres conceptuels non occidentaux du Groupe, indépendamment de ce qu’il a accompli.

Une autre idée fausse qu’on rencontre fréquemment est que la PNIAI faisait partie du mouvement artistique de l’École des Woodlands.143 L’erreur vient probablement du fait que Morrisseau faisait partie des deux groupes. Ce dernier est considéré à juste titre comme le père du mouvement artistique des Woodlands.

Certains membres de la PNIAI ont participé aux activités du

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mouvement dans le nord de l’Ontario et à celles de la Manitou Arts Foundation.144 En dépit des chevauchements, on ne peut rattacher tous les membres de la PNIAI à ce mouvement, à ce style ou à ce lieu. Outre le fait qu’elle est inexacte, l’étiquette Woodlands est aussi limitative. Elle est malheureusement devenue un terme générique qui sert à décrire toute œuvre artistique au contenu ou au style « indien » facilement identifiable. Employée par de nombreux auteurs non autochtones, l’étiquette masque le côté avant-gardiste des œuvres de la PNIAI et des autres artistes autochtones des années 1960 et du début des années 1970, et éclipse la diversité et la distinction des œuvres des artistes qui se sont alignés sur ce style. Comme l’observe Carol Podedworny, l’idée qu’on se fait généralement de la peinture de style École des Woodlands n’est pas celle d’« une forme contemporaine de discours visuel. . . C’est plutôt celle d’un exercice nostalgique ou documentaire ».145 En fait, il est même possible que son association avec le mouvement des Woodlands ait contribué au manque d’intérêt critique pour la PNIAI.

« l’art indien », mais selon leur propre définition. Comme l’avance Odjig :

L’ŒUVRE NOVATRICE DE LA PNIAI : UN PATRIMOINE VIVANT,

En conséquence, les peuples autochtones commencent à reconnaître que leur art est une expression vitale d’une indigénité qui part du principe que forme et contenu sont façonnés par le vécu individuel, qui comprend nos influences coloniales, nordaméricaines et européennes communes. Consciente très tôt de l’importance de la position complexe que les membres individuels de la PNIAI ont adoptée, la commissaire d’exposition Jacqueline Fry a écrit que les œuvres de ces artistes « sont importantes, non seulement parce qu’elles témoignent de la pérennité de la culture traditionnelle [des Premières Nations], mais aussi parce qu’elles révèlent la présence de sources créatives vivantes qui, fermement enracinées dans le monde multiculturel d’aujourd’hui, ouvrent la voie à un monde de demain plus compréhensif ».153

Ce que nous avons accompli, cela peut paraître maintenant comme quelque chose de merveilleux. Mais les grandes galeries, la Galerie nationale et tous les autres musées financés par le gouvernement. . . ne s’intéressaient pas du tout à nous. C’était quelque chose d’impossible à faire. On avait un apartheid culturel ici même, dans ce pays soi-disant libre et nous y sommes encore confrontés. Mais cela ne nous a pas arrêtés. Nous avons tout simplement continué à peindre. . . Les peintures ont commencé à parler pour nous. . . Et c’est ainsi que cela a commencé.

— Alex Janvier146 C’est un patrimoine vivant... Il ne disparaîtra jamais maintenant.

— Alex Janvier147 Après la dispersion du Groupe, un article de Christopher Hume paraît dans la revue Maclean’s, dans lequel il n’hésite pas à annoncer que « l’art indien a pris d’assaut les bastions de l’establishment artistique »,148 et que « ce n’est rien de moins qu’une renaissance, ou peut-être, comme certains le laissent entendre, la dernière grande manifestation d’une culture qui se meurt ».149 De toute évidence, il n’est plus nécessaire de souligner que les cultures autochtones perdurent. Le travail de la PNIAI témoigne de la pertinence constante et de la force des peuples autochtones, de leurs idéologies et de leurs cultures. Alors que nous célébrons l’histoire et l’œuvre de ces maîtres, nous pouvons entrevoir les difficultés qu’ils ont surmontées, les portes qu’ils ont défoncées et un legs qui n’a pas encore été reconnu à sa juste valeur.

Les idées novatrices de ces artistes clés ont eu un impact politique et culturel indéniable. Ils participaient d’un mouvement plus vaste qui remettait en question des stéréotypes raciaux démodés et forçait à faire reconnaître les artistes autochtones comme essentiels à l’identité canadienne passée, présente et à venir.

Allant au-delà des barrières culturelles, leur art a suscité un grand enthousiasme sur la scène de l’art contemporain canadien. En dépeignant sans complaisance la réalité canadienne du point de vue des Premières Nations, ils ont enrichi le vocabulaire de l’art visuel contemporain et établi une nouvelle référence pour les artistes qui les ont suivis. Comme le rappelle Tom Hill, la PNIAI « a donné le coup d’envoi, de sorte que tout le monde est passé à la vitesse supérieure ».150 Cherchant à contrôler leurs processus de création, les membres du Groupe n’ont permis à personne de déterminer la validité de leurs liens avec leur patrimoine. Ils se sont intéressés à la question de

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La tradition renforce la fierté de notre patrimoine. Mais je ne peux accepter que la tradition limite ou définisse mon orientation. Je ne veux pas que la tradition m’écrase, je veux qu’elle m’inspire. Je veux être libre de poursuivre mes visions personnelles. J’ai confiance qu’en faisant cela je ne nie pas l’influence considérable de mon patrimoine culturel.151 Les membres veulent élargir leurs horizons comme artistes, refusant de succomber à une définition étroite et convenue d’avance et au deux poids deux mesures appliqué à la question de l’authenticité. Ils encouragent les jeunes artistes à créer leurs propres expressions contemporaines. « Chaque peintre s’inspire de son patrimoine culturel », explique Odjig. « Quelles que soient tes racines, elles ressortent dans ton coup de pinceau. Ce que je conseille à un jeune artiste, c’est de ne pas s’en faire pour ce qui est de l’authenticité. Elle est en toi. »152

Les événements convergents qui ont mené à la création de la PNIAI tiennent à l’activisme politique et au renouveau culturel des peuples autochtones qui refont leur apparition à la fin des années 1960. Réfléchissant à l’apport de la PNIAI à cette histoire, l’artiste Robert Houle fait la remarque suivante : « Ils nous ont donné un profil. Je crois personnellement que c’est ce qu’ils ont établi. . . Je n’avais pas la moindre idée de ce qu’était l’art autochtone contemporain. . . [et puis] ils sont arrivés. . . Et tout d’un coup, on avait quelque chose. . . Je crois que de bien des façons [ils] ont probablement donné le coup d’envoi de la SACOA. »154 Tirant parti de la dynamique créée par la PNIAI, la première Conférence nationale sur l’art autochtone est organisée en 1978 à l’île Manitoulin, conférence à laquelle participent Odjig et Janvier.

D’autres conférences se dérouleront dans le pays en 1979 et en 1983, entraînant l’établissement d’un organisme national de promotion de l’art autochtone, la Société des artistes canadiens d’origine autochtone (SACOA) en 1985.155 Continuant le dialogue entamé par la PNIAI, les artistes présents à ces premières conférences critiquent le point de vue ethnologique et anthropologique omniprésent en ce qui concerne l’art et les artistes autochtones, et dénoncent l’exclusion de l’art des Premières Nations dans les institutions établies telles que le Musée des beaux-arts de l’Ontario, le Musée des beaux-arts de Vancouver et le Musée des beaux-arts du Canada.156 Conscients de la nécessité de se développer professionnellement, les artistes se battent pour que puissent entrer dans ces institutions des conservateurs autochtones dont les connaissances et les expériences culturelles transformeraient la théorie et les pratiques muséales eurocentriques, rehausseraient la compréhension, et contextualiseraient l’art autochtone contemporain sous l’angle autochtone. Canadian Indian Art ’74, l’exposition qui a fait date, a été suivie d’autres expositions novatrices qui ont finalement permis

d’établir un forum pour les voix et les points de vue des artistes autochtones.157 Plus important encore, des conservateurs et des chercheurs autochtones pouvaient désormais jouer un rôle de premier plan dans la création, la dissémination et l’interprétation de ces expositions. C’est cette histoire qui a permis le développement d’une communauté artistique professionnelle florissante et qui a propulsé sur le devant de la scène nationale et internationale l’œuvre des artistes et des conservateurs autochtones.

Je témoigne de l’esprit qui jaillit des œuvres de la PNIAI et qui se répand dans plus d’un cœur. J’éprouve à la fois humilité et fierté d’être en position d’honorer ce Groupe et son legs, tout en étant consciente que je n’ai fait qu’effleurer le sujet. En dernière réflexion, je m’en remets à Alex Janvier qui a déclaré devant une salle comble à l’occasion du vernissage de l’exposition à la MacKenzie Art Gallery : Ce que vous voyez ici. . . c’est une histoire vraie, et c’est comme cela que tout a commencé, et que depuis nous ne nous sommes pas arrêtés. Les membres de ce Groupe, dont certains nous ont quittés, vous verrez qu’ils vous parlent à travers leur art. Notre histoire est une histoire canadienne, une vraie histoire canadienne. Elle vient d’ici, est faite par des gens d’ici, et parle d’ici. Je vous invite tous à y porter un regard attentif et à en être fiers. J’ai voyagé un peu dans le monde entier. . . mais quand on revient au Canada, on a presque envie de baiser la terre dont on vient parce que c’est si bon de rentrer chez soi. L’art qui est ici. . . J’espère qu’il inspirera le même sentiment à chacun d’entre vous, celui d’être de retour à la maison.158 notes 1

Carl Ray, cité dans James Stevens, « Paintings Recreate Ojibwa Past », Winnipeg Free Press, 7 décembre 1968. « Jackson Beardy — A Dedicated Artist », Thunderbird Quill Newsletter (juin 1969) : 4.

3 Voir Barry Ace, « Intermédiaires réactifs : Art et politiques autochtones et résonance des années 1960 et 1970 », dans cette publication; et Mark Cronlund Anderson et Carmen L. Robertson, « Cardboard Characters: The White Paper, 1969 », dans Seeing Red : A History of Natives in Canadian Newspapers (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2011), 155–69.

4 Le ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien (AINC) se nomme aujourd’hui ministère des Affaires autochtones et Développement du Nord Canada (AADNC).

5 Pour en savoir plus sur le système de permis, voir Howard Adams, Tortured People: The Politics of Colonization (Penticton, BC: Theytus Books, 1999), 105.

6 Alex Janvier, entrevue avec l’auteur, Cold Lake, AB, 13 mars 2010.

7 Ibid.; et Alex Janvier dans The Life and Work of the Woodland Artists, DVD, réalisé par Raoul McKay (Vancouver, BC: Moving Images Distribution, 2003).

8 Tom Hill, entrevue avec l’auteur, Regina, SK, 25 mars 2010.

9 Daphne Odjig, entrevue avec l’auteur (avec Alex Janvier et Joseph Sanchez), Penticton, BC, 7 mars 2011.

10 Barry Ace, « The Modernists: The Art of Daphne Odjig and Oscar Howe », dans Selected Proceedings of Witness: A Symposium on the Woodland School of Painters, éd.

Bonnie Devine (Toronto : Aboriginal Curatorial Collective and Witness, 2009), 117.

11 Daphne Odjig, entrevue avec l’auteur, Regina, SK, 6 février 2010.

12 Janvier, entrevue, 13 mars 2010.

13 Voir l’essai de Carmen Robertson « Traces écrites : les artistes de la PNIAI dans les journaux de Winnipeg, 1966–1977 », dans cette publication; et Anderson et Robertson, Seeing Red. 14 Ruth B. Phillips et Sherry Brydon, « ‘Arrow of Truth’ : The Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67 », dans Museum Pieces : Toward the Indigenization of Canadian Museums, éd. Ruth B. Phillips (Montréal et Kingston : McGill-Queen’s University Press), 38–39.

15 Hill, entrevue, 25 mars 2010.

16 Phillips et Brydon, « ‘Arrow of Truth’ », 29.

17 Ibid., 30.

18 Ibid.

19 Selon Phillips et Brydon, Jackson Beardy a également été consulté au sujet du pavillon. Voir « ‘Arrow of Truth’ », 322, n. 43. Janvier et Beardy auraient également rencontré Morrisseau qui, grâce à Carl Ray, se trouvait parmi les artistes à qui on avait commandé des murales pour le pavillon.

20 Lee-Ann Martin, The Art of Alex Janvier: His First Thirty Years, 1960–1990, catalogue d’exposition (Thunder Bay, ON: Thunder Bay Art Gallery, 1993), 17.

21 Ibid.

22 Ibid.

23 Ibid. Phillips et Brydon documentent les souvenirs de Janvier à propos des événements qui l’ont amené à renommer avec ironie son tableau, The 2

Unpredictable East, remarquant : « Une fois sa peinture terminée, il rentre chez lui. Il reçoit un appel de Joe Garland, un administrateur du pavillon, qui lui en fait compliment, mais lui demande de lui donner un autre titre. Pour utiliser le téléphone du magasin général de Beaver Crossing, il a dû faire 14 kilomètres à pied et c’est ce qui lui a inspiré le nouveau titre, Beaver Crossing — Indian Colours, que, selon lui, AINC pouvait apprécier ». Voir Phillips et Brydon, « ‘Arrow of Truth’ », 322, n. 36.

24 Martin, The Art of Alex Janvier, 17.

25 Phillips et Brydon, « ‘Arrow of Truth’ », 30–31.

26 Ibid., 36.

27 Ibid., 29.

28 Hill, entrevue, 25 mars 2010.

29 Jim Robertson, « Expodition », CBC Radio, 4 août 1967. http://www.cbc.ca/ archives/discover/programs/e/expodition/expodition-july-7-1967.html 30 Michael McGarry, « Indians Speak with Straight Tongue », Winnipeg Tribune’s Weekend Showcase, 24 juin 1967, cité dans Phillips et Brydon, « ‘Arrow of Truth’ », 27.

31 Daphne Odjig, discours prononcé lors de la réception inaugurale de Les dessins et peintures de Daphne Odjig. Une exposition rétrospective (Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, Santa Fe, NM, 20 août 2009).

32 Joseph Sanchez, « The Formation of Professional Native Artists Inc., The Indian Group of Seven », dans Witness, 31.

33 Alex Janvier, entrevue avec l’auteur (avec Joseph Sanchez), Cold Lake, AB, 5 juin 2010.

34 Odjig, entrevue, 6 février 2010.

35 Shirley Madill, Jackson Beardy: A Life’s Work, catalogue d’exposition (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1993), 10.

36 Hill, entrevue, 25 mars 2010.

37 Odjig, entrevue, 6 février 2010.

38 Sanchez, « Formation of Professional Native Artists Inc. », 21.

39 Alex Janvier, « Closing Remarks: Carrying the Vision », dans Witness, 166.

40 Odjig, entrevue, 6 février 2010.

41 Daphne Odjig, entrevue avec Norma Dinniwell et Sheila Klotz (avec Chester Beavon), Collection McMichael d’art canadien, 18 avril 1990. Utilisé avec l’autorisation de Daphne Odjig et de la Collection McMichael d’art canadien.

42 Ibid.

43 Odjig, entrevue, 6 février 2010.

44 Ibid.

45 Daphne Odjig, Joseph Sanchez et Alex Janvier dans diverses conversations avec l’auteur, 2007–14; et Eddy Cobiness, entrevue avec Norma Dinniwell, Collection McMichael d’art canadien, 23 avril 1990. Utilisé avec l’autorisation de la succession d’Eddy Cobiness et de la Collection McMichael d’art canadien.

46 Joseph Sanchez s’est installé au Canada en 1969.

47 Odjig, entrevue, 6 février 2010.

48 Cobiness, entrevue, 23 avril 1990.

49 Sanchez, « The Formation of Professional Native Artists Inc. », 33; et plusieurs communications personnelles avec l’auteur à différentes dates.

50 Odjig, entrevue, 6 février 2010.

51 Ibid.

52 Les statuts stipulent : « Le conseil d’administration est seul autorisé à déterminer qui pourra devenir un nouveau membre de la corporation. » Statuts, Anisinabe Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated, 1er avril 1975, numéro de société 057450-3, Loi sur les corporations canadiennes.

53 Pour en savoir plus au sujet des artistes et des activités qui se déroulent à la périphérie du groupe, voir Ace, « Intermédiaires réactifs » ; et Viviane Gray « Le nouveau Groupe des sept : Une réaction à la situation de l’art indien au Canada dans les années 1960 et 1970 », dans cette publication.

54 Janvier, Sanchez et Odjig, entrevues avec l’auteur à différentes dates.

55 Dans le but de « mobiliser les arts au niveau national », la National Indian Arts and Crafts Corporation (NIACC) a créé le National Indian Arts Council (NIAC), financé par le ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien. Les premiers membres du conseil d’administration du NIAC comprenaient Bill Reid, Alex Janvier, Tom Hill, Jackson Beardy, Jacqueline Fry, Viviane Gray et Bill Ellis.

Le NIAC a été dissous en 1977 parce que le conseil d’administration n’était pas d’accord avec les stratégies de commercialisation de la NIACC et des Central Indian Marketing Services (CIMS) qui mettaient plus l’accent sur l’artisanat que sur l’art. Les CIMS ont cessé leurs opérations en 1978, mais la NIACC a poursuivi ses activités jusqu’au milieu des années 1990. Voir Gray, « Le nouveau Groupe des sept ».

56 Janvier, entrevue, 13 mars 2010.

57 Bill Reid a travaillé à la CBC comme animateur radio dans les années 1950.

Voir Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, « About Bill Reid », http://www. billreidgallery.ca/About/AboutBillReid.php.

58 Janvier, entrevue, 5 juin 2010.

59 Joseph Sanchez, entrevue, 5 juin 2010; et Alex Janvier et Joseph Sanchez, entrevue publique avec l’auteur, MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, SK, 21 septembre 2013.

60 Alex Janvier, entrevue, 7 mars 2011.

61 Joseph Sanchez, « The Formation of Professional Native Artists Inc., » 22, 32.

62 Janvier, entrevue, 5 juin 2010.

63 Janvier, entrevue, 13 mars 2010.

64 Janvier, entrevue, 21 septembre 2013.

65 Sanchez, entrevue, 5 juin 2010.

66 Odjig, entrevue, 6 février 2010.

67 Odjig, entrevue, 7 mars 2011.

68 Janvier, entrevue, 5 juin 2010.

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69 Ibid.

70 Ibid.

71 Odjig, entrevue, 7 mars 2011.

72 Sanchez, entrevue, 5 juin 2010.

73 Janvier, entrevue, 5 juin 2010.

74 Joseph Sanchez, entrevue avec Jean Blodgett, Collection McMichael d’art canadien, 14 mai 1990. Utilisé avec l’autorisation de Joseph Sanchez et de la Collection McMichael d’art canadien.

75 Odjig, Sanchez, et Janvier, entrevue, 7 mars 2011.

76 Janvier, entrevue, 5 juin 2010.

77 Odjig, entrevue avec l’auteur, 6 février 2010.

78 Odjig, entrevue, 7 mars 2011.

79 Janvier et Sanchez, entrevue, 7 mars 2011.

80 Cobiness, entrevue, 23 avril 1990.

81 Janvier, entrevue avec l’auteur, 11 janvier 2014.

82 Odjig, entrevue, 7 mars 2011.

83 Janvier, entrevue, 5 juin 2010.

84 Alex Janvier, discours prononcé lors du vernissage de 7 : Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, SK, 20 septembre 2013.

85 Sanchez, « The Formation of Professional Native Artists Inc. », 31.

86 Voir Ace, « Intermédiaires réactifs ».

87 Odjig, entrevue, 6 février 2010.

88 Outre l’attitude générale vis-à-vis de l’art des Premières nations, il n’y avait aucun emploi pour les conservateurs ou commissaires autochtones. Il est toutefois important de noter que plusieurs conservateurs autochtones avaient commencé à pénétrer les bastions du monde de l’art contemporain canadien y compris Tom Hill, Robert Houle, Gerald McMaster, Doreen Jensen, Lee-Ann Martin, Joane Cardinal-Schubert, Bob Boyer, Viviane Gray et Gloria Cranmer. Alors que la PNIAI cherche à être reconnue et incluse dans les grandes institutions pendant la fin des années 1970 et les années 1980, il est essentiel que ses membres travaillent de pair avec des conservateurs qui leur sont favorables et d’autres personnes capables de les aider à atteindre leur objectif. Parmi ces alliés, on compte Jacqueline Fry, Elizabeth McLuhan, Audrey Hawthorn, Carol Phillips et Carol Podedworny. De plus, plusieurs particuliers — des collectionneurs, marchands d’art et d’autres artistes — travaillent étroitement avec le Groupe ou en son nom et soutiennent les artistes autochtones à divers titres, comme Herbert T. Schwarz, Robert Fox, John Kurtz, Helen E. Band, Bernard Cinader, Phillip Gevik, Bill Lobchuk (Grand Western Canadian Screen Shop) et Len Anthony. Toutefois, la carrière des artistes autochtones se trouvait surtout entre les mains de personnes non autochtones qui n’avaient pas nécessairement leurs intérêts à cœur. En fin de compte, il revenait aux artistes de prouver qu’ils étaient des artistes professionnels sérieux et qu’ils devraient donc être traités avec le même respect que d’autres artistes contemporains.

89 Janvier, « Closing Remarks: Carrying the Vision », dans Witness, 167.

90 Janvier, entrevue, 7 mars 2011.

91 L’exposition s’est déroulée du 12 août au 10 octobre 1972.

92 Jacqueline Fry, entrevue avec Sheila Klotz, Collection McMichael d’art canadien, 27 juin 1990. Utilisé avec l’autorisation de la Collection McMichael d’art canadien.

93 Winnipeg Free Press, 22 juin 1974.

94 Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd était le nom de la compagnie associée au magasin. Le nom New Warehouse Gallery n’était pas couramment utilisé pour identifier la galerie bien qu’il ait été imprimé dans au moins une des invitations pour les premières expositions de la PNIAI. La galerie elle-même était une annexe située à l’arrière du magasin. Elle n’avait pas d’entrée distincte et son nom n’apparaissait pas sur l’enseigne du magasin. Stan Somerville, courriel à l’auteur, 7 mai 2013.

95 L’exposition comportait aussi des œuvres de Don Laforte et de deux artistes qui n’avaient jamais exposé auparavant, Alvin Redman et Wilma Simon, ainsi que des sculptures sur pierre d’Island Lake (Manitoba). Voir « Native Awareness Helps Art — Odjig, » Winnipeg Free Press, 8 décembre 1974.

96 Hill, entrevue, 5 mars 2010.

97 Ibid.

98 Christopher Hume, « The new age of Indian art », Maclean’s 92, no. 4 (1979) : 27.

99 Si Alex Janvier a souvent raconté cette proposition d’exposition au Musée de la guerre, il n’a jamais dévoilé qui l’avait faite.

100 Alex Janvier, entrevue avec l’auteur, 13 mars 2010; 5 juin 2010; et 21 septembre 2013.

101 « Indian artists featured at First National, », Skyway News (aujourd’hui Downtown Journal Newspaper, Minneapolis, MN), 21 janvier 1976, 31. Il convient aussi de noter que, bien qu’il ne s’agisse pas d’une exposition, Eddy Cobiness a négocié en 1979, à Winnipeg, une vente d’œuvres d’art importante pour le Groupe à une collection privée après avoir reçu une requête précise pour « une collection du Groupe des sept ». Voir Eddy Cobiness, entrevue, 23 avril 1990; et Joseph Sanchez, courriel à l’auteur, 28 janvier 2014.

102 Jusqu’en 1987, les membres de la PNIAI ont participé à des expositions comme Canadian Contemporary Native Arts: A Los Angeles Celebration (17 février – 26 avril), une exposition organisée par Tom Hill pour le Institute for the Study of the American West à Los Angeles (CA).

103 Odjig, entrevue, 18 avril 1990.

104 Les renseignements sur la participation de John Dennehy à la constitution en société du Groupe ont été fournis par Michael Dennehy dans une conversation téléphonique avec l’auteur le 10 mars 2014. Voir aussi Eddy Cobiness, entrevue, 23 avril 1990; et J. P. Michell, chef intérimaire, Direction des arts et de l’artisanat, Affaires indiennes et du Nord à Jackson Beardy, 5 juin 1975, archives de la Collection McMichael d’art canadien.

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105 Voir « ‘Neglect’ of Indian art spurs group », The Winnipeg Tribune, 30 novembre 1973.

106 « Proposal: Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporation », décembre 1973.

Le document est dans un dossier à la Collection McMichael d’art canadien concernant un projet d’exposition de la PNIAI. L’exposition qui devait avoir lieu vers 1990 à la Collection McMichael d’art canadien sera annulée. Il est possible que le document originel ait fait partie des archives du Centre d’art indien et inuit du ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien (maintenant Affaires autochtones et Développement du Nord Canada).

107 Sanchez, entrevue, 5 juin 2010.

108 Souligné par l’auteur.

109 J. P. Michell à Jackson Beardy, 5 juin 1975.

110 Ibid.

111 « New ‘Group of Seven’ is emerging in art », Edmonton Journal, 29 décembre 1973; et H. Manner, secrétaire de J. P. Michell, chef intérimaire, Direction des arts et de l’artisanat, Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien à D. Snedden, adjoint administratif du sous-ministre adjoint aux Affaires indiennes et esquimaudes, 9 juin 1975, archives de la Collection McMichael d’art canadien.

112 « Proposal: Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporation. » 113 Manner à Snedden, 9 juin 1975.

114 Lettres patentes, Anisinabe Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated, 1er avril 1975, numéro de société 057450-3, Loi sur les corporations canadiennes.

115 Lee-Ann Martin, « First Nations Activism Through the Arts », dans Questions of Community: Artists, Audiences, Coalitions, eds. Daina Augaitis, et al. (Banff, AB : Walter Phillips Gallery en collaboration avec le Banff Centre Press, 1995), 77–89.

116 Eddy Cobiness, The Flowing Art of Cobiness, brochure, sans date, dossier de l’artiste, Centre de l’art autochtone, Affaires autochtones et Développement du Nord Canada.

117 Cobiness, entrevue, 23 avril 1990.

118 Janvier, entrevue, 5 juin 2010.

119 Joseph Sanchez, courriel à l’auteur, 28 janvier 2014.

120 D. S. Snedden, adjoint de direction auprès de P. B. Lesaux, sous-ministre adjoint, Affaires indiennes et esquimaudes; note de service préparée à l’intention du ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien, 17 juin 1975.

121 Ibid.; Manner à Snedden, 9 juin 1975.

122 Joseph Sanchez, courriels à l‘auteur, 24 et 28 janvier 2014.

123 Janvier, entrevue, 5 juin 2010.

124 Voir Lee-Ann Martin, « Premières aventures dans le courant dominant : Alex Janvier, Norval Morrisseau et Daphne Odjig 1962–1975 », 217, dans cette publication, pour avoir un exemple de la façon dont Central Marketing Services et le NIAC couvraient les frais d’exposition.

125 Janvier, entrevue, 5 juin 2010.

126 Janvier, entrevue, 13 mars 2010.

127 Joseph Sanchez, courriels à l’auteur, 24 et 28 janvier 2014.

128 Joseph Sanchez se souvient que tous les sept ont assisté aux réunions officielles qui se tenaient à la North Star Inn, mais pas nécessairement aux réunions chez Odjig. Il se souvient aussi que Morrisseau n’aurait assisté qu’à la moitié des réunions. Joseph Sanchez, courriels à l’auteur, 28 janvier 2014. Alex Janvier croit qu’il est possible qu’il ait manqué certaines des réunions informelles. Alex Janvier, courriel à l’auteur, 24 janvier 2014.

129 Cobiness, entrevue, 23 avril 1990.

130 Odjig, entrevue, 7 mars 2011.

131 Martin, « First Nations Activism Through the Arts », 79.

132 Ibid.

133 Odjig, entrevue, 18 avril 1990.

134 Alex Janvier, entrevue avec Sheila Klotz, Collection McMichael d’art canadien, 21 avril 1990. Avec la permission d’Alex Janvier et de la Collection McMichael d’art canadien.

135 Janvier, entrevue, 5 janvier 2010.

136 Voir Ace, « Intermédiaires réactifs » et Gray, « Le nouveau Groupe des sept ».

137 Odjig, entrevue, 18 avril 1990.

138 La Gazette du Canada, Partie I, 12 mai 1979, 3020.

139 Il n’existe aucune trace d’une réponse ou d’une vidéo. Eddy Cobiness à William Cook, directeur du service d’exploitation, ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien, Winnipeg, MB, 8 juin 1984, dossier de l’artiste, Eddy Cobiness, Centre d’art autochtone, Affaires autochtones et Développement du Nord Canada; numéro de dossier de la lettre 28–11. Cobiness présente aussi Dennehy comme son porte-parole.

140 Gary Scherbain est une des trois personnes à avoir acheté la galerie d’Odjig en 1976. La galerie qu’ils ont renommée Wah-sa Gallery ferme ses portes en 1984.

Scherbain rouvre la Wah-sa Gallery en 2001 dans un nouvel endroit, à la Fourche.

141 Dr John Warner, « Introduction, » Saskatchewan Indian (Avril 1974) : 29.

142 Alex Janvier, Daphne Odjig et Joseph Sanchez, lors de diverses conversations avec l’auteur, 2007–2014.

143 L’art des Woodlands est un style de peinture qui a fait son apparition dans les années 1960 en Ontario. Plus connu sous le nom d’École des Woodlands, on l’appelle dernièrement École Anishnaabe. Voir Greg Hill, Norval Morrisseau: Shaman Artist, catalogue d’exposition (Ottawa : Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, 2006), 13; et Bonnie Devine, Witness, viii.

144 Les autres membres de la PNIAI qu’on associe souvent à l’école des Woodlands sont Carl Ray, Daphne Odjig et Jackson Beardy. Il y a lieu de souligner toutefois que leur œuvre ne peut pas être seulement définie par ce style.

145 Carol Podedworny, « Revisiting the Woodland School: Art, History, Politics, the Woodland Legacy, et Jackson Beardy », dans Jackson Beardy: A Life’s Work, éd.

Shirley Madill, catalogue d’exposition (Winnipeg : Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1994), 116.

146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156

157

158

Janvier, « Mot de la fin », 170.

Janvier dans The Life and Work of the Woodland Artists.

Christopher Hume, « The new age of Indian art », Maclean’s 92, no. 4 (1979) : 1.

Ibid., 24.

Hill, entrevue, 25 mars 2010.

Daphne Odjig, discours prononcé à l’occasion de la cérémonie où elle s’est vu conférer un doctorat honorifique en droit, Convocation Hall, University of Toronto, 17 juin 1985.

Daphne Odjig, discours, 20 août 2009.

Jacqueline Fry, Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171: Three Indian Painters of the Prairies, catalogue d’exposition (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1972), 10.

Robert Houle, entrevue avec l’auteur, 20 août 2010.

Deux autres conférences de la SACOA se sont tenues en 1987 et 1993.

Pour en savoir plus sur la SACOA et cette histoire, voir : Alfred Young Man, « SCANA: History and Formation of the Society of Canadian Artists of Native Ancestry », présentation faite au Collectif des Conservateurs autochtones, Urban Shaman Gallery, Winnipeg (Manitoba), 17–20 mars 2006; et Alfred Young Man, « Bob Boyer et la Société des artistes canadiens d’origine autochtone (SACOA) » dans Bob Boyer : Le travail d’une vie, Lee-Ann Martin, catalogue d’exposition (Regina : MacKenzie Art Gallery, 2008).

S’il n’est pas possible de nommer ici toutes les expositions qui ont contribué à l’histoire d’un art autochtone, mentionnons parmi les plus importantes : Art Amerindian (MAINC, 1981); New Work By A New Generation (MacKenzie Art Gallery, 1982); Beyond History (Vancouver Art Gallery, 1989); In the Shadow of the Sun (Musée canadien des civilisations, 989); Indigena (Musée canadien des civilisations, 1992); Terre, esprit, pouvoir (Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, 1992); Reservation X (Musée canadien des civilisations, 1998) entre autres, outre un grand nombre d’importantes expositions individuelles, dont celles d’Edward Poitras, Rebecca Belmore, Bill Reid, Norval Morrisseau, Alex Janvier, Daphne Odjig et Carl Beam.

Janvier, discours à l’occasion du vernissage de 7 : Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., 20 septembre 2013.

LE GROUPE AUTOCHTONE DES SEPT AUTREMENT DIT LA PROFESSIONAL NATIVE INDIAN ARTISTS INC. JOSEPH SANCHEZ Nous étions des artistes indiens qui souhaitions, par notre originalité artistique, changer un monde de l’art stagnant et conformiste : c’est là la raison d’être du Groupe autochtone des sept. À la différence d’autres artistes contemporains de l’époque, les membres du groupe reconnaissaient qu’il existait une relation entre l’être humain et la vie sur la Terre, et que l’être humain était responsable de cette vie sous toutes ses formes. L’influence du groupe à l’échelle nationale et mondiale est évidente. Organisée en 1989, Magiciens de la terre, une exposition du Musée national d’art moderne au Centre Georges Pompidou, à Paris, comptait Norval Morrisseau parmi les artistes internationaux sélectionnés.

Ce dernier, dont l’influence est mondiale, est un des plus grands artistes du Canada. Il dépeint visuellement la riche histoire autochtone du pays, bravant ainsi des siècles d’expression esthétique eurocentrique. Magiciens de la terre témoignait de la spiritualité, de la force, de la résilience et du talent brut présents dans les œuvres de Norval Morrisseau. Personnage gigantesque, Morrisseau ouvrira une voie artistique assez large pour tout le Canada. Étoile du matin, la murale d’Alex Janvier au Musée canadien des civilisations à Gatineau (Québec), continue à présenter au Canada et au monde une vision d’avenir de l’art contemporain, une vision d’espoir et d’inspiration et une véritable relation avec une culture autochtone vivante. Daphne Odjig, un membre clé du groupe, a elle aussi acquis une réputation mondiale et l’intérêt d’autres artistes, surtout européens, pour ses travaux, confirme qu’une nouvelle esthétique est en train de naître dans le monde de l’art. Pour les Autochtones, la beauté, la couleur et la forme présentes dans les

œuvres du Groupe autochtone des sept évoquent des liens avec les ancêtres, la terre et le chant et des visions de résistance et d’indépendance autochtones incontestées.

Chaque membre du Groupe autochtone des sept avait son propre style. Je pense souvent à la créativité, au courage et à l’innovation dont ont fait preuve mes amis, dont bon nombre ont été emportés trop tôt. Jackson Beardy qui, en compagnie de Daphne Odjig, a eu l’idée de fonder notre groupe, nous a laissés sur notre faim car nous souhaitions voir plus de ses œuvres stimulantes. Carl Ray, qui a donné une interprétation personnelle et unique des légendes et de la vie autochtone, mérite d’être félicité, tout comme Norval Morrisseau, pour la création de l’école des Woodlands. Eddy Cobiness, une personne généreuse et spirituelle, était doté d’un talent artistique qui n’avait rien à envier aux meilleurs artistes animaliers, portraitistes et paysagistes réalistes. Il a partagé avec moi une technique de l’aquarelle que je considère vitale pour ce qu’est la peinture et il a développé, pour représenter les non humains, un style qui influencera bien des jeunes artistes par la suite.

L’atmosphère du magasin de Daphne Odjig à Winnipeg, Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd et, plus tard, de la légendaire Warehouse Gallery, (située à l’arrière du magasin), ainsi que les conversations qui s’y tiennent en 1972 ont été déterminantes pour la formation du Groupe autochtone des sept.

Le groupe est né de la ferme conviction d’Odjig qu’il fallait aider les jeunes artistes autochtones. À chaque fois qu’on le lui demandait, elle achetait les travaux des artistes, leur payant le juste prix, et réglait les frais de droits d’auteur pour la reproduction. Cela nous permettait de nous loger et de nous nourrir. De nombreux artistes ont bénéficié de sa générosité et de sa sagesse à l’époque de Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd. et de la Warehouse Gallery.

L’appui financier qu’elle apportait aux artistes autochtones et à leurs enfants nous rendait fiers de notre travail et encourageait nos talents. Ces gestes étaient peu de chose, mais leur impact à long terme a été énorme — elle m’a insufflé le courage d’envisager l’avenir avec confiance et m’a fait prendre conscience de mon destin. Qu’un groupe d’artistes autochtones établis puissent aider des artistes émergents et donner de la visibilité aux arts autochtones jusqu’ici méconnus était une attitude novatrice et audacieuse. En fournissant cet appui professionnel, nous étions conscients qu’ensemble nous pouvions garantir que les générations futures d’Autochtones réussissent avec respect et dignité dans un monde artistique qui, en général, considérait les arts autochtones comme des spécimens à exposer dans les vitrines de musées d’anthropologie.

Les rencontres pour créer le Groupe autochtone des sept se déroulent à la North Star Inn, à quelques pas de Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd, en 1973 à Winnipeg (Manitoba). C’est là aussi que le groupe est finalement établi. Par une froide journée d’hiver, le 13 février 1974, Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig, Alex Janvier, Jackson Beardy, Carl Ray, Eddy Cobiness et Joseph Sanchez se constituent en société canadienne : la Professional Native Artists, Incorporated, PNIAI ou « Le Groupe autochtone des sept » comme l’a surnommée la presse de Winnipeg.1 Les documents d’enregistrement sont signés en présence de Daphne Odjig, Jackson Beardy et moi-même. Alex Janvier, bloqué dans une tempête de neige, m’avait donné procuration. Des sept membres du groupe un seul, Joseph Sanchez, est américain.

Les défis auxquels le groupe doit faire face sont nombreux : un manque de soutien financier au niveau national, le rejet des arts autochtones en tant qu’art et, plus décevant encore, une résistance d’Autochtones occupant des postes haut placés face

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à une initiative importante et novatrice en faveur de l’art indien.

Lorsque le gouvernement fédéral canadien propose d’organiser une exposition des œuvres du Groupe autochtone des sept au Musée de la guerre à Ottawa, cela pousse Norval Morrisseau à donner suite à l’idée d’Alex Janvier d’envoyer notre ami du Secrétariat d’état (John Dennehy alias « Dieu ») rendre visite à Max Stern, propriétaire de la Galerie Dominion à Montréal. Alex avait suggéré que puisque Stern était réputé pour faire venir de l’art international au Canada, pourquoi ne mettrait-il pas en vedette un art nouveau bien canadien. C’est cela qui a convaincu Stern d’exposer les œuvres de la PNIAI. Cette première exposition collective nous a ouvert les portes d’autres galeries d’art.

Le nom « Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. », lié à cette première exposition à la Galerie Dominion, a été délibérément choisi pour englober plusieurs concepts et identités juridiques qui nous aideraient à faire notre chemin dans le monde de l’art canadien. Pour être compétitif sur la scène de l’art contemporain, il fallait que nous soyons considérés comme des « professionnels ».

Nous avons également veillé à ce que le nom contienne les mots « artistes indiens » pour ne pas être soumis à l’individualisme et à la compétition qui règnent dans l’art occidental. La Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., aspirait, elle, à laisser un legs culturel qui servirait aux Autochtones et à l’éducation de leurs enfants. Nous étions convaincus que l’aide et l’inspiration que nous pouvions apporter aux Autochtones constitueraient la mesure de notre succès. Nous parlions d’organiser un énorme camp artistique et de traverser le Canada en train, nous arrêtant dans les réserves pour partager notre art et notre créativité. C’est plus inspiré par une noble pensée, celle d’inspirer les jeunes talents qui attendaient cet encouragement positif dans un monde où « Pas question! » était la norme, qu’en rêvant à des expositions dans des galeries d’art de New York et à des réceptions au champagne, que ce groupe a été créé. Bref, la PNIAI était une société au nom occidental, mais au cœur autochtone.

Au début, l’exposition des travaux du groupe dans des lieux publics a rencontré beaucoup d’obstacles. Le stéréotype romantique du sauvage fut bien illustré lors de l’exposition qui s’est déroulée au Musée royal de l’Ontario. Bien que le concept des spécimens à exposer dans les vitrines ait été remis en question, il n’en fallait pas moins, pour arriver à Indian Art ’74, passer devant des vitrines d’ossements ancestraux. Pour l’exposition, le ministère des Affaires indiennes a manifesté son soutien en achetant ou en commandant des pièces à tous les membres de la PNIAI. Une exception : une grande toile que j’avais peinte pour l’occasion et qui a été rejetée. 2 A’s Family Portrait [cat. 113], une œuvre de techniques mixtes sur papier, a été empruntée pour l’exposition et fait aujourd’hui partie de la présente rétrospective.

Quarante ans se sont écoulés depuis la constitution initiale de la société. Les trois membres du Groupe autochtone des sept qui sont toujours parmi nous, ont réalisé — et réalisent encore — de nombreuses grandes œuvres d’art. À quatre-vingt-quatorze ans, la Grande Dame, Daphne Odjig, continue à dessiner en chantant. Les travaux d’Alex Janvier témoignent d’une esthétique et d’un génie nouveaux dans un monde artistique sans inspiration qui ne fait que reprendre les « ismes » du passé. Il continue à remettre en question la façon dont les critiques jugent les réalisations des Autochtones.

Quant à moi, je continue à créer de l’art qui, petit à petit, s’ajoute à ce que nous a laissé le Groupe autochtone des sept.

Aujourd’hui, on ne peut être qu’impressionné par le nombre de personnes qui ont été touchées par les peintures, les sculptures et la créativité du Groupe autochtone des sept — la quantité d’œuvres créées, le nombre de prix d’excellence artistique décernés, le nombre de doctorats honorifiques conférés, les expositions spéciales de Morrisseau et d’Odjig au Musée des beaux-arts du

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Canada. Les murales créées par Alex Janvier sont de l’art public qui transcende la simple décoration et présente la culture, l’esthétique et la spiritualité autochtones contemporaines dont le public a été privé à cause d’exclusion culturelle et d’un sentiment colonial de supériorité.

Même le mouvement artistique de l’école des Woodlands, créé à l’instigation de certains membres du groupe, ne donne pas une idée juste de l’impact ou de la diversité des tableaux inspirés par Norval Morrisseau, Carl Ray, Eddy Cobiness ou Jackson Beardy et ne représente pas l’œuvre de Daphne Odjig, Alex Janvier ou Joseph Sanchez.

Pour moi, jeune artiste au moment de la création du groupe, être membre d’une association artistique autochtone unique et pionnière était un rêve devenu réalité. Participer à un tel groupe a été un honneur et être en compagnie de tels talents a été une inspiration. La vision d’origine qui était d’aider le jeune artiste à créer des œuvres s’inspirant de la culture, des valeurs et de l’esthétique autochtones était une belle raison de nous unir. Nous donnons une voix aux Autochtones en faisant de notre mieux, en créant au plus haut niveau, en n’abandonnant jamais notre culture et en remettant en question un monde artistique dont les héros sont figés. Tel est le legs du Groupe autochtone des sept. Nous avons vu un avenir dans ce que nous faisions. Nous souhaitions que nos enfants et nos collectivités aient un avenir et pensions qu’il était nécessaire de croître comme artistes pour pouvoir faire connaître un nouvel art, une nouvelle esthétique sans compromis, pour obtenir la reconnaissance de qui nous sommes en tant qu’Autochtones au 21˚ siècle.

Au début des années 1970, le 331 Donald Street à Winnipeg, premier siège du groupe, a été source de créativité, d’un sens de communauté et d’un mouvement artistique significatif. On y a aussi soulevé des questions d’esthétique uniques à l’art contemporain. 3 En actualisant les légendes des peuples autochtones, notre groupe d’artistes novateurs a vraiment donné naissance à un dialogue international essentiel dans le domaine de l’art contemporain.

Nous étions sept artistes indiens qui nous sommes regroupés à un moment synchrone de l’histoire de l’art. Nos peintures, dessins, sculptures ne s’inscrivaient pas dans l’esthétique étroite et stagnante de l’histoire de l’art européen occidental. Nous étions libérés et revigorés sur le plan culturel par l’amitié et l’entraide.

Nous briguions une créativité et une conscience uniques dans l’histoire de l’art canadien. Notre influence de guerriers culturels, de chefs de file de la créativité et d’explorateurs créatifs engagés sur une nouvelle voie d’expression a abouti à une meilleure compréhension et au respect mondial de l’art indien. Nos travaux témoignent de nos liens séculaires avec nos terres, nos cultures ainsi que de ceux avec les humains et non humains de la planète. Nous avons refusé le génocide physique et culturel des Autochtones et nous avons répudié la notion coloniale d’une culture disparue en restaurant le respect de la diversité biologique et culturelle de la Terre grâce à la peinture moderne. notes 1

2 3

Une demande pour se constituer en société sous le nom de PNIAI est préparée en février 1974, puis révisée et redéposée au ministère de la Consommation et des Affaires commerciales (maintenant Corporations Canada) le 13 mars. « Anisinabe » a été ajouté au nom de la PNIAI dans la demande révisée dont les objectifs sont assez proches de la proposition soumise en 1973 au NIAC. La demande a été approuvée plus d’un an plus tard et le 1er avril 1975 sont émises les lettres patentes qui donnent à la PNIAI son statut de société sous le nouveau nom de Anisinabe Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. Toutefois, le Groupe a continué a fonctionné sous le nom de PNIAI.—Éd.

Apparemment, on rechignait encore à inclure un Américain dans un groupe autochtone canadien!

331 Donald Street était l’adresse de Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd. et de la Warehouse Gallery.

L’ART INDIEN AU CANADA : DISPARITION ET RENAISSANCE TOM HILL, TORONTO: ART MAGAZINE, ÉTÉ 1974 Il n’existe aucun document indiquant comment ou quand l’artiste indien a commencé à manipuler les matériaux européens pour produire des œuvres d’art dans la tradition de « l’art pour l’art ».

Jusqu’à l’arrivée des Européens, l’art amérindien, avait toujours été fonctionnel et était partie intégrante de la vie culturelle.

L’un des premiers exemples de « l’art pour l’art » indien est l’autoportrait peint par Zacharie Vincent, un Huron, vers 1840.

Antoine Plamondon, artiste de renom de l’époque, a déjà fait un portrait de Vincent et ce dernier est si impressionné qu’il décide de s’essayer à l’autoportrait. Tellement heureux du résultat, il en produit d’emblée plusieurs copies — toutes pour son propre plaisir.

Selon J. Russell Harper dans La peinture au Canada des origines à nos jours, « Malgré les conseils qu’il reçut, dit-on, de Plamondon, il resta jusqu’au bout un naïf, accumulant détail sur détail, et assez peu soucieux de l’effet artistique final. Le Huron continua ensuite de peindre avec sa palette aux couleurs violentes les paysages de Lorette qui se trouvent maintenant au Musée du Québec; l’un d’eux est la reproduction libre d’une toile de Krieghoff. » Le tableau de Vincent était un fait inusité, un cas isolé : celui d’un homme tentant de s’adapter à une culture artistique autre que la sienne. Quelles qu’aient été ses raisons pour cette tentative de transition, son intérêt s’est vite estompé et les connaissances qu’il avait acquises en tant que peintre semblent n’avoir influencé personne.

L’Histoire nous fournit de nombreux exemples d’Indiens qui ont adapté leur forme d’expression artistique pour répondre aux goûts prédominants du monde occidental. Lorsque l’adaptation ne s’applique qu’à la technique ou au style, la transition s’effectue sans douleur — comme dans le cas de Zacharie Vincent ou dans le domaine des arts appliqués. Mais là où l’expression artistique est ancrée dans la tradition, comme les arts cérémoniaux, l’adaptation s’avère beaucoup plus complexe. Le tournant du siècle marque le début d’un conflit entre le besoin profond d’exprimer le point de vue artistique indien et le désir de sauvegarder les croyances et expressions traditionnelles.

Le déclin rapide qu’a connu l’art indien au Canada au début du siècle s’explique de plusieurs façons, mais cela tient surtout à la façon dont les Canadiens de l’ère victorienne voient l’art produit par les Indiens canadiens. Ils le collectionnent comme un reliquat anthropologique du passé plutôt que comme une belle représentation d’une culture raffinée. Ce que veulent les gens de l’époque victorienne, ce sont des « curiosités » pour décorer leur salon plutôt que de belles œuvres d’art autochtone et ils s’intéressent peu à la pensée et à la mythologie qui souvent s’y expriment avec éclat. En fait, une partie de cet art reflète souvent le paganisme auquel Victoriens et missionnaires s’opposent farouchement et contre lequel ils œuvrent inlassablement pour le faire disparaître. Ce qui reste de la tradition culturelle indienne après cette tentative d’éradication, le gouvernement canadien — toujours présent — y veille avec sa politique officielle d’ « assimilation ». Dans le cadre de ce programme, le paragraphe 114 du Code criminel interdit et punit certains « rites païens ». Sur la côte Ouest, cela donne lieu à la Loi sur le potlach qui est restée en vigueur jusqu’en 1951.

Cette loi a profondément affecté l’expression artistique de l’artiste indien du Canada. Dans la plupart des cas, ses créations

faisaient partie intégrante des cérémonies interdites car l’artiste était non seulement celui qui produisait l’objet cérémoniel, mais il était souvent aussi le philosophe qui, en innovant à l’occasion, garantissait la viabilité et l’évolution du cérémonial. En condamnant la vie spirituelle traditionnelle des Indiens, le gouvernement forçait l’artiste soit à abandonner son art ou à se conformer aux formes d‘expression artistiques établies par l’homme blanc. L’acceptation passive des goûts esthétiques de l’époque victorienne, de sa culture et de son ordre établi a entraîné un déclin impardonnable des traditions anciennes et sacrées des artistes indigènes du Canada.

Dans quelques cas, cette acceptation dissimule des raisons purement économiques. Les acheteurs blancs dictent les goûts pour certains types d’art et l’artiste indien adapte son savoir-faire traditionnel à ces demandes. Charles Edenshaw, un sculpteur haïda réputé pour être « le meilleur sculpteur de toute la nation Haïda » est un exemple typique. Il sculptait l’argilite, un matériau des îles de la Reine-Charlotte ressemblant à l’ardoise et qui se travaille lorsqu’il est mou, mais qui en durcissant se transforme en une pierre foncée au poli étincelant. C’est Edenshaw qui a établi la norme qui influence encore aujourd’hui ceux qui sculptent ce matériau. Toutefois, tous les artistes indiens ne s’adaptent pas avec autant de facilité. La loi interdisant les cérémonies dont se nourrit leur art est rigoureusement appliquée et leur seul espoir de survie est de passer dans la clandestinité. Pour ne pas disparaître, la conscience indienne du Canada, au même titre que son talent créatif, se réfugie dans des sociétés secrètes au sein des collectivités. Ce n’est que récemment qu’elle a commencé timidement à réapparaître et à s’exprimer avec une certaine confiance.

Bien que l’art indien ait connu un renouveau d’intérêt, le mécénat de la peinture indienne moderne est un phénomène récent. À coup sûr, le succès instantané de Norval Morrisseau qui vend tous les tableaux de son exposition solo à la Pollock Gallery en septembre 1962, suscite beaucoup d’intérêt. Morrisseau s’inspire de la tradition orale ojibwée et il a développé un style très personnel rappelant les peintures rupestres et les rouleaux initiatiques de la Midewin. Sa vie personnelle est faite d’excès et de luttes, mais sur le plan créatif il a développé à partir de sa conception mythique de la conscience indienne un style de peinture unique qui a attiré bien des disciples.

Daphne Odjig, la peintre odawa, a dit que « au milieu des années 1960, il était impossible de ne pas ressentir la puissance de sa personnalité que ce soit en regardant son travail ou lorsqu’on était en sa présence ».

Les peintres qui le suivent, tels Jackson Beardy, Carl Ray, Josh Kakegamic, Roy Thomas, Lloyd Caibaiosai et Odjig, dans ses premiers travaux, témoignent de l’influence de Morrisseau.

Du groupe, Odjig est, depuis, celle qui s’en éloigne le plus pour adopter un style bien à elle, puisant dans la force de l’expérience de Morrisseau et la mettant à profit. Les expériences vécues dans son enfance et son intérêt pour la peinture moderne européenne aboutissent à un style qui contraste fortement avec celui de Morrisseau. En plaisantant, ce dernier dit qu’elle est « la mère de Picasso », mais reconnaît qu’elle a su développer un style personnel qui incarne, malgré tout, l’essence de la tradition ojibwée.

Alors que Morrisseau domine la peinture dans l’Est, le Midwest canadien donne naissance à un groupe de peintres qui, eux aussi, recherchent une forme d’expression personnelle. Gerald Tailfeathers, Sarain Stump, Allen Sapp, et Eddy Cobiness s’inspirent de leur origine et de leur vécu indiens qu’ils traduisent sous forme figurative. Une seule exception : Alex Janvier, un peintre chipewyan

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actuellement à Edmonton, qui traduit son sens indien de la couleur et du mouvement en images abstraites. À cette époque, outre sa contribution artistique, Janvier, motivé par sa conscience politique, accepte un poste au ministère des Affaires indiennes afin d’élaborer une politique culturelle. C’est grâce en partie à ses efforts que des peintres et organismes culturels en difficulté reçoivent une aide financière. Il encourage le gouvernement à embaucher des artistes indiens pour peindre les murales extérieures du pavillon indien d’Expo 67. En plus de peindre une murale, Janvier mène une campagne pour « dire les choses telles qu’elles sont » lorsque le gouvernement critique le pavillon et tente d’en modérer le contenu qu’il juge « discutable ».

Que le public accepte les artistes indiens suscite l’optimisme et l’avenir semble donc prometteur pour le jeune peintre.

Leo Yerxa, Clifford Maracle, Wilma Simon, Benjamin Chee-Chee, Robert Houle, Blake Debaissige [sic] et Guy Sioui sont des peintres émergents dont les toiles sont imprégnées d’une perspective unique et témoignent d’une redécouverte de formes artistiques traditionnelles. Ce qu’ils ont créé n’est pas nécessairement un « art indien authentique » — car la culture indienne s’est toujours adaptée aux influences extérieures — mais un art qui appartient aux « beaux-arts », un art moderne et canadien.

Tom Hill est l’organisateur de Canadian Indian Art ’74 qui aura lieu au Musée royal de l’Ontario, à Toronto, du 4 juin au 14 juillet 1974. Tom est un indien sénéca, membre de la réserve indienne des Six nations en Ontario. À l’heure actuelle, il termine un film portant sur quatre artistes indiens contemporains pour l’Office national du film à Ottawa. bibliographie Arts indiens au Canada / Olive Dickason / Ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien / 1972 La peinture au Canada des origines à nos jours / J. Russell Harper / Presses de l’Université Laval / 1966 Medicine-Man on the North Pacific Coast / Marius Barbeau / National Museum of Canada / 1958 Canadian Native Art / Nancy-Lou Patterson / Collier-Macmillan Canada, Ltd. / 1973

INTERMÉDIAIRES RÉACTIFS : ART ET POLITIQUES AUTOCHTONES ET RÉSONANCE DES ANNÉES 1960 ET 1970 BARRY ACE La seule façon de préserver notre culture, c’est de rester Indiens

— Association des Indiens de l’Alberta, 19701 Si la Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated (PNIAI) a vu le jour, c’est grâce à sept artistes actifs et enthousiastes, dont une femme, qui se sont réunis pour pouvoir exposer leurs travaux, conseiller les jeunes artistes, promouvoir et défendre leurs droits, trouver du financement et s’évaluer mutuellement. C’est à l’aube d’une nouvelle vague importante d’activisme social et politique chez les Autochtones que fusionne le tout nouveau collectif, sept artistes perspicaces et aguerris, établis ou à mi-carrière, Odjig, Janvier, Cobiness, Sanchez, Morrisseau, Ray et Beardy.

On le surnomme ironiquement le « Groupe indien des sept ». 2

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Cette étiquette, qui correspond à l’air du temps, montre bien qu’à l’époque, au Canada, l’art contemporain dans son ensemble doit évoluer et trouver de nouvelles voies.

Bien que la PNIAI ait joué un rôle marquant, il y avait déjà eu des sphères d’influence artistique et politique périphériques et des artistes et des visionnaires, moins connus, mais tout aussi importants, qui avaient été des catalyseurs de changement et qui avaient repoussé les frontières de l’art indigène contemporain.

Dès avant les années 1960, plusieurs artistes avaient innové du point de vue du style, créé de nouvelles synergies tribales et trouvé des moyens d’exposer. Pour saisir l’évolution, il est aussi essentiel de savoir que les politiques et les stratégies de développement économique du gouvernement fédéral ont, de manière manifeste et souvent contradictoire, constamment perturbé et finalement façonné, par des interventions continuelles, cette période de l’histoire de l’art autochtone au Canada. L’essai portera sur les autres artistes et visionnaires qui, indépendamment de la PNIAI, avec elle ou sous son influence, ont pu peser sur les interventions politiques, les histoires périphériques et les espaces artistiques.

Voix, autorité et interprétation font partie intégrante de la prise de conscience politique et culturelle qui émerge dans le paysage indien des années 1960 et 1970. Reflétant les développements dans les domaines juridique et politique relatifs aux Autochtones, un nouveau discours sur l’art contemporain de ces mêmes peuples voit le jour. Il vise les politiques d’exclusion en matière d’expositions et d’acquisitions du monde très fermé des institutions canadiennes d’art contemporain, des critiques d’art et des conservateurs, des musées nationaux et de nombreuses galeries d’art commerciales. Tout comme les Premières Nations ont dû lutter pour que soient inclus « les droits existants — ancestraux ou issus de traités » dans la Loi constitutionnelle de 1982 et la Charte canadienne des droits et libertés (1985) et se battre longtemps devant les tribunaux pour que ces droits ne soient pas une « boîte de promesses creuses », les artistes autochtones contemporains ont dû lutter pendant des décennies pour se faire reconnaître et accepter. 3 Déjà, ironiquement, et peut-être pour les mêmes raisons, le régime de ghettos que sont les réserves n’avait pas réussi à coloniser les Indiens et les assimiler dans la société canadienne. La marginalisation systématique des artistes autochtones a en fait nourri un art autochtone contemporain riche et distinct de l’art canadien.

Il est impossible de dissocier la raison d’être de la PNIAI de la défense des intérêts sociaux et de l’activisme politique des Autochtones, car cette histoire est intimement liée à la reconnaissance des droits ancestraux ou issus de traités, à l’autodétermination et à l’autonomie gouvernementale comme contremesures aux conséquences de la colonisation, du déplacement et de la pauvreté qui se font encore sentir. Ainsi l’importante exposition Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171, qui se tient au Musée des beaux-arts de Winnipeg en 1972, s’aligne de façon poignante sur les événements de l’époque. Le titre, qui fait directement référence aux numéros de traités de Beardy, Janvier et Odjig, attire clairement l’attention sur l’indifférence flagrante envers les droits ancestraux ou issus de traités des Autochtones et leur affaiblissement, ainsi qu’envers la disparition, la marginalisation et la dépersonnalisation de l’identité tribale par le biais d’une codification systématiquement raciste, méprisante et impersonnelle de l’identité indienne.

LES LIVRES BLANC ET ROUGE, 1969–1970 En 1969, les Indiens du Canada traversent peut-être une des périodes les plus difficiles et critiques de l’histoire de leurs relations avec la Couronne. En 1968, le Libéral Pierre Elliot

Trudeau devient premier ministre, porté par la « trudeaumanie » qui déferle sur le pays. Sa plateforme électorale reposait sur une nouvelle vision du Canada, celle d’une « société juste » dans laquelle tous les Canadiens, Indiens compris, seraient traités sans distinction. Le gouvernement cherche à transformer de manière irrévocable les fondements législatif et constitutionnel mêmes du statut et des droits issus de traités, des Indiens du Canada, jugeant la Loi sur les Indiens obsolète et les traités valides que lorsqu’ils sont conclus entre États souverains. En 1969, alors que Jean Chrétien est ministre des Affaires indiennes, le gouvernement fédéral publie la Politique indienne du Gouvernement du Canada qui montre sa nouvelle orientation politique. Plus connue sous le nom de Livre blanc, elle expose la feuille de route gouvernementale de l’assimilation qui prévoit l’émancipation des Indiens et leur assimilation dans la société canadienne, et met fin à leur « traitement différent et statut spécial. » 4 Ces marques de différences comprennent les traités, les réserves, les revendications territoriales, les programmes sociaux et culturels et le financement.

Les dirigeants et les collectivités indiennes de tout le pays réagissent rapidement par un mouvement unifié de protestations dénonçant la position du gouvernement fédéral. La communauté artistique se rallie à eux et remet en question le projet d’éliminer le statut distinct, les traités et les droits des Indiens. En réaction à la rhétorique politique de Trudeau et à sa prise de position, un jeune Cri de vingt-trois ans, Harold Cardinal, écrivain, avocat et président de l’Association des Indiens de l’Alberta, dévoile ce qu’il appelle le « rideau en peau de daim » dans son ouvrage La société injuste (1969). L’Association des Indiens de l’Alberta publie aussi sa riposte Citizens Plus (1970), un exposé de principe qu’on appellera Livre rouge, pour contrer les propositions présentées dans le Livre blanc. Un des éléments clés du Livre rouge concerne directement la communauté artistique — « La seule façon de préserver notre culture, c’est de rester Indiens. » Le gouvernement retire le Livre blanc, mais les artistes autochtones reconnaissent l’urgence d’une revitalisation de leur culture, des identités tribales, d’une perspective mondiale, d’une spiritualité et d’une identité nationale en réaction directe aux effets de la colonisation, du racisme et de la diaspora. 5 Plusieurs artistes présageaient déjà de l’activité politique manifeste des années 1970 en traitant des thèmes de la colonisation et de la revitalisation culturelle. Dès 1947, l’artiste, acteur et écrivain tseshalt George Clutesi écrit déjà pour le journal autochtone Native Voice. L’artiste blood Gerald Tailfeathers montre dans sa peinture Drinking Party (1966) l’éclatement du tissu social causé par les effets destructeurs de l’alcool dans les Plaines. L’artiste anishinabé Norval Morrisseau est, à l’origine d’une école de peinture de légendes au style unique, et publie son livre charnière Legends of My People, The Great Ojibway en 1965. De nombreux artistes, seuls ou non, font ressortir les effets des changements culturels ou de la résistance à ces changements. Ils redynamisent les traditions et le savoir culturels et repoussent les limites de l’art contemporain dans des domaines artistiques occidentaux tels que la sculpture, la gravure et la peinture. Un rapide survol des premiers innovateurs inclut les artistes cris Allen Sapp, Sanford Fisher, Henry Beaudry, Sitting Wind (Frank Kaquitts), Angelique Merasty, les artistes inuits Kenojauk Ashevak, John Tiktak, Jessie Oonark, Pitseolak Ashoona et Annaqtuusi Tulurialik, les artistes haïdas Bill Reid, Robert Davidson, Frieda Diesing et Charles Edenshaw, les artistes kwakwaka’wakw Mungo Martin, Henry Speck, Henry Hunt et Willie Seaweed, les artistes gitxsans Walter Harris, Doreen Jensen et Judith P. Morgan, l’artiste pied-noir Two Gun (Percy Plainswoman) et l’artiste mohawk Louis Karoniaktajeh Hall.

LE GOUVERNEMENT CANADIEN ET L’ÉLABORATION D’UNE POLITIQUE SUR L’ART AUTOCHTONE Les interventions du gouvernement fédéral dans le domaine des arts par l’intermédiaire de l’organe législatif qu’est le ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien (AINC), visaient clairement à vendre la « quiddité indienne », à en faire une stratégie de développement économique. Cette stratégie semble diamétralement opposée aux politiques d’assimilation en cours et aux tentatives flagrantes d’éradication des droits ancestraux et des droits constitutionnels. Pourtant, du point de vue du gouvernement, il n’y a rien de contradictoire dans cette stratégie qui n’est qu’un exercice de réduction du déficit pour contrer ce qu’Ottawa considère être un fardeau financier et un recours accru à des programmes fédéraux d’aide sociale et à des services gouvernementaux coûteux.6 C’est un tournant dans l’histoire du Canada, car non seulement la stratégie révèle comment le gouvernement fédéral d’alors renforce la démarcation entre ce qu’il définit comme « artisanat » et comme « art » mais elle illustre aussi comment l’échec de ses interventions dans les politiques, la commercialisation et les programmes d’art autochtone a en fait mené à la création de la seule importante collection publique d’art contemporain autochtone canadien au monde. Ce n’était visiblement pas l’intention du gouvernement.

Pourtant ses stratégies mal conçues de commercialisation ont constitué les fondements de cette grande collection d’œuvres d’art, soit léguées au ministère des Affaires indiennes soit, ultérieurement, achetées directement aux galeries d’art et aux artistes. On peut y voir des œuvres majeures des artistes de la PNIAI et d’autres artistes autochtones reconnus. En 1949, le Premier ministre Louis Saint-Laurent, qui jugeait opportun de réexaminer toute une gamme de questions liées à la culture canadienne avait établi une Commission royale d’enquête sur l’avancement des arts, des lettres et des sciences au Canada.7 Ses cinq commissaires avaient pour mandat de procéder à un examen exhaustif à l’échelle du Canada en menant des audiences publiques à travers le pays. Il en est ressorti une série de recommandations.

Dans la sous-section « L’artiste et l’écrivain », le Rapport de la Commission royale d’enquête sur l’avancement des arts, des lettres et des sciences au Canada, 1949–1951 consacre un chapitre aux arts et métiers indiens, déclarant : Plusieurs genres de produits qui survivent, attribués faussement aux artisans indiens, sont des objets de camelote fabriqués en série à l'intention du touriste : totems en miniature mal sculptés, épingles en plastique aux couleurs crues (« confectionnés par les Indiens au moyen d'os pressés ») et autres bibelots, ou mieux « souvenirs indiens » fabriqués au Japon. Cette activité ne contribue même pas toujours à l'avantage économique de la famille indienne; elle aboutit plutôt, dans certains cas, à un travail à peine rétribué, qui est littéralement imposé à la mère et aux enfants. 8 Le rapport met directement en lumière le rôle législatif et le mandat du Division des affaires indiennes, ministère de la Citoyenneté et de l‘Immigration : 9 On a exprimé l'avis que la Division des affaires indiennes devrait être invitée à s'occuper de ces questions et recevoir les ressources nécessaires à cette fin. Quelques agents de la Division des affaires indiennes s'y intéressent et rendent des services, nous dit-on, mais, en général, on a l'impression que cet organisme a adopté une attitude plutôt négative . . . il faut un programme souple pour encourager les Indiens à donner leur meilleur rendement. La publicité et l'information s'imposent également pour permettre aux autres Canadiens

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de comprendre la valeur de ces œuvres (eux qui manifestent déjà un vif intérêt à l'endroit de l'artisanat, ainsi que nous l'avons noté) . . . L'établissement d'une ligne de conduite d'ordre national dans le domaine des arts et métiers est essentielle au bien-être des Indiens . . . et l'on nous a dit que les arts et métiers devraient entrer dans le programme de cet enseignement.10 La commission décrit le « pessimisme » de sources anonymes qui déclarent « qu’il est impossible de faire revivre l’art indien », que sa disparition est « inévitable » et qui comparent les techniques artistiques des Indiens aux « fantômes ou ombres d’une société morte [qui] jamais . . . ne reprendront une forme ou une substance réelle. »11 La commission mentionne toutefois le travail de plaidoyer de la Société du bien-être social et des arts indiens de la ColombieBritannique, de la Fédération des artistes canadiens et de la Guilde canadienne des métiers.12 Le Rapport de la Commission royale d’enquête sur l’avancement des arts, des lettres et des sciences au Canada aura un effet durable sur la politique relative à l’art autochtone.13 Pendant les deux décennies qui suivront, le ministère des Affaires indiennes tentera de développer un programme national viable et adapté aux besoins des arts et de l’artisanat. En dépit du pessimisme systématique prévalant, le gouvernement fédéral continuera à appuyer les expositions d’art autochtone à l’occasion de salons professionnels comme l’Exposition nationale canadienne de Toronto. Les grands magasins tels que Eaton’s ou la Compagnie de la Baie d’Hudson se mettent à vendre de l’ « artisanat » indien. Le gouvernement ira même jusqu’à commercialiser cet artisanat par le truchement de la Division des parcs nationaux du ministère des Mines et des Ressources.14 Mais cette commercialisation à grande échelle et peu réglementée devient très vite source d’innombrables problèmes liés à l’authenticité des objets, le marché étant vite submergé d’imitations asiatiques. Forcé de réagir, le gouvernement fédéral met sur pied un programme de coordination de l’image de marque et une campagne de publicité pour réparer les pots cassés. Les galeries d’art commerciales qui vendent de l’art autochtone (indien et inuit) sont réglementées et contrôlées par le gouvernement qui délivre des étiquettes à apposer sur toutes les œuvres vendues.

Parmi les « marques » fédérales, on peut voir une feuille d’érable, une peau de castor étirée ou un igloo. Le programme s’avère coûteux et difficile à maintenir et à gérer.15 Pourtant, le rapport de la Commission royale entraînera une réorganisation majeure des services du ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien. Les fonctions de la Division des affaires indiennes sont regroupées en trois secteurs d’activités majeures : éducation, exploitation (responsable du développement économique) et services de soutien. En 1964, le Cabinet fédéral approuve la création d’une quatrième division, celle des « programmes sociaux ». Un rapport interne datant de 1973, A Review and Analysis of Cultural Development Division, Education Branch, Indian and Eskimo Program » donne une idée des programmes sociaux relatifs aux Affaires indiennes, notant que « la nouvelle Division des programmes sociaux nécessite une réorientation de la Division du bien-être social, en accordant une attention particulière au développement social et culturel des Indiens. Le gouvernement propose que la nouvelle division soit en charge de l’élaboration des politiques et des plans pour les services du bien-être social, les services communautaires et les affaires culturelles. »16 Le rapport mentionne que Walter Rudnicki est le premier fonctionnaire à être nommé à la Division des programmes sociaux en 1962, probablement parce que c’est lui qui a écrit la première présentation au Conseil du Trésor et non pas pour

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son expérience réelle de l’art autochtone.17 Sous sa direction, la Division des programmes sociaux établit une Section des affaires culturelles en 1965.18 L’auteur québécois Yves Thériault en devient le premier directeur, avec pour conseiller spécial l’écrivain anishinabé Tom Peltier.19 Cette nouvelle section sera responsable de la promotion des arts autochtones, des expositions et projets spéciaux, des publications d’intérêt particulier pour les Indiens et de la coordination des intérêts culturels des Affaires indiennes avec l’Office national du film, la Société Radio-Canada, le Musée national de l’homme et la Galerie nationale du Canada. Dans le rapport départemental, le programme initial propose l’engagement sous contrat d’au moins six employés d’ascendance indienne dans la Section des affaires culturelles. Toutefois, ce seront des fonctionnaires déjà en place qui occuperont les postes de chef de section et d’adjoint administratif. En dépit de cette proposition, aucun Indien ne sera engagé. A l’époque, on explique cela par le manque d’Indiens qualifiés pour ces postes clés. 20 Lorsque Rudnicki quitte son poste deux ans seulement après y avoir été nommé, Thériault et Peltier ne recevront plus le même soutien de la haute direction. Plusieurs de leurs propositions de programmes culturels sont rejetées au profit d’un Programme de subventions aux affaires culturelles jugé moins compliqué. Bien que ce Programme soit administré par la Section des affaires culturelles, comme son objectif se limite surtout à financer des pow-wow ou des rassemblements culturels, il ne favorise guère la promotion de l’art visuel contemporain. En dépit de ces obstacles liés au système, Thériault et Peltier réussissent à avoir un Pavillon des Indiens du Canada à Expo 67. 21 La Section des affaires culturelles réussit aussi à établir un comité consultatif autochtone pour l’Exposition et engage une équipe solide d’artistes et de visionnaires comprenant Tom Hill (dont l’avant-projet sera exécuté en céramique par Jean-Marie Gros-Louis), Alex Janvier, Henry et Tony Hunt, Ross Woods, George Clutesi, Gerald Tailfeathers, Norval Morrisseau aidé par Carl Ray et, pour finir, Francis Kagige. 22 Lorsqu’Yves Thériault part en 1967, le Ministère nomme M. Ahab Spence, un Cri de Split Lake (Manitoba) pour diriger la Section des affaires culturelles. 23 De 1967 à 1970, il essaiera de développer et d’orienter le programme et les services de la Section pour qu’ils répondent mieux aux besoins nationaux. Il essaie d’élargir le programme en 1968 en nommant des spécialistes en beaux-arts et littérature et un linguiste. Bien qu’un centre de documentation fasse l’objet de nombreuses discussions, le projet ne se concrétisera pas. 24 Pendant les années 1970, les artistes et les dirigeants autochtones intensifient leurs efforts de lobbying pour avoir leur mot à dire dans les programmes culturels fédéraux. Le Ministère entame alors un processus national de consultation. À la suite d’un partenariat conclu avec le Secrétariat d’État du Canada, le premier Congrès canadien de la culture indienne se tient à Ottawa en mars 1970, suivi de deux autres en 1971 et 1972. Il en ressortira un certain nombre de recommandations significatives, dont celle de transférer les affaires culturelles aux provinces et territoires pour mieux répondre aux disparités régionales ainsi qu’une motion appelant à un soutien supplémentaire pour la liaison, la promotion et la coordination des subventions aux affaires culturelles, aux programmes linguistiques, aux activités de développement de la littérature et aux programmes dans les beaux-arts. 25 Lorsque M. Spence quitte le Ministère en 1970, le travail de la Section des affaires culturelles est une fois de plus perturbé pendant que la haute direction cherche une personne qualifiée pour le remplacer. Fin 1970, Colin Wasacase, un Cri de la Saskatchewan est embauché mais, peu après, le Ministère est réorganisé une fois de plus. La Section des affaires culturelles passe des Affaires

sociales à la Direction générale de l’Éducation parce qu’on veut que les affaires culturelles s’alignent sur un secteur qui connaît les ressources et les outils éducatifs et, surtout, parce que la haute direction veut s’éloigner des beaux-arts et favoriser le perfectionnement linguistique et l’éducation. 26 Même si le Ministère continue d’acquérir des œuvres d’art pour sa collection, il remet l’accent sur l’éducation et les ressources. Cette nouvelle réorientation se traduit par la publication de Tawow, le premier magazine culturel du Ministère. Tawow (terme cri pour « il y a de la place pour vous » ou « bienvenue ») a une portée nationale. Rédigé avec le concours d’écrivains et de rédacteurs en chef invités, il parle d’artistes, d’écrivains et d’interprètes contemporains, d’expositions et d’événements culturels. Le magazine paraît pendant les années 1970 mais le poste de cadre à la Section des affaires culturelles reste vacant de 1973 à 1977. C’est alors que Tom Hill est engagé pour le poste. Tawow a déjà parlé de Hill en 1974 et mis son travail en couverture. L’article le décrit comme « un perfectionniste de talent » : [Hill] est un Indien sénéca de la réserve des Six-Nations (Ontario). Il a étudié à l’Ontario College of Art et vient d’être nommé coordinateur d’une exposition majeure, Indian Art ’74, au Musée royal de l’Ontario. C’est à ce titre qu’on entendra beaucoup parler de Tom à l’avenir. Ce leader et chef de file donnera aux artistes indiens une occasion précieuse d’exposer leurs travaux. Il a déjà démontré ses talents d’organisateur et de promoteur en organisant de nombreuses expositions d’art et d’artisanat indiens et en produisant le livre d’Olive Dickason, Arts indiens au Canada. 27 Le virage vers l’éducation et les langues est probablement précipité par la nécessité d’éliminer les doublons inutiles. En effet, le secteur du Développement économique a établi en 1970 le Service central de commercialisation (CMS) dans le but de maximiser la commercialisation des œuvres des artistes indiens en les entreposant et les vendant. Le CMS sera ultérieurement restructuré et renommé CIMS (Central Indian Marketing Services).

Il sera géré, en partie, par un conseil d’administration autonome.

En 1974, le gouvernement fédéral met sur pied des programmes nationaux de développement économique, ce qui entraîne la réduction du nombre d’organismes provinciaux d’art et d’artisanat qui sont créés. Si leur nombre diminue, certains voient le jour à travers le Canada, dont Les Artisans indiens du Québec, la Indian Arts and Crafts Society of British Columbia, la Native Arts and Crafts Corporation of Ontario, la Mic Mac Arts and Crafts Society of Nova Scotia, et Manitoba Indian Arts and Crafts, ainsi qu’un organisme national, la National Indian Arts and Crafts Corporation (NIACC) ou Société nationale de l’art et de l’artisanat indiens.

En 1977, la première présentation au Conseil du Trésor autorisant la NIACC à « gérer » le Programme de soutien et de développement de l’art et de l’artisanat indiens est approuvée et en février 1978, le premier accord est signé entre la NIACC et le ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien. La subvention du Ministère couvre les frais d’administration, de promotion commerciale et de distribution. Il était prévu que la NIACC et ses homologues provinciaux assumeraient l’entière responsabilité de la promotion, de la production et de la vente de l’art indien. Toutefois, en 1978, le Conseil du Trésor que préoccupent les problèmes administratifs et le manque à gagner substantiel de la société28 ordonne au Ministère de mettre fin à la société et d’arrêter les achats avant le 31 décembre 1978. 29 Début 1979, tous les biens du CIMS sont liquidés et les œuvres d’art qui restent sont transférées à la collection du Ministère. En attendant la fermeture du CIMS, il est prévu que la NIACC absorbera le CIMS et continuera à opérer selon un seul programme pour répondre au besoin du secteur des arts

et de l’artisanat indiens. Avec la fin du CIMS et du financement, la NIACC fait face à des pressions d’ordre organisationnel et financier, alors que les sociétés provinciales et territoriales tentent de combler le vide créé par la dissolution du CIMS. 30 L’échec de la fusion du CIMS et de la NIACC exacerbe l’instabilité du secteur des arts et de l’artisanat indiens. Artistes et organismes artistiques accusent le gouvernement de les empêcher de prendre le contrôle d’un système de commercialisation viable pour l’art et l’artisanat. La NIACC et les sociétés provinciales arrivent à combler le vide à court terme mais elles n’arrivent pas à développer une stratégie et une infrastructure nationales de commercialisation durables. À la fin des années 1980, la NIACC et presque tous ses homologues provinciaux mettent la clé sous la porte. 31 C’est le cas de l’Alberta Arts and Crafts Corporation. En décembre 1992, tout son inventaire est mis aux enchères, dont des chefs-d’œuvre d’Alex Janvier et d’autres artistes majeurs de l’Alberta. 32 Comble d’ironie, le même Ministère qui est accusé de miner le secteur des arts et de l’artisanat en fermant le CIMS se trouve maintenant en train d’intervenir dans la vente aux enchères publique. En faisant de la surenchère, il acquiert toute la collection qui fait désormais partie, sous le nom de Collection albertaine, de la collection d’art contemporain du Ministère. 33 En dépit de la controverse qui entoure la commercialisation de l’art autochtone, le développement et la disparition du CIMS et de la NIACC, la section des Affaires culturelles est redynamisée en 1977 lorsque Tom Hill en devient le principal agent culturel. Son plan est de revenir à l’objectif initial du mandat de la Section : expositions, promotion, éducation, développement des ressources, subventions culturelles, acquisitions et partenariats. Au même moment, les Affaires culturelles engagent le sculpteur cayuga David General comme conservateur de la collection.

La section des Affaires culturelles continue d’acquérir des œuvres d’art. Certaines sont maintenant considérées comme des chefsd’œuvre, dont celles des artistes de la PNIAI Norval Morrisseau, Alex Janvier et Daphne Odjig, et d’autres artistes reconnus comme Bill Reid, Arthur Shilling, Frida Diesing et Robert Davidson. Durant son mandat, Tom Hill rehaussera le programme en organisant des expositions innovatrices d’œuvres de l’impressionnante collection du Ministère et en collaborant à des documentaires avec l’Office national du film du Canada LES PEINTRES ANISHINABÉS Une des plus importantes avancées du début des années 1960 est peut-être le style artistique de Norval Morriseau, un style clairement ashinabé. Son dessin au trait chargé de spiritualité et ses relations holistiques figure et fond sont fortement influencés par l’iconographie mnémonique sacrée de la société Midewiwin et ses récits visuels incisés sur des rouleaux en écorce de bouleau.

La transformation et la réinterprétation qu’en fait Morrisseau sont si nouvelles et libératrices qu’elles incitent de nombreux artistes à adopter le style de peinture des Anishinabés, particulièrement dans le nord-ouest de l’Ontario et sur l’île Manitoulin.

Originaire de Wikwemikong, Daphne Odjig avait été surnommée la « grand-mère de Picasso » par Norval Morrisseau. 34 En 1995, j’ai eu l’occasion de lui parler longuement de ses premières années d’artiste et de la réception de son art par le public. Elle se rappelait qu’au tout début, on n’arrêtait pas de critiquer son style qu’on jugeait dérivé de Pablo Picasso et de Georges Braque.

Elle n’acceptait pas ces deux poids deux mesures. Lorsque des artistes tels que Picasso s’essaient avec d’autres mouvements ou empruntent d’autres cultures, on trouve cela novateur. Qu’un artiste autochtone fasse de même, on trouve cela insultant et dérivatif. 35

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La convergence des peintres de l’île Manitoulin et l’émergence d’un style ashinabé unique peuvent être attribués à plusieurs initiatives d’influence comme la Manitoulin Arts Foundation, les Schreiber Island Projects (1971, 1972 et 1973) et l’inauguration de la Ojibwe Cultural Foundation en 1974. Daphne Odjig sera invitée à siéger au conseil d’administration de la Manitou Arts Foundation et retournera chez elle pour enseigner la peinture dans le cadre de la première école estivale de beaux-arts sur l’île Schreiber en 1971.

Les projets de l’île Schreiber donneront l’occasion aux peintres de l’île Manitoulin de se réunir pour dialoguer, critiquer, recevoir une formation artistique et celle aussi de rencontrer plusieurs artistes d’influence comme Odjig et Carl Ray, un autre artiste de la PNIAI. L’ouverture en 1974 de la Ojibwe Cultural Foundation chez la Première Nation de M’Chigeeng sur l’île Manitoulin est aussi une initiative importante. Sa créatrice et ancienne directrice, Mary Lou Fox Radulovich, avec d’autres enseignants — Margaret Fox, Meluyna Corbiere, Grace Fox et Evelyn Pelletier — qui partagent la même vision, donne naissance à la fondation pour revitaliser la culture en mettant l’accent sur le développement de la langue Anishinaabemowin, la tradition orale et la spiritualité. 36 Fox se souvient d’un club d’art indien avec plusieurs peintres connus de l’île Manitoulin qui ont aussi participé aux projets de l’île Schreiber : Blake Debassige, Martin Panamick, James Simon (Mishibinijma), Randy Trudeau, Don Ense, Eleanor Kanasawe, John Laford, Mel Madahbee et Leland Bell. 37 LA GRAVURE AUTOCHTONE Les premiers collectifs d’artistes, bien qu’ils ne soient pas sous contrôle autochtone, sont les coopératives inuites organisées par A. Houston qui, à la fin des années 1950, développe l’art de la gravure à Cape Dorset. 38 Au même moment, on assiste aux ÉtatsUnis à une résurgence de cet art. Conscient que la lithographie est en déclin, l’artiste June Wayne crée le Tamarind Lithography Workshop en 1960. 39 Les normes professionnelles et archivistiques qui découlent de la renaissance de la gravure assurent qu’elle est rapidement acceptée comme technique artistique dans le monde de l’art contemporain et ce sont des artistes autochtones qui sont à l’avant-garde de sa résurgence.

L’intérêt que Daphne Odjig porte à l’estampe est manifeste lorsqu’elle ouvre Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Limited à Winnipeg en 1970. Ce lieu sera plus tard un élément d’influence pour la Triple K Co-operative, une coopérative autochtone. En 1973, les frères Joshim Kakegamic, Goyce Kakegamic et Henry Kakegamic, après avoir étudié cet art et reconnu l’ampleur de sa renaissance retournent dans leur communauté, Red Lake, et ouvrent leur coopérative. Joshim et Goyce Kakegamic étaient des artistes professionnels à part entière créant dans le style des Anishinabés développé par leur beau-frère Norval Morrisseau. Le profil de la coopérative est rehaussé par la production des gravures à tirage limité de Norval Morrisseau qui se vendaient dans des galeries d’art canadiennes et internationales. Le CIMS et la NIACC, qui est financée par le gouvernement fédéral vendent les gravures de la Triple K, dont beaucoup se retrouvent dans la collection d’art du Ministère. En outre, la Triple K produisait des gravures à tirage limité de Barry Peters, Paddy Peters et Saul Williams, protégés de Morrisseau qui travaillaient aussi dans le style des Anishinabés. En 1977, le Musée royal de l’Ontario à Toronto organise l’exposition de sérigraphies Contemporary Native Art of Canada—Silk screens from the Triple K Co-operative, Red Lake, Ontario. Mais en 1978, Goyce Kakagemic vend ses parts à son frère Howard, et quand Henry prend sa retraite en 1983, la Triple K ferme ses portes.40

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LE COLLÈGE COMMUNAUTAIRE MANITOU DE LA MACAZA (QUÉBEC), 1973–1976 Bien que les raisons cachées de la création et la fermeture du Collège Manitou de la Macaza, au Québec, soient sujettes à controverses et restent mystérieuses, ce projet correspondait clairement à un des objectifs initiaux de la PNIAI, à savoir la formation et le perfectionnement des jeunes artistes autochtones.

Chapitre final et souvent oublié de l’histoire de l’art autochtone de l’époque, le collège communautaire Manitou est tout d’abord une initiative populaire menée par un groupe de jeunes Autochtones qui étudient à Montréal et qui se battent pour que « les Indiens aient le contrôle de l’éducation indienne », concept au premier plan de la défense des intérêts autochtones en réaction au Livre blanc et aux controverses qui continuent à entourer la question des pensionnats autochtones et des écoles dans les réserves sous financement fédéral.

L’artiste anishinabé Robert Houle, alors étudiant en beauxarts à l’Université McGill, est invité à entreprendre une étude de faisabilité concernant la création, à la Macaza, d’un collège similaire à l’Institute of American Indian Art de Santa Fe (NouveauMexique). Un site potentiel a déjà été identifié, la base de missiles Bomarc (Boeing Michigan Aeronautical Research Centre) qui est à l’abandon. La base qui appartient au gouvernement fédéral est administrée conjointement par les ministères des Affaires indiennes et de la Défense nationale. L’Association des Indiens du Québec soutient la proposition auprès du ministère des Affaires indiennes qui donne son aval pour que la base devienne un établissement culturel et éducatif.

Lorsqu’il ouvre en 1973, le collège Manitou est le seul collège communautaire accrédité au Canada à être sous contrôle indien. Financé par le biais du Programme des centres culturels et éducatifs du ministère des Affaires indiennes et par les associations indiennes et inuites du Québec, le collège est reconnu officiellement comme collège d’enseignement général et professionnel ou cégep.

Le collège communautaire Manitou développe une approche multidisciplinaire de la formation artistique dans le domaine des arts visuels et des arts de la scène. Il offre des cours sur l’art des Woodlands, les arts traditionnels comme la vannerie ou la broderie en piquants de porc-épic, les motifs perlés, la céramique, l’art du bijou, le théâtre, la musique, la danse, la gravure et la photographie.

Il instaure un programme de trois ans avec une quatrième année facultative d’études spécialisées. La diversité et la flexibilité des programmes d’études permettent aux étudiants d’explorer tous les aspects des influences culturelles, spirituelles et politiques et de les intégrer à leurs travaux et à leurs études.

Toutes sortes de forces se cristallisent pendant la brève existence du Collège communautaire Manitou. Le nationalisme québécois est alors à son plus fort, à la suite de la crise d’octobre 1970. Les relations entre la Province du Québec et les Cris de la Baie-James sont tendues en raison des projets hydroélectriques sur les terres ancestrales des Cris. Les étudiants qui sont politisés participent à des manifestations à Montréal. Le collège doit faire face à des coûts d’exploitation élevés et à une dette croissante. Les sources de financement qu’offraient l’Association des Inuits du Québec, l’Association des Indiens du Québec et les Cris du Québec se tarissent. Le collège Manitou doit mettre la clé sous la porte le 18 décembre 1976.

Dans un « Rapport spécial sur le Collège communautaire Manitou » publié un mois après la fermeture du collège, la haute

direction réagit aux critiques qui ont été formulées depuis les débuts de l’établissement.41 En ce qui concerne la duplication des programmes d’arts offerts par d’autres collèges et universités, le rapport note que la majorité des cours de sciences sociales et tous les cours d’art autochtone sont indéniablement uniques. De plus, le collège avait reçu du ministère de l’Éducation du Québec un mandat spécial, celui de créer des cours à contenu autochtone, en accordant une attention particulière à une programmation novatrice, expérimentale et distincte qui pourrait être utilisée par d’autres collèges communautaires. La direction fait valoir qu’en raison de la formation spécialisée qu’il offre, le collège est distinct des autres collèges. Le rapport mentionne aussi que non seulement très peu d’Autochtones sont inscrits dans les Universités McGill et Concordia, mais aussi qu’elles n’offrent pas de programmes de langues et que les Autochtones n’y ont pas de pouvoir décisionnel.

Réagissant aux critiques qui lui sont adressées relativement aux coûts élevés d’exploitation (1,3 million de dollars par année pour un effectif de 120 étudiants), la direction répond que cette somme ne tient pas compte des 180 étudiants qui suivent des cours de l’été et des plus de 120 étudiants sur deux ans qui se sont vus refuser de l’aide financière par le ministères des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien. Le rapport conclut que le collège Manitou et AINC avaient tous les deux une obligation morale vis à vis des étudiants inscrits et avaient requis une aide et des ressources provisoires pour explorer comment les questions de financement pourraient être résolues sans avoir à fermer le collège. En fin de compte, le collège ne s’en remit pas mais, durant sa courte existence, il a influencé un nombre important d’artistes qui, par la suite, donneront une nouvelle orientation aux arts et à l’éducation artistique autochtones.42 CONCLUSION En 1978, Daphne Odjig et Alex Janvier font partie des artistes qui se rassemblent à la Ojibwe Cultural Foundation de M’Chigeeng sur l’île Manitoulin pour la toute première Conférence nationale sur les arts autochtones.43 De cette conférence et de la seconde qui se tiendra au village K’san à Hazelton (Colombie-Britannique) naîtra la Société des artistes canadiens d’origine autochtone (SACOA). Les préoccupations qui ont amené à sa formation font écho à celles de la PNIAI : sous-représentation au niveau régional et national d’œuvres d’art contemporain, insuffisance d’expositions particulièrement dans les institutions d’art, les collections publiques et les galeries d’art privées. Parmi les premiers membres du conseil d’administration et du comité consultatif de la SACOA, on compte plusieurs artistes précurseurs : Doreen Jensen, David General, Norman Tait, Freda Diesing, Alfred Young Man, et Carl Beam ainsi qu’à titre de conseillers, Tom Hill et Daphne Odjig, nommés pour leurs contributions, leur expérience et leurs prises de position en faveur des arts.

Les années 1960 et 1970 ont véritablement été une période révolutionnaire d’engagement actif, d’organisation, de mobilisation, de prises de position et de changement pour les artistes autochtones. La ténacité et la persévérance dont ont fait preuve artistes, visionnaires, écoles, collectifs et mouvements sont phénoménales. La PNIAI n’a jamais perdu de vue ses objectifs fondamentaux : programmes de financement pour permettre aux artistes de créer, promotion des œuvres et galeries commerciales pour les exposer, mentorat des jeunes artistes, bourses d’études et de formation pour les jeunes. Quand nous jetons un regard rétrospectif sur l’époque, il est clair que la PNIAI a révélé que nous partageons tous les mêmes objectifs et les mêmes aspirations. Il nous incombe, collectivement, de les poursuivre à l’avenir.

notes 1

Indian Association of Alberta, Citizens Plus (Edmonton: Association des Indiens de l’Alberta, 1970).

2 R. M. Vanderburgh and M. E. Southcott, A Paintbrush in My Hand—Daphne Odjig (Toronto: Natural Heritage/Natural History Inc., 1992), 75.

3 Voir Ardith Walkem and Halie Bruce, Box of Treasures or Empty Box? Twenty Years of Section 35 (Penticton, BC: Theytus Books, 2003).

4 Politique indienne du Gouvernement du Canada (Le livre blanc, 1969), Affaires autochtone et Développement du Nord Canada, www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/fra/1 100100010189/1100100010191.

5 Les politiques d’assimilation et l’éradication des droits ancestraux et issus de traités, subverties jusqu’à tout récemment, ont refait leur apparition dans le projet de loi omnibus C-45 du Gouvernement du Canada qui a déclenché un mouvement national qui rappelle l’activisme post-livre blanc de 1969–1970.

6 Présentation au Conseil du Trésor, Division des affaires indiennes, ministère de la Citoyenneté et de l‘Immigration, établissement de la Division des affaires sociales, 17 mars 1964; Document de travail sur la politique des arts visuels autochtones, ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien, 5 octobre 1982.

La commission avait un vaste mandat, celui d’encourager les activités et les 7 organismes culturels qui créent un sentiment national, dont les universités, les archives, les musées, les médias, les arts visuels, les arts du spectacle et l’artisanat, en s’attachant à la diversité, aux producteurs et aux créateurs. Voir Jody Berland, « Nationalism and the Modernist Legacy: Dialogue with Innis », dans Capital Culture: a Reader on Modernist Legacies, State Institutions, and the Value(s) of Art, ed. Jody Berland and Sheila Hornstein (Montreal: McGillQueen’s University Press, 2000), 33–35.

8 « Arts indiens », chap. 15 dans Rapport de la Commission royale d’enquêtes sur l’avancement des arts, lettres et sciences au Canada (Ottawa: Imprimeur du roi, 1951), 240.

9 De 1950 à 1965, les Affaires indiennes et inuit relèvent du ministère de la Citoyenneté et de l’Immigration. En 1966, elles passent sous l’égide du ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien.

10 Ibid., 242.

11 Ibid., 240.

12 Ibid.

13 Shirley Madill, Jackson Beardy: A Life’s Work (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1993), 12.

14 Trudy Nicks, « Marketing of an Image », Artscraft 2, no.3 (1990) : 7.

15 Ibid.

16 K. D. Uppal, « A Review and Analysis of Cultural Development Division, Education Branch, Indian and Eskimo Program », Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, 25 octobre 1973, 1.

17 Ibid., 2.

18 Tom Hill and Elizabeth McLuhan, « Indian Art in Canada: An Historical Perspective », dans Norval Morrisseau and the Emergence of the Image Makers (Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1984), 21.

19 Thomas E. « Jomin » Peltier (1936–2009) a été conseiller politique des premiers ministres canadiens Lester B. Pearson, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Jean Chrétien et Paul Martin. Originaire de Wikwemekong, c’était un écrivain de talent, auteur du roman Bearwalk (1977) et un fervent supporter des arts sa vie durant.

20 Uppal, 3–5.

21 Mary E. Southcott, The Sound of the Drum: The Sacred Art of the Anishnabec (Erin, ON: Boston Mills Press, 1984), 29.

22 Ruth B. Phillips et Sherry Brydon, « Arrow of Truth: The Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67 », dans Museum Pieces: Towards the Indigenization of Canadian Museums (Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2011), 36–38.

23 M. Ahab Spence (1911–2001), ministre du culte anglican, a reçu le titre de docteur en droit h.c. de l’Université de la Saskatchewan en 1964. Il a été président de la Fraternité des Indiens du Manitoba de 1974 à 1976, a enseigné le cri au Saskatchewan Indian Federated College de 1980 à 1988. En 1982, il a été nommé Membre de l’Ordre du Canada. Voir Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan, s.v. « Spence, Ahab », esask.uregina.ca/entry/spence_ahab_1911-2001.html.

24 Uppal, 6.

25 Ibid., 7.

26 Ibid., 10.

27 Tawow 3, no 2 (1974) : 3–5.

28 Présentation au Conseil du Trésor, 17 mars 1964; Document de travail sur la politique des arts visuels autochtones, 5 octobre 1982, 2.

29 Ibid.

30 Ibid.

31 Alfred Young Man, « Bob Boyer et la Société des artistes canadiens d’origine autochtone (SCANA) », dans Bob Boyer : Le travail d’une vie, éd. Lee-Ann Martin (Regina: MacKenzie Art Gallery, 2008), 172.

32 Brian Laghi, « Private art buyers chased from sale », The Calgary Herald, 20 décembre 1992, A4.

33 Bulletin d’information, ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien, janvier 1993.

34 Jann L. M. Bailey, « Daphne Odjig », Prix du Gouverneur général en arts visuels et en arts médiatiques, Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts, 2007, Canada Council for the Arts/Conseil des arts du Canada, www.canadacouncil.ca/prizes/ggavma/2007/kc128182835977597792.htm 35 Daphne Odjig, entrevue personnelle avec l’auteur, Ottawa (Ontario), 30 novembre 1995.

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36

Le mot Anishinaabemowin réfère à la langue anishinabée. Voir Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, www.ojibweculture.ca/site/TheOCF/tabid/36/Default.aspx.

37 Southcott, The Sound of the Drum, 122.

38 James Houston, un artiste qui s’est rendu pour la première fois dans l’Arctique en 1951, est engagé par la Corporation canadienne de l’artisanat puis fonde des coopératives de gravures inuites conforté par le succès de ses collaborations pilotes avec Oshaweetok (Osuitok Ipeelee) en 1957. Voir Richard C. Crandall, Inuit Art: a History (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, 2000), 119–23.

39 En 1959, June Wayne présente « To Restore the Art of the Lithograph in the United States » à la fondation Ford. L’année suivante, elle crée le Tamarind Workshop. Voir Marjorie Devon, éd., Tamarind: 40 Years (Albuquerque NM: Tamarind Institute, 2000), 1–4. Les artistes autochtones canadiens Faye HeavyShield et Robert Houle font partie des artistes à avoir produit des gravures à Tamarind.

40 Southcott, The Sound of the Drum, 50.

41 Velma Bourque, John Dione, George W. Miller, « Rapport spécial sur le collège communautaire Manitou » (rapport non publié, 26 janvier 1976).

42 Domingo Cisneros and Edward Poitras, deux artistes et instructeurs de renom, anciens étudiants au collège, seront associés par la suite à d’autres programmes et établiront de nouvelles directions esthétiques. Parmi les anciens, on peut mentionner l’artiste visuel Alex Jacobs (Mohawk), Monik Sioui (1951–1997, Wendat/Abenaki) qui a enseigné et dirigé l’atelier de gravure du collège et publié aussi des histoires orales, des poèmes, des essais et des journaux, ainsi que Blair Stonechild, docteur en philosophie (Cri), qui retournera en Saskatchewan et sera un de fondateurs du Département d’études indiennes au Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (maintenant Université des Premières Nations du Canada).

43 Alfred Young Man, « Towards a Political History of Native Art », dans Visions of Power : Contemporary Art by First Nations, Inuit and Japanese Canadians, catalogue d’exposition (Toronto: Earth Spirit, [1991]).

PREMIÈRES AVENTURES DANS LE COURANT DOMINANT : ALEX JANVIER, NORVAL MORRISSEAU, ET DAPHNE ODJIG 1962–1975 LEE-ANN MARTIN On s’entend maintenant pour dire qu’au Canada, l’art et les institutions culturelles ont historiquement appuyé et maintenu une perspective distinctement eurocanadienne de l’esthétique et de la production culturelle.

— Steve Loft, 20121 Des sept membres fondateurs de la Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., ce sont Alex Janvier, Norval Morrisseau et Daphne Odjig qui ont été confrontés le plus souvent à la « perspective distinctement eurocanadienne » des galeries d’art publiques et privées dans les années 1960 et au début des années 1970. Les trois artistes, de démarche stylistique et de formation différentes, ont eu accès aux mêmes livres d’art dans l’après-guerre des années 1950.

Vivant à l’époque en Colombie-Britannique, Daphne Odjig visite les galeries pour voir ce qu’on y présente et pour consulter les catalogues d’exposition. 2 Dans les bibliothèques publiques, elle peut étudier les tout nouveaux livres d’art grand format sur Picasso et autres artistes de l’art moderne européen. 3 En 1958, Norval Morrisseau, quant à lui, rencontre le docteur Joseph Weinstein et sa femme Esther à Cochenour, petite ville minière du Nord de l’Ontario. Le couple d’avides collectionneurs met à la disposition de Morrisseau sa vaste bibliothèque.4 Finalement, Alex Janvier découvre pour la première fois l’art moderne pendant ses études au pensionnat autochtone Blue Quills à Saint-Paul (Alberta), dont le directeur, le révérend père Étienne Bernet-Rollande, l’encourage et lui fait lire des ouvrages d’art. Dès 1950, Janvier a l’occasion de suivre des cours en dehors du cadre scolaire avec Karl Altenberg,

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peintre et professeur d’art du programme d’éducation permanente de l’Université d’Alberta. Ce dernier fait découvrir la section des beaux-arts de la bibliothèque universitaire au jeune artiste, lequel se découvrira une forte affinité avec des artistes modernes tels Wassily Kandinsky. 5 NORVAL MORRISSEAU La première exposition de Norval Morrisseau à la Pollock Gallery à Toronto, en 1962, est devenue légendaire dans l’histoire de l’art canadien. Pendant l’été 1960, Jack Pollock est embauché pour donner une série de séminaires sur les techniques de la peinture contemporaine dans plusieurs villes de la rive nord-ouest du lac Supérieur. Partout où il enseigne, on lui parle d’un « artiste indien qui peint sur de l’écorce de bouleau ». Il finit par rencontrer éventuellement Morrisseau à Beardmore et, en voyant ses œuvres, comprend immédiatement qu’il a affaire à un Canadien de grand talent.6 Morrisseau accepte alors d’exposer à la prestigieuse Pollock Gallery en septembre 1962. En moins de vingt-quatre heures, tous ses tableaux sont vendus. Morrisseau est salué par la critique et connaît la notoriété. Dans le courant du mois, un article du Time décrit Morrisseau comme un « Primitiviste » et cite Pollock : « En raison de cet isolement accidentel, c’est un peintre original et sans inhibitions. La richesse des légendes et son talent élèvent son art au-delà de la simple décoration. »7 Cette première exposition réussie et celles qui suivront dans d’autres galeries publiques et privées au cours des années 1960 attestent de l’intérêt que suscite son art. Ces galeries, opérant dans le cadre de l’esthétique euro-canadienne du moment, exposaient principalement des œuvres d’expressionnistes abstraits de New York, d’artistes européens anciens et modernes, et, bien sûr, des paysages canadiens inspirés du Groupe des Sept. Les thèmes et la virtuosité novatrice de Morrisseau retiennent l’attention. Ils représentent une « bouffée d’air frais ».

La mystique qui entoure l’artiste et sa culture en appelle aux sentiments et au libéralisme du début des années 1960. Dans ces années d’après-guerre qui voient s’accroître les explorations et les voyages internationaux, Morrisseau représente l’ « exotisme » au Canada. Si ses œuvres ne se vendent pas toujours dans leur totalité, l’artiste ne cesse cependant pas d’exposer à la Pollock Gallery au cours des années 1960 et jusqu’au début des années 1980. Il a aussi des expositions solos, entre autres à la Hart House Gallery de l’Université de Toronto (1965) et au Musée du Québec, à Québec (1966). En 1975, ses œuvres ont déjà fait l’objet d’expositions à la Bau-Xi Gallery à Vancouver et à la Shayne Gallery à Montréal.

DAPHNE ODJIG Avant 1955, la production artistique de Daphne Odjig est limitée, car elle prend soin de ses enfants. En outre, les débouchés commerciaux sont encore rares dans le domaine de l’art. 8 Mais vers la fin des années 1950 et au début des années 1960s, Odjig a déjà employé diverses techniques pour créer des œuvres abstraites cubistes et des œuvres plus figuratives. En 1965, Odjig déménage à Easterville, dans le nord du Manitoba, où son mari, Chester Beavon, a été nommé agent de développement communautaire. C’est près d’Easterville qu’avait véçu la Première Nation crie Chemawawin qui a été relocalisée sur la rive sud du lac Cedar en 1962–63 lorsque Manitoba Hydro a construit le barrage de Grand Rapids et inondé ses communautés et ses territoires de chasse. La situation désespérée des Cris Chemawawin est un tournant dans la carrière d’Odjig. L’artiste abandonne la peinture paysagiste pour le dessin à la plume. Affectée par le sort des Autochtones, elle dépeint les scènes de la vie de tous les jours, les problèmes divers causés par le déplacement, et la perte d’une économie ancestrale viable.9

C’est pendant qu’elle vit à Easterville qu’Odjig vend ses premières œuvres à Gary Scherbain, alors fonctionnaire au ministère du Bien-être social du Manitoba.10 Scherbain emporte aussi des esquisses et des tableaux à Winnipeg, où il les vend à de nombreux collectionneurs. Ces premières ventes motivent encore plus Odjig.

En 1967, elle a sa première exposition publique — soixante-dix-huit dessins, pastels et acryliques — au Lakehead Art Centre à Thunder Bay, alors Port Arthur (Ontario).

Odjig a une autre exposition solo en 1968 à l’Université de Brandon, sous l’égide de la Fraternité des Indiens du Manitoba, maintenant l’Assemblée des chefs du Manitoba, organisme dans lequel Odjig et ses fils sont actifs. Lors du vernissage, le secrétaire-trésorier de la Fraternité, Isaac Beaulieu, qui est le conférencier invité, atteste de « l’authenticité des légendes que l’artiste a représentées dans les peintures hautes en couleur ».11 En 1968, la Fraternité parrainera encore deux autres expositions dans des hôtels de Winnipeg. En 1969, tout en n’étant pas encore exposée dans des galeries d’art commerciales, Odjig commence à être connue localement grâce à ses expositions solos à l’Assemblée législative du Manitoba et au grand magazine Eaton de Winnipeg et nationalement, grâce à son tableau, In the Bosom of Mother Earth, acquis pour la collection nationale du ministère des Affaires indiennes à Ottawa.12 En 1970, Odjig est parmi les rares artistes canadiens à être représentés à l’exposition universelle d’Osaka, au Japon. Son tableau, Earth Mother (1969), a été commandité pour le pavillon du Canada.

En 1970, les Beavon commencent à reproduire certains des dessins à la plume réalisés à Easterville avec l’aide d’un ami de Winnipeg qui a une petite presse à imprimer.13 Ces reproductions deviennent si recherchées que le couple décide de compiler un petit catalogue qu’il envoie dans les écoles et les administrations. C’est ainsi qu’Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Limited voit le jour. En dépit du risque qu’ils courent, selon certains, de saturer le marché d’éditions à tirage illimité, les affaires prospèrent. Chester démissionne de la Fonction publique et en 1971, ils s’installent à Winnipeg où ils ouvrent un petit magasin pour vendre des objets d’art et d’artisanat et écouler les gravures. Comme c’est un des premiers magasins autochtones d’artisanat au Canada, il attire les meilleurs artisans d’art indien de la province et du pays. Entre-temps, le petit catalogue s’est étoffé et inclut des reproductions en couleur des tableaux d’Odjig ainsi que de ceux d’Eddy Cobiness, Norval Morrisseau et Carl Ray. Le magasin d’Odjig devient rapidement non seulement un lieu de rencontre pour un cercle grandissant d’artistes, mais aussi un endroit où découvrir des œuvres d’artistes qui n’ont pas encore suscité l’intérêt des galeries commerciales de la ville — ou du pays.

L’ambiance détendue qui règne dans le magasin et la galerie « crée un cadre où les artistes pourraient résoudre leurs sentiments envers leur culture ainsi qu’envers les institutions établies de la scène artistique canadienne. »14 ALEX JANVIER En 1956, Alex Janvier entreprend sa formation artistique à Calgary, au Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (PITA), devenu Alberta College of Art and Design. Janvier doit son style emblématique qui commence à se préciser à ses cours avec Frank Palmer, aquarelliste albertain de renom et avec Illingworth Kerr qui l’encourage à explorer les œuvres abstraites de Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee et Joan Miró, entre autres.15 Pendant qu’il poursuit ses études au collège, l’abstractionnisme européen et new-yorkais commence à susciter l’intérêt des artistes, des critiques d’art, des galeries et des collectionneurs canadiens.16 Selon les historiens de l’art, on ne peut évaluer véritablement la situation de l’art abstrait à Calgary si on ne mentionne pas tout

d’abord Marion Nicoll. Cette femme, un des premiers peintres abstraits d’Alberta, se trouve être alors un des professeurs de Janvier à PITA. Sa participation à l’atelier d’Emma Lake en 1957 a propulsé son art dans une nouvelle étape radicale qui inclut l’abstraction.17 Nicoll fait découvrir à Janvier la peinture automatiste où l’artiste, libéré des contraintes du motif, laisse ses mouvements s’inspirer du subconscient.18 Janvier souscrit au style de peinture automatiste de Nicoll ainsi qu’à son rejet des conventions de la peinture paysagiste de la British Academy courantes chez nombre de ses collègues.19 Une fois ses études terminées en 1960, Janvier entre au Département de l’Éducation continue de l’Université d’Alberta à Edmonton. Cela l’amène à diriger des ateliers d’art dans diverses localités du nord de la province. Le soir, comme il a du temps libre, il peut travailler à ses petits dessins à la plume et à ses aquarelles.

Le caractère très calligraphique de beaucoup de ses œuvres de 1961 et 1962 témoigne de son aisance grandissante par rapport à l’abstraction. Dans ce qu’il décrira comme une des décisions les plus importantes de sa vie, il retourne à la réserve en 1962. Il y passera deux années à aider son frère qui est éleveur et consacrera ses soirées à la peinture, s’essayant à des techniques, des compositions et des sujets divers.

Fin 1963, Janvier visite des galeries à Edmonton avec son portfolio de petites œuvres, principalement des dessins à la plume et à l’encre de Chine, des aquarelles et des pastels. Il fait la connaissance de Josephina Courtney et de John Jacox, les propriétaires de la Jacox Gallery. Courtney est si impressionnée par ses œuvres qu’elle les inclut dans une exposition collective en 1963. Durant l’été 1964, Janvier a sa première exposition solo d’aquarelles à la Jacox Gallery. 20 C’est grâce à cette exposition importante que le monde des collecteurs privés et publics de la province commence à le découvrir. La même année, il participe au All Alberta Show exposition organisée par l’Edmonton Art Gallery (devenue Art Gallery of Alberta).

Si les abstractions de Janvier reçoivent un accueil mitigé, plusieurs critiques sont toutefois favorables. 21 Cependant, au début des années 1960, pour les collectionneurs privés et les institutions publiques, l’art autochtone n’est encore qu’un art qui renferme une imagerie stéréotypée et reconnaissable évoquant un passé romancé et idéalisé. Ce ne sera pas avant la fin de la décennie que les artistes autochtones, dont ceux de la Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. commenceront à travailler collectivement pour accroître leur pouvoir sur le plan artistique. En dépit de l’accueil critique que les œuvres de Janvier commencent à recevoir en 1964 en Alberta, et du succès commercial qu’il remporte, on ne trouve pas ses œuvres assez « indiennes ». Si son art est rejeté, c’est en grande partie parce que les galeries commerciales et les institutions publiques ont décrété que les artistes indiens ne doivent pas incorporer dans leurs tableaux les idiomes de l’art contemporain de l’époque. Le style d’Odjig et de Morrisseau se prêtant mieux à cette définition de ce qu’est « l’art autochtone », leurs œuvres deviennent populaires en raison de leur représentation graphique des traditions orales.

L’effet de cette double ironie se confirme dans un rapport rédigé par un consultant privé du nom d’Harry Malcolmson au ministère des Affaires indiennes au milieu des années 1960s. 22 Malcolmson a rendu visite à plusieurs grands marchands d’art torontois avec vingt toiles de Janvier pour voir s’ils envisageraient de les exposer. Ces propriétaires de galerie estiment dans leur ensemble que les œuvres sont la preuve d’un raffinement considérable et d’un sens rigoureux de la conception, mais un seul se dit prêt à les exposer. Dans l’ensemble, ils rejettent les toiles parce qu’elles n’incorporent pas d’images identifiables des « traditions

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indiennes » de Janvier. Selon un galeriste, le style de Janvier est « un emprunt opportuniste à des exemples d’art faciles à trouver ».

Fait intéressant, Jack Pollock des Pollock Galleries, qui a organisé l’exposition Morrisseau en 1962, refuse d’exposer les toiles de Janvier parce qu’il « ne veut pas que sa galerie devienne la galerie de l’art canado-indien. »

à la Galerie Dominion, à Montréal (11 mars–5 avril 1975). Dans le catalogue de cette exposition, la galerie annonce : « Le but de la présente exposition est de faire découvrir l’art des artistes indiens contemporains du Canada aux collectionneurs, pour à la fois élargir et préciser leur compréhension de cet important domaine de l’art. »27

Paradoxalement, au début et au milieu des années 1960, la majorité des galeries commerciales de Toronto — et du reste du Canada — exposent les œuvres abstraites des Painters Eleven, des Automatistes, des Regina Five, et autres peintres abstraits dont Kandinsky dans une galerie torontoise. 23 Dans les années qui suivront, Janvier consacrera ses énergies à l’enseignement et à l’administration dans plusieurs organismes culturels autochtones d’Edmonton. Pendant ce temps, ses toiles du début des années 1960 feront partie de deux expositions collectives d’art autochtone contemporain : une organisée en 1968 par le Glenbow Museum, à Calgary, l’autre à la McIntosh Memorial Art Gallery, à London (Ontario) en 1970. En janvier 1972, Alex et Jacqueline Janvier s’associent pour créer Janvier Murals and Fine Art, et l’exposition d’Alex remporte un vif succès à la Framecraft Gallery, à Edmonton. 24

Paradoxalement, c’est John Dennehy, du groupe d’études et d’affectations spéciales du ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord Canada (AINC), qui a en fait persuadé le propriétaire de la galerie, Max Stern, d’exposer les œuvres. 28 Le service central de commercialisation (SCC) à Ottawa collabore avec AINC en couvrant les frais d’impression d’un communiqué de presse bilingue ainsi que l’encadrement, le transport et l’assurance de 70 à 80 toiles, alors que la Galerie Dominion assure la publicité dans les journaux locaux. Le SCC facilite aussi la projection à la galerie du film, Fierté sur toiles. Le Ministère, quant à lui, fournit les photos et les biographies des artistes et assure les frais de production des petits catalogues d’exposition.

ŒUVRE COMMUNE En 1972, le Musée des beaux arts de Winnipeg organise une exposition révolutionnaire, Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171, qui regroupe Jackson Beardy, Alex Janvier et Daphne Odjig. Dans ce premier traitement artistique sérieux des œuvres des artistes, Jacqueline Fry, conservatrice de l’art non occidental, explique qu’elle a délibérément associé des artistes aux approches très diverses pour que « le public puisse découvrir différents aspects de la culture indienne contemporaine qui est en train d’émerger. » Fry souligne l’importance des artistes parce qu’ « ils révèlent la présence des sources d’inspiration vivantes qui, fermement ancrées dans le monde multiculturel d’aujourd’hui, ouvrent la voie à un monde futur plus compréhensif. »25 L’exposition Treaty Numbers réussit non seulement à attirer l’attention sur les artistes, mais met aussi en relief les expériences et les tensions associées au milieu de l’art conventionnel qui leur étaient communes. C’est pour cette raison qu’ils décideront de travailler ensemble pour mieux faire reconnaître l’art et l’artiste autochtones dans tout le Canada. Ils s‘opposent tous aux stratégies de commercialisation du gouvernement qui ciblent uniquement le développement économique pour l’art et l’artisanat « indiens » et recherchent tous une visibilité fondée sur le mérite de leurs pratiques individuelles. L’acceptation de la critique qu’ils cherchent tous à obtenir annonce une ère nouvelle. En 1974, les sept artistes qui se rencontraient informellement dans le magasin d’Odjig s’incorporent pour créer la Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. (PNIAI). La motivation première du groupe est de ne plus soumettre l’art indien aux contraintes des stratégies de commercialisation gouvernementales qui tiennent leur art à l’écart des institutions établies et qui insistent sur « l’indiénité ». 26 Ils prévoient établir plutôt une source de financement par la vente de leurs œuvres dans des galeries commerciales de tout le pays.

Cet argent permettrait aux artistes professionnels établis d’avoir le temps de peindre. Et pour encourager les artistes émergents, le groupe envisage de se rendre dans les communautés autochtones et de mettre aussi sur pied un programme de subventions. À cette fin, les sept artistes participent ensemble à des expositions en 1974 et 1975, en particulier à Canadian Indian Art ’74 (4 juin–14 juillet) au Musée royal de l'Ontario de Toronto (exposition dont le commissaire est Tom Hill du ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien) et Fierté sur toile : Tableaux par sept artistes indiens canadiens / Colours of Pride: Paintings by 7 Professional Native Artists

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Il y a une certaine ironie au fait que les représentants du Ministère ont aidé à coordonner l’exposition étant donné que les artistes avaient formé la PNIAI précisément pour mettre un terme à la mainmise du Ministère sur la commercialisation de l’art autochtone. Les sept artistes ont toutefois atteint un objectif majeur : si c’est en tant qu’artistes autochtones qu’ils sont exposés dans cette galerie prestigieuse, il n’en reste pas moins que c’est à titre d’artistes qu’ils le sont. Comme le montre toutefois cet essai, Janvier, Morrisseau et Odjig s’étaient déjà fait reconnaître au cours des dix années précédentes. Ce sont les expositions solos de Morrisseau à la Pollock Gallery en 1962 et au Musée du Québec en 1966, celles de Janvier en 1964 à la Jacox Gallery et à la Edmonton Art Gallery, et enfin celle d’Odjig au Lakehead Art Centre en 1967, qui ont engendré les stratégies d’inclusion qui perdurent aujourd’hui. notes 1

Steve Loft, « Who, Me? Decolonization as Control », dans Décolonisez-moi, éd.

Heather Igloliorte, catalogue d’exposition (Ottawa : Galerie d’art d’Ottawa, 2012), 77.

2 Elizabeth McLuhan et R. M. Vanderburgh, Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective 1946–1985, catalogue d’exposition (Thunder Bay, ON : Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art, 1985), 9.

3 Rosamund M. Vanderburgh et Mary E. Southcott, A Paintbrush in My Hand: Daphne Odjig (Toronto: Natural Heritage/Natural History Inc., 1992), 42.

4 Greg Hill, « Norval Morrisseau, artiste chaman », dans Norval Morrisseau, artiste chaman, éd. Greg Hill, catalogue d’exposition (Ottawa : Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, 2006), 18.

5 Lee-Ann Martin, The Art of Alex Janvier: His First Thirty Years, 1960–1990, catalogue d’exposition (Thunder Bay, ON: Thunder Bay Art Gallery, 1993), 8.

6 Jack Pollock, « Norval Morrisseau: A View from His Agent », document non publié, s.d., Musée canadien des civilisations.

7 « The Arts: Myth & Symbol », Time, 28 septembre 1962.

8 Elizabeth McLuhan, « Daphne Odjig: Her Art », dans Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective 1946–1985, 21.

9 Heather Pringle, « Spirit’s Journey: The Life and Art of Daphne Odjig », Equinox 5 (juillet-août 1986) : 55.

10 Ibid., 57.

11 Kaye Rowe, « Mythology and Daily Life: Odjig Show Rates Rave Reviews », Brandon Sun, 13 novembre 1968, 15.

12 Susan Hiebert, « A Feeling of Rightness: A Portrait of an Artist », Indian Bulletin, 22 avril 1969.

13 R. M. Vanderburgh, « Daphne Odjig: Her Life », dans Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective 1946–1985, 12.

14 McLuhan, « Daphne Odjig: Her Art », 13.

15 Sauf indications contraires, tous les renseignements au sujet de Janvier sont tirés de conversations que l’auteur a eues avec l’artiste au cours des vingt dernières années.

16 Denise Leclerc, La crise de l’abstraction au Canada : les années 1950, catalogue d’exposition (Ottawa : Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, 1992), 36.

17 Roald Nasgaard, Abstract Painting in Canada (Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2007), 144.

18 Martin, The Art of Alex Janvier, 9.

19 Christopher Jackson, Marion Nicoll: Art and Influences (Calgary, AB : Glenbow Museum, 1986).

20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

Frank Hutton, « Edmonton Showing Planned by Artist », Edmonton Journal, 20 février 1964.

Dorothy Barnhouse, « Alberta Artist Finds Frustration in Search for Work in His Field », Edmonton Journal, 2 juin 1964.

Harry Malcolmson, « Re: Oil Paintings by Alex Janvier », (rapport non daté pour le Centre d’art autochtone, AADNC). Merci à Kevin Gibbs qui a identifié le rapport.

Tour d’horizon par l’auteur des articles et des annonces dans Canadian Art, vols.

18–21 (1961–1964).

Dona Harvey, « Gallery hosts three artists », Edmonton Journal, 25 février 1972.

Jacqueline Fry, Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171: Three Indian Painters of the Prairies, catalogue d’exposition (Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1972).

McLuhan, « Daphne Odjig: Her Art », 13. « Indian Artists », File 1, Box 507, Series 10 (Artist Files), Dominion Gallery fonds, National Gallery of Canada Archives, Ottawa.

Secrets des Artistes, 3 mai 1975, 24.

« WINNIPEG, LÀ OÙ TOUT A COMMENCÉ » — SOUVERAINETÉ RHÉTORIQUE ET VISUELLE ET FORMATION DE LA PROFESSIONAL NATIVE INDIAN ARTISTS INC. CATHY MATTES En mars 2011, Alex Janvier et Joseph Sanchez dirigent des ateliers d’art avec des jeunes autochtones et les artistes locaux : Louis Ogemah (Anishinabé), Lita Fontaine (Dakota/Anishinabée/ Métisse), Darryl Nepinak (Saulteaux) et Jackie Traverse (Anishinabée) au Ndinawe Youth Centre, dans le centre-ville de Winnipeg.1 Pendant plusieurs jours, jeunes et artistes peignent ensemble sur de grandes feuilles de papier, en s’encourageant mutuellement dans les moments de doute, en plaisantant et en riant, ou encore en travaillant côte à côte en silence. Il en résulte des œuvres qui reflètent des récits visuels personnels, des concepts culturels, une cohésion communautaire ainsi que différents degrés d’expérience.

Les ateliers terminés, Alex Janvier m’a dit que, pour lui, cette collaboration artistique était de la « peinture tribale ». Le processus consiste à travailler ensemble et à contribuer à la collectivité en tenant compte de l’espace et des priorités de chacun, des différences d’opinions, de rôles et de responsabilités et en encourageant la démarche créatrice et la pensée critique. Janvier soutenait que la « peinture tribale » effectuée lors des ateliers au Ndinawe Youth Centre suivait les traditions des Premières Nations où tout le monde collabore pour le bien de la collectivité. « Peinture tribale » est aussi une métaphore pour la souveraineté « visuelle » et « rhétorique » qui s’est développée pendant les années d’existence de la Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. (PNIAI).

Jolene Rickard (Tuscarora) suggère que, dans le cadre d’une stratégie continue de survie, le travail des artistes autochtones doit être envisagé dans « l’optique de la souveraineté et de l’autodétermination. »2 À travers le concept de souveraineté, l’artiste représente son histoire, sa culture et son identité et opère un changement social. Les artistes qui ont donné sa forme à la PNIAI ont contribué à la souveraineté autochtone, car leur art et leurs actes sont devenus des moyens d’autonomisation culturelle.

Ils sont devenus des acteurs de changement social à travers de multiples mondes : leurs propres communautés, toutes sortes de juridictions et de réseaux politiques, le monde de l’art et le cœur même de Winnipeg. Se frayant un chemin à travers ces mondes en

quête d’inspiration, de soutien et de solidarité, les membres de la PNIAI faisaient de la « peinture tribale ». Leurs actes et leurs efforts ont, depuis, trouvé écho auprès des artistes contemporains de souche autochtone et encore de leurs sympathisants.

Lorsque l’on discute de la souveraineté visuelle et rhétorique et de la formation de la PNIAI, il faut faire une distinction entre la solidarité entre un ensemble d’individus et le soutien qui est apporté par des individus à un autre. Ce soutien est un acte positif, mais il peut être retiré aussi bien que donné alors que la solidarité exige un engagement et du courage. Loin d’être un processus sans heurts où tous les acteurs seraient en parfait accord, c’est un processus où chacun est disposé à prendre des risques, à être contesté et à s’engager à aller de l’avant. La souveraineté peut naître du soutien, donné et reçu, et d’une recherche de solidarité, mais ce n’est pas aussi simple que cela et ne se résume pas qu’à ces deux concepts. L’impact de la souveraineté autochtone est durable et imperméable.

Amanda Cobb (Chickasaw) reconnaît que, « fondamentalement, la souveraineté est le pouvoir d’une nation à s’autogouverner, à déterminer sa propre vie, et à vivre cette vie — dans la mesure du possible — sans aucune ingérence. »3 Après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le terme « souveraineté » est adopté par les activistes et les dirigeants autochtones luttant pour leur autodétermination, leurs droits territoriaux, leurs droits issus de traités et leur intégrité culturelle.4 Il devient une idéologie qui traduit le mieux leurs préoccupations et leurs programmes de changements sociaux et marque aussi le point de départ de l’analyse de leurs histoires et de leurs cultures respectives. On remarquera toutefois qu’avant ce moment, diverses nations indigènes avaient émis des théories au sujet de la souveraineté pour se distinguer des mondes des autres humains, des esprits et des animaux, qui les entouraient. Selon Michelle Raheja, ils le faisaient en partie à l’aide de chansons, de récits, de diverses formes d’art visuel et de documents importants comme les wampums et les pictogrammes. 5 Cela suggère que, si les applications de la notion de souveraineté peuvent varier ou, à la rigueur, incorporer des notions européennes d’autonomie politique, la souveraineté des nations indigènes est inhérente, ancienne et constitue un cadre solide pour un discours culturel, artistique et politique.

De récentes études délimitent différentes formes de souveraineté qui mettent en cause l’homogénéisation ou l’emploi abusif du concept. Deux de ces formes, la « souveraineté visuelle » et la « souveraineté rhétorique » sont utiles lorsqu’on traite du développement de la PNIAI. La souveraineté visuelle explore la façon dont la souveraineté est un acte créateur d’autoreprésentation qui permet la circulation du savoir indigène sur des questions comme les droits territoriaux, la langue et la préservation de la culture. Elle intervient dans les débats plus vastes sur la souveraineté autochtone et reconnaît le droit de créer visuellement un espace pour l’autodéfinition et l’autodétermination.6 La souveraineté visuelle reconnaît aussi l’art des artistes autochtones, le considérant comme un langage visuel vivant qui affirme les relations inhérentes des Autochtones avec la terre, les chants, les cérémonies, la langue parlée et les récits.7 Dans l’espace de la souveraineté visuelle, l’art visuel des membres de la PNIAI peut être reconnu comme étant l’expression souveraine de l’indigénéité. Caractérisées par leurs couleurs vibrantes, leurs paysages abstraits et leurs représentations stylisées des animaux, des êtres humains, des esprits, et de la terre, les œuvres variées interprètent visuellement les histoires et les légendes orales, abordent l’histoire postérieure aux contacts exogènes du point de vue des Autochtones, envisagent la spiritualité et représentent la terre par des dessins et des peintures abstraites. Lorsque leur art

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commence à susciter un vif enthousiasme sur la scène artistique contemporaine du Canada, vers la fin des années 1960 et le début des années 1970, les Premières Nations ont déjà commencé à le reconnaître comme étant une expression vitale de l’autochtonité.

Leur art devient un acteur dans la quête de la souveraineté indigène à travers le pays, car il rappelle, provoque et affirme la pérennité et la présence de la culture autochtone. Dès lors, on ne peut plus en faire abstraction.

La « souveraineté rhétorique » fournit un cadre de discussion des changements sociaux dont les artistes sont les acteurs, indépendamment de leurs langages visuels. Selon Scott Richard Lyons (Ojibwé/Mdewakanton Dakota), la souveraineté rhétorique est « le droit et le pouvoir intrinsèques des peuples à identifier leurs propres besoins et désirs en matière de communication, de décider eux-mêmes des objectifs, des modes, des styles et de la langue du discours public. »8 Il est important de reconnaître que la souveraineté est un acte de communication et « passe obligatoirement par le traitement des objectifs de communications, des instruments de communication choisis et les publics possibles. »9 La souveraineté rhétorique place le contrôle de la représentation, de l’image, de la langue et de la rhétorique entre les mains des Peuples Premiers, ainsi que de leur droit de décider comment ils sont représentés dans le discours public.10 Souveraineté rhétorique et souveraineté visuelle sont deux concepts interdépendants. Ils peuvent servir à discuter des modes d’action du changement social qui entourent la production artistique du groupe et de l’impact géographique, le centre-ville de Winnipeg, sur la formation de ce groupe.

Winnipeg fournit l’environnement idéal pour le développement de la PNIAI. À l’époque, la ville est un pôle artistique où se développe une culture propice à la création de centres d’artistes autogérés, et où des organismes tels la Plug In Gallery (maintenant Plug In ICA) voient le jour. En outre, beaucoup d’Autochtones y habitent ou viennent la visiter, renforçant le climat culturel dynamique et fertile qui y règne. Au même moment où le groupe se forme, d’importants organismes politiques autochtones commencent à se faire entendre, dont la Manitoba Indian Brotherhood (Fraternité des Indiens du Manitoba). Ces organismes se tournent vers le groupe pour affirmer publiquement leurs droits intrinsèques et leur présence culturelle et politique. Winnipeg est aussi l’endroit où ils reçoivent appui et conseils d’universitaires, de journalistes et de collectionneurs d’œuvres d’art qui sont réceptifs à leurs objectifs et les aident à utiliser les médias et à se frayer un chemin dans le monde de l’art contemporain du Canada.

La Warehouse Gallery (qui abrite aussi Odjig Indian Prints) était située dans le quartier de l’Exchange de Winnipeg. Daphne Odjig était connue pour encourager les artistes en difficulté en achetant et promouvant leurs œuvres. C’est là que Jackson Beardy la rencontre et qu’ils discutent de leurs préoccupations communes.

D’autres artistes commencent à se réunir dans sa galerie pour recevoir de l’aide, discuter des difficultés qu’ils rencontrent, définir des stratégies et critiquer les travaux des uns les autres. De là est née une belle solidarité entre les artistes.11 Quand j’ai rencontré Daphne Odjig, il y a de cela quelques années, et que j’ai mentionné que je travaillais dans la communauté artistique de Winnipeg, elle m’a dit en souriant : « Ah, Winnipeg, là où tout a commencé. » Son propos a surtout porté sur les galeries d’art et les lieux intéressants, sur les principaux acteurs du développement de Winnipeg, sur les conversations des artistes et sur les liens qu’ils essayaient d’établir avec les galeries et les groupes non autochtones du quartier de l’Exchange, ce qui, selon elle, ne s’était pas très bien passé. Lorsque j’ai parlé avec Sanchez et Janvier, qui jusqu`à récemment n’étaient pas revenus à Winnipeg

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depuis les années 1970, ce dont ils se souvenaient surtout, c’était des bâtiments, des rues et du froid, ce qui tendrait à indiquer que Winnipeg et sa situation géographique leur étaient chers. C’est là qu’ensemble, ils avaient développé les notions de souveraineté visuelle et rhétorique et c’est pourquoi la ville — ses édifices, ses rues et son atmosphère avaient laissé leurs marques indélébiles.

Il ne faut toutefois pas oublier que, même si Odjig déclare que c’est à Winnipeg que « tout a commencé », ces artistes créaient, exposaient et vendaient déjà avant même la création de la PNIAI dans le centre-ville de Winnipeg. S’ils étaient devenus des artistes et des acteurs du changement social, ils le devaient à leurs familles, leurs communautés et à ce qu’ils avaient vécu pour devenir artistes quand on est de souche autochtone. Ils traduisaient les souvenirs de leurs familles, de leurs communautés dans leur langage visuel et leurs actes de changement social, et, bien que loin de leur propre communauté, Winnipeg était le cadre idéal pour le faire.

Alors que dans tout le pays, des brasiers culturels et politiques brûlent dans les communautés autochtones, le groupe est conscient du rôle clé que l’art peut jouer dans la résistance à la colonisation et dans l’autonomisation culturelle. La PNIAI veut créer un espace où les artistes contemporains autochtones trouveraient un soutien, renforceraient leur sentiment de solidarité et réfléchiraient au concept de souveraineté. Ils pourraient ainsi nouer le dialogue avec d’autres artistes, exposer leurs œuvres dans les collectivités autochtones et le monde de l’art du Canada.

En plus de tenter d’avoir ses entrées dans les galeries d’art contemporain, le groupe voulait ouvrir des portes aux artistes émergents et croyait fermement qu’une exposition de leur art profiterait aux Premières Nations et serait source d’inspiration pour la jeune génération. Il voulait établir un fonds de bourses d’études en utilisant un pourcentage des recettes, sillonner le pays en train pour parler de leur art avec d’autres Autochtones, laissant suggérer que tous les membres étaient des visionnaires qui étaient conscients que leur art servirait de vecteur d’autonomisation culturelle. Ces idées novatrices montrent qu’ils avaient réfléchi à la manière dont ils seraient représentés et dont ils représenteraient les autres artistes et Autochtones. Tous ces objectifs illustrent bien qu’ils pensaient et agissaient en termes de souveraineté rhétorique.

La souveraineté est une notion utile lorsqu’on parle de la PNIAI, non seulement parce qu’elle permet de décrire l’art et les actes de l’association, mais aussi, parce qu’en dernier lieu, elle sort leur art des conventions de l’histoire de l’art occidental, éliminant ainsi les binaires : traditionnel/contemporain, artiste/acteur de changement social, beaux-arts/art populaire. Selon Steve Loft, un conservateur et théoricien de l’art mohawk : À mesure que nous élaborons un nouveau langage de l’histoire de l’art qui est ancré dans les cultures autochtones, nous devons « créer » un espace radical consacré à une nouvelle expression culturelle créative qui tient compte de la souveraineté culturelle des Autochtones, et y participe . . . C’est ainsi que nous créons des « autonarrations » sur l’art et la culture qui encouragent l’inclusion et la formation d’un discours complémentaire qui respecte des impératifs culturels uniques et des collectivités dynamiques. Il ne s’agit pas d’opposition, de victimisation ou d’identité. C’est l’édification d’une nation.12 La PNIAI fournit ce premier espace radical, et permet ainsi aux artistes de prendre de risques et de créer un art qui exprime leur propre mémoire collective incarnée, à travers divers médiums.

Selon Hans-Georg Gadamer, « l’acte de comprendre ne doit pas être perçu comme une action subjective, mais comme une démarche traditionnelle, qui fait constamment entrer en fusion le passé et le présent. »13 L’art et les actes des membres de la PNIAI

trouvent toujours un écho auprès de nombreuses personnes, en partie à cause du talent artistique et de la ténacité des artistes, mais aussi en raison de la notion de souveraineté visuelle et rhétorique qui a vu le jour quand ces artistes avant-gardistes se sont regroupés à Winnipeg. Leur art et leurs actions font honneur au passé tout en affirmant la présence d’une culture contemporaine et d’une souveraineté autochtones, sous quelques formes qu’elles soient. notes 1

2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13

Les ateliers du Ndinawe Youth Centre étaient organisés par l’artiste Niki Little conjointement avec Frontrunners, plusieurs expositions que j’avais préparées et qui étaient organisées par Urban Shaman Gallery et Plug In ICA (mai–juillet, 2011).

Jolene Rickard, « Sovereignty: A Line in the Sand », dans Strong Hearts: Native American Visions and Voices, cahier spécial, Aperture 139 (été 1995) : 51.

Amanda J. Cobb, « Understanding Tribal Sovereignty: Definitions, Conceptualizations, and Interpretations », dans « Indigeneity at the Crossroads of American Studies » cahier spécial, American Studies 46, no. 3/4 (automne/ hiver 2005) : 118.

Lisa King, « Speaking Sovereignty and Communicating Change: Rhetorical Sovereignty and the Inaugural Exhibits at the NMAI », American Indian Quarterly 35, no. 1 (hiver 2011) : 80, doi:10.1353/aiq.2011.0003.

Michelle H. Raheja, « Reading Nanook’s Smile: Visual Sovereignty, Revisions of Ethnography and Atanarjuat (The Fast Runner) », American Quarterly 59, no. 4 (décembre 2007) : 1164.

Julie Hubbs, « Visual Sovereignty », Race in Cinema: History, Practice and Resistance (blogue), 16 novembre 2012, http://prezi.com/w9l_7bmwsjyj/racein-cinema/.

Neal McLeod, Cree Narrative Memory: From Treaties to Contemporary Times (Saskatoon: Purich Publishing, 2007), 54.

Scott Richard Lyons, « Rhetorical Sovereignty: What do American Indians Want from Writing? », College Composition and Communication 51, no. 3 (2000) : 44950, http://www.jstor.org/stable/358744.

Lisa King, « Speaking Sovereignty and Communicating Change », 79.

Amanda Cobb, « Understanding Tribal Sovereignty », 129. « A Conversation to Remember: The Art History of The Indian Group of Seven (Daphne Odjig, Alex Janvier and Joseph Sanchez) », un symposium organisé le 21 août 2009 à l’occasion de l’exposition itinérante Les dessins et peintures de Daphne Odjig. Une exposition rétrospective, Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe (N.-M.), 26 juin–20 septembre 2009.

Steve Loft, « It’s not open heart surgery...so...here we go... », Urban Shaman : Retrospective (Winnipeg: Urban Shaman Gallery, 2009), 27.

Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method (New York: Seabury Press, 1975), 325.

TRACES ÉCRITES : LES ARTISTES DE LA PNIAI DANS LES JOURNAUX DE WINNIPEG, 1966–1977 CARMEN ROBERTSON La situation sociale et économique ne s’est pas beaucoup améliorée, mais on est plus conscient de ce qui est possible. Je crois que beaucoup de gens commencent à avoir une idée de la place qu’ils devraient occuper dans la société canadienne.

— Harold Cardinal1 Le début des années 1970 est une période grisante pour les peuples autochtones du Canada. Lorsqu’en 1969, le ministre des Affaires indiennes de l’époque, Jean Chrétien, publie le Livre blanc qui aurait abrogé la Loi sur les Indiens et satisfait la vision assimilationniste du Premier ministre Pierre Trudeau, les organismes autochtones réagissent promptement d’une seule voix. 2 Cela entraîne la formation de la Fraternité nationale des Indiens (FNI) qui, pour la première fois, représente les peuples autochtones sur la scène nationale. De plus, deux groupes défenseurs des droits des femmes autochtones voient le jour : le Indian Rights for Indian Women (IRIW) en 1970 et l’Association des femmes autochtones du

Canada (AFAC) en 1974. De solides leaders surgissent dans tous les domaines. Dans le domaine de l’art, Daphne Odjig, une artiste de Winnipeg, devient source d’inspiration et d’encouragement pour les artistes en jetant les bases de la Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated (PNIAI).

Dans les années 1970, le journal est encore une source importante d’information. Les grands quotidiens, vecteurs de discipline et sources de connaissances pour le grand public, réagissent aux changements politiques et sociaux du début des années 1970 en oscillant entre deux positions : soit ils représentent les Autochtones comme des personnes violentes, soit ils louent et encouragent les comportements qu’ils jugent favorables à l’assimilation. 3 La presse continue à défendre l’assimilation alors même que Trudeau l’abandonne en tant que politique officielle.

Ainsi, en 1970, un éditorial du Regina Leader-Post avance : « On demande dorénavant à l’Indien, autrefois apathique et isolé, de prendre part à l’élaboration de politiques qui le concernent. » Et bien que la FNI ait réussi à parler au nom de tous les Autochtones, la presse présente la réaction au Livre blanc non pas comme un triomphe de la solidarité des peuples autochtones, mais comme une menace directe pour le pays qui augure de problèmes à venir.

Des termes tels que « activiste » et « sentier de la guerre » d’une part, et une voix nationale autochtone d’autre part, signifient pour la presse qu’il y aura des conséquences désastreuses.4 En 1971, un article à la une du Winnipeg Free Press intitulé « Indiens et Blancs, pas d’accord » va jusqu’à prédire qu’ « une guerre indienne pourrait éclater si les Autochtones n’arrêtent pas de chasser le chevreuil la nuit sur leurs terres. »5 Pour tempérer ces histoires de violence imminente, la presse publie des articles qui prouvent que l’assimilation pourrait effacer les différences culturelles et qu’on pourrait ainsi faire de l’unité à laquelle aspire le Canada une réalité.

Le plus souvent, c’est dans ce but qu’apparaissent les articles portant sur l’art autochtone.

En fouillant dans les pages du Winnipeg Free Press et du Winnipeg Tribune des années 1960 et 1970, on découvre qu’il existe assez peu d’articles sur l’art autochtone contemporain. La plupart des articles portent sur l’essor du marché de l’art inuit. Ceux qui traitent du financement accordé aux projets d’art autochtone locaux prouvent deux choses au lecteur : qu’il constitue un fardeau et qu’il est la preuve de la générosité du gouvernement. Un article de fond consacré en 1972 à « Noel Wuttenee » [sic], artiste cri et fonctionnaire provincial au Manitoba, qui espère recevoir des fonds gouvernementaux supplémentaires pour former les Autochtones à fabriquer des objets d’artisanat, illustre bien ce ton. Wuttunee évoque une situation catastrophique : « [Les Autochtones de la région] ne savent même pas comment se procurer les matières premières, peaux, perles et autres choses dont ils ont besoin. »6 De tels articles présentent les agences gouvernementales comme les tuteurs bienveillants des Autochtones qui ont besoin d’aide.

Une petite photo et un article parus dans le Winnipeg Free Press en juin 1972 illustrent comment les politiciens profitent de l’art autochtone pour promouvoir leur programme politique. On y voit Leo Bernier, député conservateur de Kenora (Ontario), à 250 km à l’est de Winnipeg, et ministre des Ressources naturelles de l’Ontario, recevant un tableau de Norval Morrisseau commandé par la Chambre de commerce du district de Kenora. Sur la photo, Bernier domine de toute sa taille le portrait à grande échelle réalisé sur peau d’orignal et il a l’air de le regarder de haut comme s’il le jugeait. Selon l’article, Morrisseau, un « peintre bien connu » a dépeint le ministre avec, dans la main gauche, un hochet, symbole de pouvoir sur les oiseaux, les poissons, les animaux, les pierres, les arbres, créant un parallèle avec les responsabilités du portefeuille

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de M. Bernier. Dans la main droite, il tient un Blanc et un Autochtone vivant ensemble en harmonie. M. Morrisseau, un Ojibwé de 40 ans, est reconnu dans tout le Canada pour ses peintures inspirées du folklore autochtone.7

. . . Si le patrimoine culturel en matière d’art visuel sur lequel elle pourrait s’appuyer est presque inexistant, elle peut par contre s’inspirer de la riche tradition de contes et de légendes pour créer ses images et son style.13

Dans le tableau, bien que Bernier soit très présent, Morrisseau a peint délibérément des nuages qui empêchent le soleil de briller sur cette scène en apparence idyllique. En effet, la réputation de Bernier ne justifiait pas cette mise en valeur qu’on avait demandé à Morrisseau de peindre moyennant paiement. Dans un article du Kenora Miner and News, Bernier explique à la presse les difficultés qu’il a rencontrées pour faire travailler les Ojibwés de la région. « Nos employés travaillent avec eux pour essayer de les motiver », souligne-t-il. « Cela va prendre du temps. »8 « Seuls ceux qui ont de l’ambition travaillent. » Laissant entendre que les Autochtones sont paresseux de nature, Bernier ajoute que « environ quatrevingt-dix pour cent des réserves reçoivent, sous une forme ou une autre, de l’aide gouvernementale ».9 Les commentaires de Bernier sont formulés de manière à juxtaposer l’indolence présumée des Autochtones au dynamisme des fonctionnaires. La représentation symbolique des deux groupes partageant un calumet de paix dans la main tendue de Bernier semble être tout au plus de la rhétorique politique.

Bien qu’il soit une autorité en la matière, Graham fait preuve d’une piètre compréhension de l’art autochtone au Canada. Néanmoins, puisqu’il a donné son approbation, on voit apparaître d’autres articles au sujet d’Odjig et de ses activités commerciales reliées à la production d’estampes et à l’ouverture de sa nouvelle galerie.

Les critiques de ses travaux sont rares.

Depuis les années 1960, avant que ne soit créée la PNIAI, les journaux de Winnipeg ont publié un certain nombre d’articles sur ceux qui en deviendront membres dont Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig, Carl Ray et Jackson Beardy. Morrisseau, en particulier, est connu des médias. En 1966, lorsque le Winnipeg Free Press le rencontre pour savoir s’il espère être des participants au Pavillon des Indiens d’Expo 67, on le présente comme un artiste autochtone établi, lui donnant préséance sur d’autres artistes de Winnipeg comme Joe Land, Noel Wuttunee et Ross Woods qui, eux aussi, ont été sélectionnés. Le journal nomme également les sept autres artistes : George Clutesi, Tom Hill, Alex Janvier, Jean-Marie Gros-Louis, Francis Kakikiya [sic], Duke Redbird et Gerald Tailfeathers. L’article explique que, parmi les soumissions de ces onze artistes invités à un séminaire préalable à Ottawa pour « encourager les efforts artistiques des Autochtones », neuf murales portant sur un thème « symbolisant les croyances religieuses de l’Autochtone canadien » seraient sélectionnées par un jury nommé par le Musée des beaux-arts à Ottawa.10 « M. Morrisseau a dit que les autres artistes ont fait l’éloge de son travail, » explique le Winnipeg Free Press, « le portant à croire que sa murale serait une de celles qui seraient choisies pour représenter l’art autochtone. »11 L’article comprend une photo recadrée de l’artiste de trente-quatre ans tenant Graveyard Scavenger, mais ne fait aucune mention de Carl Ray qui a aidé Morrisseau à réaliser sa murale. Par contre, il s’attarde sur la structure monolithique et mal informée des croyances religieuses autochtones.

Le critique d’art du Winnipeg Free Press, John W. Graham est le seul à offrir une analyse de l’art autochtone contemporain dans la presse de Winnipeg, permettant ainsi au lecteur de le comprendre. Toutefois, cette critique, comme une bonne partie des articles consacrés à la culture autochtone, est biaisée et pleine de malentendus. En 1968, dans sa première critique des œuvres de Daphne Odjig à l’occasion d’une exposition parrainée par la Manitoba Indian Brotherhood, Graham en dédaigne un certain nombre en partie parce qu’Odjig « n’a pas de formation professionnelle ». Cependant, il trouve prometteur son « usage créatif d’images, de motifs et d’espaces ».12 Graham explique : Alors que l’art des Autochtones de la côte de la ColombieBritannique est connu et reconnu, et que les sculptures et estampes inuites du Nord ont reçu beaucoup d’attention, il n’y a pratiquement pas d’équivalent dans cette région où la société traditionnelle était nomade. . . .

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Depuis que Morisseau fait partie du monde de l’art dominant en 1962, les articles sur les artistes autochtones mettent toujours l’accent sur leur manque de formation artistique. En 1971, la journaliste Mary Bletcher du Winnipeg Tribune rédige un article sur Odjig où elle mentionne son activisme pour l’art autochtone.

Toujours prête pour la sempiternelle question au sujet de sa formation, l’artiste répond : « Si on n’a pas ce qu’il faut, ce n ‘est pas une école qui va nous le donner. L’école enseigne la technique . . . Et à cause de leur culture, les artistes autochtones, en particulier, ont une façon unique de s’exprimer. »14 Cette réplique n’a toutefois pas empêché d’autres journalistes de continuer à mentionner le manque de formation formelle des artistes autochtones.

La presse de Winnipeg couvre également les débuts de Carl Ray. En 1968, J. R. Stevens signe « Des peintures recréent le passé ojibwé », un article de nature ethnographique sur Ray, alors âgé de 25 ans. Les œuvres de ce dernier et celles du « peintre autochtone naïf Jackson Beardy » doivent être exposées à l’Université de Brandon.15 Il ne consacre qu’un paragraphe à l’aspect artistique des œuvres et décide plutôt de décrire ce qu‘elles montrent. Stevens émet l’hypothèse que l’art de Ray pourrait « susciter un nouvel intérêt pour la culture autochtone ».16 Quatre ans plus tard, dans sa critique de l’exposition Ray à la Galerie Fore, Graham trouve qu’étant donné les défis culturels auxquels Ray fait face, son art est impressionnant : « À la différence des nations autochtones de la côte Nord-Ouest qui ont un patrimoine d’imagerie totémique, pour les Cris du Manitoba et de l’Ontario, il est tabou de représenter visuellement leur folklore. »17 Bien qu’élogieux dans l’ensemble, Graham, toujours mal informé, place les travaux de Ray à l’extérieur du courant artistique dominant et minimise leur importance.

Organisée en automne 1972, l’exposition clé préparée par Jacqueline Fry au Musée des beaux-arts de Winnipeg, Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171, met en vedette les œuvres de Jackson Beardy, Alex Janvier, et Daphne Odjig. C’est l’occasion pour Graham de montrer son parti pris et de défendre un discours assimilationniste privilégiant l’art qui, selon lui, exprime plus que l’ « esthétique ethnique ».18 Il fait valoir que les œuvres en question « vont plus loin que ce terrain commun [le patrimoine culturel] et nous font découvrir trois personnes qui savent s’exprimer graphiquement et méritent la même considération qu’on accorde à un artiste professionnel.19 Notant « l’assurance croissante » d’Odjig et décrivant Beardy comme un « pont » entre Odjig et Janvier, Graham déclare cette exposition « importante ». Présentant le bon art comme de l’art moderne eurocentrique, il met en garde : « S’il veut être reconnu comme artiste à part entière, l’artiste autochtone . . . doit faire attention à ne pas tomber dans le piège d’une imagerie stéréotypée imposée ». Selon Graham : « Des trois, Alex Janvier est celui qui s’exprime avec le plus d’élégance et de raffinement ». Déclarant que l’art de Janvier est une étape d’évolution cruciale vers le modernisme, Graham ajoute : Comme l’a dit Picasso, si vous voulez dessiner, il faut fermer les yeux et chanter, et c’est ce qu’a fait Alex

Janvier. . . . Inextricablement liées à une société multiple et multiculturelle, de telles œuvres permettront la contribution que peut apporter cet élément de la grande mosaïque. 20 En mars 1975, le journaliste spécialiste des arts au Globe and Mail, James Purdie, dit qu’il préfère lui aussi Janvier à Morisseau expliquant que « son éducation artistique universitaire l’a amené à extraire . . . des abstractions et des rêves pour les passer au filtre de la vision interne d’un intellect moderne ». 21 Graham et Purdie préfèrent tous les deux un art autochtone qui reflète une esthétique artistique moderne universelle — d’après eux, formation officielle plus traitement abstrait égale art véritable. 22 Lorsque la presse couvre la création de la Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., elle le fait à la lueur de faits tenaces au sujet de l’art moderne et du colonialisme. Vers la fin de 1973, un article annonçant la création du groupe paraît dans les journaux de Winnipeg. L’article est concis et donne peu de détails, mais il présente la création de l’association de façon positive. Après tout, la PNIAI montre Winnipeg sous un jour favorable : c’est une ville où on encourage le changement. Dans le Winnipeg Tribune, sous une grande photo de Joseph Sanchez et Eddy Cobiness en train de regarder leurs tableaux, un titre déclare : « Une association naît du ‘manque d’intérêt’ pour l’art autochtone ». L’article annonce d’un ton léger : « Ils sont artistes et ils sont sept, mais ils n’ont rien en commun avec A. Y. Jackson, Lawren Harris ou Frank Johnston, membres du Groupe des sept. »23 L’article note que le groupe, des Manitobains pour la plupart, a l’intention de travailler avec de jeunes artistes autochtones. Le journal cite Sanchez : « Beaucoup de talent est gaspillé parce qu’on ne sait pas qu’il existe et qu’on ne l’encourage pas » et Odjig confirme qu’ « il y a un véritable besoin ». 24 Le mois suivant, en décembre, un texte de la Presse canadienne publié dans le Edmonton Journal décrit succinctement la PNIAI comme un organisme créé pour veiller à ce qu’ « on accorde à l’art autochtone la même attention que celle qu’on accorde aujourd’hui à l’art inuit et à l’artisanat indien ». 25 Le journal confirme que cinq des membres sont manitobains, fait l’éloge de Janvier qui peint « des symboles autochtones de façon raffinée » et de Morrisseau, « de réputation internationale ». L’article citent les commentaires de Janvier qui profite de l’occasion pour remettre en question les concepts assimilationnistes fréquents dans les articles des journaux : « On dit que le Canada est biculturel, mais c’est plus que cela. ». « L’Autochtone est la troisième culture, » explique Janvier, « et on ne trouve ça nulle part ailleurs ». 26 Le Winnipeg Free Press n’annonce la formation du groupe qu’en juin 1974 avec une photo d’Eddy Cobiness accompagnée d’une légende qui ne mentionne qu’indirectement le groupe. On y voit Cobiness remettre à Steve Juba, maire de Winnipeg à l’époque, un de ses dessins. En offrant à la ville un cadeau « de la part de la Professional Native Indian Artists’ Association [sic] » pour souligner son centenaire, la PNIAI espère sans aucun doute que cet événement médiatique amènera une meilleure couverture dans la presse. 27 Cependant, après avoir mal identifié le groupe, l’article le décrit, tout simplement, comme « une nouvelle association », sans aucun autre détail sur son organisation ou ses membres. Bien que l’article indique que cette exposition collective, chez Eaton au centre-ville de Winnipeg (la photo a été prise à l’exposition), est la première du groupe, il fournit bien peu d’information. En fait, et c’est ce qui est triste, l’article ne fait guère que servir de bouchetrou. Après cette couverture initiale, la presse ne s’intéresse plus beaucoup au groupe.

En 1974, dans le Winnipeg Free Press, un article dans la section Affaires indique que l’art se vend bien dans les galeries de Winnipeg et fait ressortir qu’on continue à s’intéresser aux

œuvres du Groupe des sept (pas le Groupe des sept de la PNIAI).

Néanmoins, l’article reconnaît l’importance de la scène artistique autochtone pour les collectionneurs d’art de Winnipeg. Mettant l’accent sur le succès que connaît l’art inuit, l’article proclame que les collectionneurs d’art de Winnipeg ont des goûts éclectiques. Le dernier paragraphe est consacré à la situation économique précaire du magasin d’artisanat Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Ltd., une référence indirecte à la PNIAI. L’article explique que l’entreprise d’Odjig a encore des milliers de dollars de dettes. Cela tient au fait que non seulement elle assure la vente des œuvres des artistes autochtones, mais qu’elle en assure aussi la gravure. Ces efforts ont été récompensés par « un intérêt toujours croissant » de la part des touristes et, actuellement, par une énorme vague d’intérêt de la part des habitants de Winnipeg. . . . Malgré une demande accrue, Odjig n’a pas augmenté les prix des estampes qu’elle vend. . . . Parallèlement, les œuvres des artistes indiens connus comme Odjig se vendent au plus fort sur le marché libre.

Ainsi, une peinture d’Odjig qui, il y a neuf ans, aurait coûté 35$ atteint aujourd’hui 4 000$. 28 En insistant sur les prix à la hausse des travaux d’Odjig les journaux soulignent sa réussite et cela la rend encore plus chère au cœur des Winnipégois. Plusieurs mois après la création de la PNIAI, un article qui annonce l’ouverture de sa nouvelle galerie, la Warehouse Gallery, fait également mention du « Groupe des sept » âgé d’un an et dit qu’Odjig ambitionne d’organiser un certain nombre d’expositions de leurs œuvres et de celles d’artistes émergents comme Don LaForte, Alvin Redman et Wilma Simon. 29 L’article parle en termes élogieux d’Odjig qui fait écho aux propos de Harold Cardinal sur la fierté des Autochtones et déclare : « Nous commençons à savoir qui nous sommes vraiment ».

L’article reconnaît également le rôle essentiel qu’elle a joué pour aider Winnipeg à devenir un chef de file sur la scène artistique autochtone. 30 Chaque article montre qu’un Autochtone ne peut prétendre à la réussite artistique que s’il a une conduite convenable. Odjig en particulier, pour sa fibre entrepreneuriale à titre de propriétaire de galerie d’art, sert de modèle dans la presse de Winnipeg. Sa conduite en tant que femme d’affaires, artiste et mère de famille est impeccable et la presse regrettera de la voir partir. 31 Et il semble bien qu’une fois Odjig partie, l’intérêt pour la PNIAI se dissipe rapidement, du moins dans les journaux de Winnipeg. Lorsqu’on en parle, c’est qu’il ne se passe pas grand chose dans l’actualité.

Cependant, une fois Odjig installée en Colombie-Britannique, les journaux cherchent un nouvel artiste autochtone pour la remplacer. C’est justement à cette époque-là que Morrisseau choisit Winnipeg comme lieu de résidence, mais pour la presse, son statut vedette d’artiste établi est terni à cause de sa conduite qu’elle juge inconvenante. Au cours des années 1970, des articles désobligeants soulignant son comportement agité aboutissent à cette déclaration dans le Winnipeg Free Press : « Si l’art de Morrisseau baigne dans des couleurs vives intenses, l’homme reste distant, mystérieux et entouré d’ombres et de gris ternes. »32 Pour les journaux de Winnipeg, Jackson Beardy, plus accommodant, remplace Odjig et il devient l’artiste préféré de Winnipeg. « Il est aujourd’hui un artiste autochtone canadien important, sinon le plus important », claironne le Winnipeg Free Press, satisfait de son nouvel artiste dont la conduite se conforme aux normes coloniales que la presse accepte tout en les modifiant à son gré. 33

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notes 1 2

Regina Leader-Post, 27 juin 1970.

La « société juste » de Pierre Elliot Trudeau prévoyait l’abrogation de la Loi sur les Indiens et le transfert des responsabilités du ministère des Affaires indiennes aux provinces. Voir Michael D. Behiels, « Aboriginal Nationalism in the Ascendancy: The First Nations’ First Campaign for the Inherent Right to Self-Government, 1968-1997 », dans Canadas of the Mind: The Making and Unmaking of Canadian Nationalism in the Twentieth Century, éd. Norman Hellmer et Adam Chapnick (Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2007), 263.

3 Pour une explication et une analyse plus approfondie de la présentation des peuples autochtones dans la presse, voir Mark Cronlund Anderson et Carmen Robertson, Seeing Red: A History of Natives in Canadian Newspapers (Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 2011).

4 Anderson et Robertson, Seeing Red, 155–172.

5 Ron Campbell, « Hunting Deer at Night: Indian ‘War’ Threats », Winnipeg Free Press, 17 novembre 1971, 1.

6 John McManus, « Indian Artist Working to Help Native People », Winnipeg Free Press, 2 décembre 1972, 31.

7 « A painting by an Indian Artist of Ontario Resources Minister », Winnipeg Free Press, 10 juin 1972, 7.

8 Kenora Miner and News, 15 mars 1974.

9 Ibid.

10 « Murals by Indian Artists Eyed for Expo Pavilion », Winnipeg Free Press, 27 septembre 1966, 11.

11 Ibid.

12 John W. Graham, « Unusual Quality in Indian Work », Winnipeg Free Press, 3 décembre 1968, 6.

13 Ibid.

14 Winnipeg Tribune, 14 décembre 1971.

15 J. R. Stevens, « Paintings Recreate Ojibwa Past », Winnipeg Free Press, 7 décembre 1968, 52.

16 Ibid.

17 « Cree Artist in Rare Show: A Critique by John W. Graham », Winnipeg Free Press, 15 mai 1972, 34.

18 « Indian Art Praised: A Critique by J. W. Graham », Winnipeg Free Press, 4 octobre 1972, 57.

19 Ibid.

20 Ibid.

21 Toronto Globe and Mail, 1er mars 1975.

22 Graham et Purdie ne sont pas les seuls à préférer l’art autochtone qui semble adopter l’imagerie abstraite moderne. Le documentaire de l’Office national du film, Fierté sur toiles (1974) encourage lui aussi une hiérarchie assimilationniste entre les pratiques de quatre artistes, partant de Morrisseau et remontant jusqu’aux travaux de Janvier en passant respectivement par Sapp et Odjig.

23 Winnipeg Tribune, 30 novembre 1973.

24 Ibid.

25 Cet article a sans doute été rédigé à Winnipeg, puis transmis par le service des nouvelles de la Presse canadienne et repris par le Edmonton Journal, une pratique courante des journaux canadiens. Edmonton Journal, 29 décembre 1973.

26 « New ‘Group of Seven’ is Emerging in Art », Edmonton Journal, 29 décembre 1973.

27 Winnipeg Free Press, 22 juin 1974.

28 Elaine Brown, « Demand for Art Rising but City Dealers Unable to Survive on Sales Alone », Winnipeg Free Press, 13 août 1974, 13.

29 « Native Awareness Helps Art—Odjig », Winnipeg Free Press, 9 décembre 1974, 4. On indique que c’est une première exposition pour Alvin Redman et Wilma Simon. Les membres du groupe exposent également à la Gallery 115 dont l’annonce datée du 19 octobre 1974 mentionne Morrisseau, Odjig, Ray, Janvier, Cobiness et Joshim Kakegamic (Winnipeg Free Press, Music and Arts Section, 2).

30 « Native Awareness Helps Art ».

31 Voir « Odjig: Exhibition Offers Retrospective of Works by Indian Artists », Winnipeg Free Press, 21 mars 1977, 3.

32 « Indian Artist is Wedged between Two Cultures », Winnipeg Free Press, 26 juillet 1977, 17.

33 « Mural a Rich Testimony to Verbal Indian History », Winnipeg Free Press, 23 mai 1978, 21.

LE NOUVEAU GROUPE DES SEPT : UNE RÉACTION À LA SITUATION DE L’ART INDIEN AU CANADA DANS LES ANNÉES 1960 ET 1970 VIVIANE GRAY L’art, selon moi, abat les barrières entre les nantis et les non nantis.

S’infiltre dans le cœur de personnes qu’on n’a jamais rencontrées auparavant. S’exprime dans une langue qu’on ne comprend pas et nous rapproche de la création du Grand Esprit.

— Alex Janvier, 19761 Si notre culture visuelle est toujours présente au 21° siècle c’est grâce, en grande partie, au courage et à la vision de nos artistes. En dépit d’énormes obstacles, ils ont persisté à créer des œuvres d’art qui reflétaient à la fois leurs traditions culturelles et une nouvelle vision du monde. Leur message artistique reprenait celui de leurs ancêtres. De tout temps, en effet, les Premières Nations du Canada ont souhaité vivre en harmonie avec les autres Canadiens, mais selon leurs propres conditions — non pas en peuples conquis mais d’égal à égal.

Les Premières Nations au Canada ont toujours fait preuve de créativité. Les objets patrimoniaux qu’on retrouve dans les musées et les collections privées du monde entier reflètent bien notre riche passé artistique. Or, malgré tout, au vingtième siècle, nos artistes ont dû lutter pour que les institutions artistiques et les galeries publiques les reconnaissent en tant que tels. Pourquoi a-t-il fallu tant de temps pour que ces dernières en arrivent à reconnaître l’art autochtone? Notre histoire de l’art contemporain est, malheureusement, une histoire d’intolérance, de malentendus et de réticences. Elle a été affectée par la politique et par les mœurs du pays.

Si les Canadiens ne découvrent pas l’art des Premières Nations avant le milieu du vingtième siècle, c’est en partie à cause de la Loi sur les Indiens. Il a fallu attendre jusqu’aux années 1960 pour que l’art de la côte Nord-Ouest du Pacifique soit reconnu. En effet, la Loi sur le potlach, un amendement de 1884 à la Loi sur les Indiens qui n’a pas été aboli avant 1951, interdisait les grandes cérémonies et affectait la création, l’utilisation et la distribution d’art traditionnel. 2 D’autres cérémonies et pratiques culturelles dans d’autres régions se voient interdites. Même la tenue traditionnelle ne peut être portée lors d’événements non autorisés. Les Premières Nations n’étaient pas canadiennes en vertu de la Loi sur les Indiens.

Ce n’est qu’à partir des années 1960, lorsqu’un amendement y a inclus l’émancipation, c’est à dire le droit de vote, que les Premières Nations ont pu se considérer canadiennes. Comme le résume de façon succincte le spécialiste des sciences sociales, Wayne Warry : « Avant, il était impossible d’être à la fois Indien et membre à part entière de la société. »3 Malgré les politiques gouvernementales qui les isolent de la société canadienne, les Autochtones font appel à l’art, l’écriture, la musique, le théâtre et la danse pour enrichir leur vie. Selon Doreen Jensen, une artiste gitxsan : « Au cours des années 1950 et 1960, l’art traditionnel contemporain de la côte Nord-Ouest est sorti de la clandestinité et les artistes entament le dialogue avec la culture non autochtone. » 4 Pour survivre au sein de leurs diverses cultures, les Premières Nations doivent communiquer ce qui, pour elles, est une tradition séculaire. Cet aspect de l’autodétermination

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autochtone rend l’histoire des Premières Nations fort intéressante.

L’artiste n’est pas seulement technicien, il est aussi enseignant, chef tribal, visionnaire spirituel et guerrier. Pas surprenant alors que l’artiste autochtone soit également conservateur, éducateur, gestionnaire de projet, politicien, écrivain, acteur, diplomate culturel et défenseur des droits des Premières Nations.

George Clutesi (1905–1988), un artiste de la côte Ouest membre de la bande Tseshaht (Nuu-chah-nulth), est un des premiers et meilleurs exemples d’autodétermination artistique. Il travaille comme concierge lorsque l’artiste Emily Carr l’encourage à peindre et va même jusqu’à lui fournir du matériel d’artiste. 5 En 1944, Clutesi est le premier artiste à avoir une exposition solo de ses tableaux au Musée provincial de Victoria (Colombie-Britannique).

S’il réussit dans l’art visuel, il réussit également comme écrivain, acteur, danseur et chanteur, philosophe et enseignant de la culture des Tseshaht. Clutesi appartient à un groupe d’artistes qui, grâce aux expositions et conférences qu’organise la British Columbia Indian Arts and Welfare Society (Société du bien-être et des arts indiens de la Colombie-Britannique),6 jouit déjà d’une grande visibilité au cours des années 1940.

Malgré cela, les premiers efforts de promotion de la culture et de l’art contemporains des Premières Nations ne connaissent qu’un modeste succès car les Canadiens ne sont pas encore prêts à accepter la réalité des Premières Nations au vingtième siècle. Ils préfèrent une image romanesque du passé. Les deux premières expositions d’art de la côte Nord-Ouest à le Musée des beaux arts de Vancouver, People of the Potlatch (1956) et Arts of the Raven: Masterworks of the Northwest Coast Indian (1967), illustrent bien ce point. Les deux expositions se concentrent sur des objets traditionnels et seule la seconde présente des travaux d’artistes contemporains.

LES ANNÉES 1960 Dans le monde entier, les années 1960 sont passionnantes en raison des bouleversements sociaux et technologiques qui affectent tout le monde, riche ou pauvre. À cette époque, le Canada connaît des changements politiques et sociaux qui transformeront à jamais l’histoire de l’art canadien. Une politique artistique nationale, élaborée en 1951 suite au rapport de la Commission Massey-Lévesque, aboutit à la création du Conseil des arts du Canada. On prend conscience de la nécessité d’apprécier et d’appuyer l’art de tous les Canadiens.7 Et, en 1960, la nouvelle Galerie nationale du Canada (aujourd’hui Musée des beaux-arts du Canada) ouvre ses portes à Ottawa.

Au début des années 1960, de nombreuses réserves des Premières Nations ont l’électricité et la télévision et la radio nous ouvrent pour la première fois une fenêtre sur le monde. La radio anglaise de Radio-Canada diffuse régulièrement une série de documentaires, The Way of the Indian (1961) et un journal d’information, Indian Magazine (1965), qui deviendra plus tard Our Native Land, animé par Johnny Yesno et Bernelda Wheeler, et qui aborde les nouvelles et les questions du jour. On peut voir l’acteur cri Terry Lavallee8 dans l’épisode intitulé « Thy Brother’s Keeper » (1968), du feuilleton télévisé, Quentin Durgens, MP. Selon l’artiste, historien d’art et conservateur Tom Hill, « au cours des années 1960, pour les communautés autochtones, l’art est l’expression de leur identité et d’un nationalisme retrouvé ».9 Des organismes politiques régionaux se forment et le Conseil national des Indiens (1961–68), premier organisme politique national, voit le jour. C’est un groupe de coordination pour les Indiens, inscrits et non inscrits, et les Métis.10 En 1966–67, le gouvernement fédéral publie les deux volumes du Rapport Hawthorn : Étude sur les Indiens contemporains du Canada : Besoins et mesures d’ordre économique,

politique et éducatif. Commandé par le ministère de la Citoyenneté et de l’Immigration,11 le rapport montre très clairement que les Autochtones sont parmi les plus défavorisés au Canada.12 En 1964, le rapport de la Commission Massey-Lévesque et le Rapport Hawthorn amènent la création de la Division des affaires culturelles à la Direction générale des Affaires indiennes du ministère de la Citoyenneté et de l’Immigration. Le premier programme du gouvernement fédéral sur l’art autochtone du gouvernement fédéral a pour but d’identifier et de stimuler « la culture autochtone canadienne » en octroyant des subventions pour la recherche ainsi que pour la préservation et la promotion de la culture traditionnelle et contemporaine dans les domaines de l’art, de la danse, de la musique, de l’écriture et du théâtre.

Cette division doit aussi mettre sur pied une collection d’art destinée à des expositions au Canada ou à l’étranger, et c’est elle qui est responsable du Pavillon des Indiens du Canada d’Expo 67 à Montréal.

En 1965, Alex Janvier (Déné Suline/Saulteaux), artiste originaire de la réserve Le Goff près de Cold Lake (Alberta), travaille à l’élaboration d’une politique culturelle aux Affaires culturelles. À la même époque, Tom Hill, artiste sénéca originaire de la réserve des Six Nations (Ontario), conservateur et administrateur, y travaille lui aussi comme consultant artistique. Hill attribue à Janvier la philosophie à l’origine de la création de la collection d’art indien aux Affaires indiennes et du Nord : « C’est grâce à lui que les peintres et les organismes culturels dans le besoin ont reçu une aide financière. C’est lui qui a encouragé le gouvernement à embaucher des artistes indiens pour réaliser les murales extérieures du Pavillon des Indiens à Expo 67. »13 Des artistes de tout le Canada sont alors engagés dont George Clutesi (Nuu-chah-nulth), Noel Wuttunee (Cri des Plaines), Gerald Tailfeathers (Kainai), Ross Woods (Dakota), Alex Janvier (Déné Suline/Saulteaux), Tom Hill (Sénéca), Norval Morrisseau (Anishinabé), Francis Kagige (Anishinabé) et Jean-Marie GrosLouis (Huron-Wendat de Wendake). Carl Ray (Cri) ne fait pas partie de ce premier groupe, mais il aidera Norval Morrisseau à réaliser sa murale. En permettant aux artistes de changer les perceptions du public, Expo 67 marque un véritable tournant pour l’art des Premières Nations au Canada. Tout aussi importante est l’amitié qui se tisse entre Morrisseau, Ray et Janvier qui, dans les années 1970, joueront un rôle primordial dans la formation de la Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporated (PNIAI).

Les artistes des Premières Nations George Clutesi, Tony Hunt (Kwakwaka’wakw/Tlingit), Alex Janvier, Francis Kagige, Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig (Odawa/Potawatomi), Henry Speck (Kwakwaka’wakw), Gerald Tailfeathers et Roy Thomas (Anishinabé) sont actifs pendant toute la période des années 1960.

George Clutesi qui expose ses travaux depuis 1944 a déjà publié deux livres en 1969 : Son of Raven, Son of Deer (1967) et Potlatch (1969). Tony Hunt, dont on peut voir les œuvres dans Arts of the Raven, a aussi exposé en 1965 à la Bon Marché Gallery à Seattle (Washington) et en 1967 à la Galerie Libre à Montréal.

En 1950, alors qu’Alex Janvier n’a que quinze ans et qu’il est encore élève au pensionnat autochtone Blue Quills, son tableau, Our Lady of the Teepee, fait partie de l’Exposition internationale d’art sacré au Musée du Vatican, à Rome. En 1960, Janvier obtient un diplôme avec spécialisation en beaux-arts de l’Alberta College of Art et devient ainsi un des premiers artistes autochtones diplômés du Canada. En 1964, Janvier se voit proposer une exposition solo à la Jacox Gallery d’Edmonton (Alberta) dans le cadre du All Alberta Show du printemps. Il dira plus tard : « Nous étions en 1964, époque où. . . les Indiens ne pesaient pas lourd à Edmonton. »14

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En 1968, il participe à une exposition à l’Université de Calgary en compagnie de Norval Morrisseau et Gerald Tailfeathers.

Bon nombre de ces artistes étant autodidactes, on voit apparaître en Ontario un style rafraîchissant et novateur où fusionnent traditions orales, images pictographiques et formes naturelles.

En 1962, Norval Morrisseau devient célèbre du jour au lendemain lorsque toutes les œuvres de sa première exposition solo à la Pollock Gallery de Toronto trouvent acquéreurs. En 1966, il a des expositions solo au Musée du Québec et, en 1969, une exposition Norval Morrisseau : Légendes indiennes du grand nord canadien se tient à la Galerie Saint-Paul, Saint-Paul-de-Vence (France). En 1965, il est co-auteur avec Selwyn Dewdney de Legends of my People, the Great Ojibway et en 1969, il illustre l’ouvrage de Herbert T. Schwarz, Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways.15 Pendant les années 1960, Daphne Odjig, originaire de Wikwemikong (Ontario), a trois expositions solo et, en 1963, elle est acceptée au sein de la British Columbia Federation of Artists (Fédération des artistes de la Colombie-Britannique). En 1967, ses enfants ayant grandi, elle a sa première exposition solo au Lakehead Art Centre à Port Arthur (Ontario) et l’année suivante, une autre à l’Université de Brandon.16 En 1970, Francis Kagige, lui aussi originaire de l’île Manitoulin, a déjà participé à trois expositions solo et cinq expositions collectives et, en 1969, il a illustré avec Daphne Odjig, I am an Indian, la première anthologie de textes des Premières Nations.17 Henry Speck, originaire de Alert Bay (Colombie-Britannique), est un des artistes les plus prolifiques qui pratiquent l’art traditionnel des Kwakwaka’wakw. Au cours des années 1960, il participe à huit expositions de groupe et seize critiques de ses travaux sont publiées. À la même époque, Gerald Tailfeathers, de Stand Off (Alberta), est lui aussi un peintre reconnu. En 1970, il a déjà à son actif une exposition solo et neufs expositions de groupe au Canada et aux États-Unis. Au début des années 1960, l’artiste anishinabé Roy Thomas, de Longlac (Ontario), a déjà participé à quatre expositions solo. Thomas est au premier rang des artistes à avoir adopté le style de peinture de l’école des Woodlands créée par Norval Morrisseau.

En 1969, alors que les Premières Nations adhèrent à la résurgence culturelle des années 1960, le gouvernement fédéral publie une politique qui éliminerait le statut distinct des Indiens, abrogerait la Loi sur les Indiens et abolirait les liens juridiques entre les Indiens et le gouvernement.18 Les politiciens des Premières Nations s’opposent vigoureusement à cette politique qu’on nomme aussi « Livre blanc sur la politique indienne » car, pour eux, elle équivaut à un génocide culturel et à une assimilation forcée. Le Livre blanc n’est pas approuvé, mais la controverse amène les Canadiens à se rendre compte que les Autochtones et les problèmes qu’ils vivent font partie intégrante de la réalité canadienne. Ceci conduit Harold Cardinal, auteur cri et militant politique, à publier en 1969, La tragédie des Indiens du Canada, une des premières publications d’un auteur autochtone qui suscitent une prise de conscience chez tous les Canadiens.19 LES ANNÉES 1970 Pour les Premières Nations du Canada, les années 1970 sont une période de renaissance culturelle. Elles ont accès à des subventions gouvernementales pour le théâtre, la danse, la musique, le cinéma et les pow-wow estivaux. En 1970, le Programme des centres culturels et éducatifs du gouvernement fédéral amène la création de Kitanmax School of Northwest Coast Indian Art et ‘Ksan Cultural and Educational Centre à Hazelton (ColombieBritannique), celle du Woodland Indian Cultural Education Centre à la réserve des Six Nations (Ontario) en 1972, du Saskatchewan

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Indian Cultural College à Saskatoon en 1972 et de la Ojibwe Cultural Foundation sur l’île Manitoulin (Ontario) en 1974. Du 23 au 25 mars 1970, le premier Congrès canadien de la culture indienne se déroule à l’hôtel Beacon Arms à Ottawa. Il est parrainé par la Division du développement culturel du ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord (AINC) et la Direction générale de la citoyenneté du Secrétariat d’état. Ce congrès est un moyen de consulter artistes et groupes culturels de tout le pays. Les participants sont surtout des agents culturels, des politiciens autochtones, des éducateurs non autochtones et des muséologues du Musée national de l’homme. Seuls deux artistes autochtones y assistent : Gerald Tailfeathers et la cinéaste Alanis Obamsawin (Abénaquis).

Au cours des années 1970, l’Office national du film (ONF) réalise quarante-deux films portant sur des sujets autochtones et entame un programme de formation de deux ans cofinancé par AINC. De 1975 à 1976, la Division des affaires culturelles des Affaires indiennes produit, sous la direction de Tom Hill, deux films avec l’ONF : Norval Morrisseau : un paradoxe (1974) et Fierté sur toiles (1974) qui mettent en vedette les travaux de Norval Morrisseau, Allen Sapp (Cri), Daphne Odjig et Alex Janvier. 20 Pour la première fois au Canada, on élabore des programmes éducatifs sur la culture et l’art indiens. En 1973, le Collège Manitou à La Macaza (Québec) offre un programme d’études de trois ans, mais il ferme ses portes en 1976. Les artistes Robert Houle (Anishinabé), Domingo Cisneros (Mestizo) et Edward Poitras (Cri/Métis) y ont enseigné l’art. En 1977, le mandat artistique du Saskatchewan Cultural College est transféré au tout nouveau Saskatchewan Indian Federated College ou Collège indien fédéré de la Saskatchewan (Université de Regina) où l’artiste et éducateur Bob Boyer (Métis) devient le premier directeur du Département des beaux-arts autochtones, poste qu’il occupera pendant de nombreuses années.

AINC lance plusieurs initiatives de développement économique pour l’art et l’artisanat. En 1973, Joshim Kakegamic, Henry Kakegamic et Goyce Kakegamic (Anishinabés) créent la Triple K Co-operative Incorporated. Cette compagnie, située à Red Lake (Ontario), produit des estampes originales à tirage limité de plusieurs artistes dont Saul Williams et Norval Morrisseau. La Ministic Carvers Co-op est établie en 1969 à Garden Hill, Island Lake (Manitoba) par un groupe de sculpteurs cris et elle continuera à produire, exposer et commercialiser des sculptures en stéatite pendant toutes les années 1970. 21 Pour venir en aide à l’industrie de l’art et de l’artisanat indiens, AINC met sur pied des programmes de développement économique dont, en 1974, le Central Indian Marketing Services (CIMS). Ce service central de commercialisation agit comme grossiste de l’art et de l’artisanat autochtones au Canada et aux États-Unis et a pour rôle d’en promouvoir l’authenticité et la qualité. Le renouveau que connaissent ces deux domaines au cours des années 1960 et au début des années 1970 nécessite la création d’un organisme national. En 1975, la National Indian Arts and Crafts Corporation (NIACC) ou Société nationale de l’art et de l’artisanat indiens est établie pour développer et promouvoir ces deux volets. La NIACC est un organisme à but non lucratif qui représente les sociétés et organismes provinciaux et territoriaux d’art et d’artisanat autochtones.

De 1967 à 1979, la Division des affaires culturelles des AINC continue à enrichir la collection d’art indien du Ministère. Selon David General, directeur de la division et conservateur de la collection en 1978 : « C’est après Expo 67 qu’on a pensé à faire une collection d’art indien. . . . L’objectif principal était de s’en servir pour des expositions afin de faire connaître l’art autochtone. »22 La division appuie également la musique et les arts de la scène,

les langues amérindiennes et la littérature. En 1970, les Affaires culturelles entament la publication d’une revue culturelle trimestrielle, Tawow, et en 1972 publie Indian Arts in Canada, la toute première publication canadienne consacrée à l’art des Premières Nations. 23 En 1976, la NIACC crée le National Indian Arts Council (NIAC) pour l’aider à élaborer des politiques régissant la promotion et la commercialisation, les projets éducatifs et les droits d’auteur afin d’assurer la haute qualité de l’art et de l’artisanat indiens. Bill Reid, Alex Janvier, Tom Hill, Jackson Beardy, Jacqueline Fry, Viviane Gray et Bill Ellis comptent parmi les premiers membres du conseil d’administration. En 1977, lorsque ce dernier se prononce contre les stratégies de commercialisation de la NIACC et du CIMS qui sont plus axées sur l’artisanat que sur l’art, le NIAC est dissous. Le CIMS cesse ses opérations en 1978, mais la NIACC poursuit les siennes jusqu’au milieu des années 1990.

Pendant toute la période des années 1970, Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien parraine des expositions pour faire connaître les artistes des Premières Nations et faire découvrir l’art autochtone.

En 1974 et 1975, la Division des affaires culturelles d’AINC parraine trois expositions dont le commissaire est Tom Hill. La première, Canadian Indian Art ’74, au Musée royal de l’Ontario, est une rétrospective de l’art et de l’artisanat créés au Canada de 1972 à 1974. Selon Tom Hill, c’est la première fois qu’un musée s’intéresse « non pas à des spécimens anthropologiques, mais à des artistes autochtones et à ce qu’ils ont à dire ». 24 La seconde, Links to a Tradition: Symbolism in Contemporary Canadian Indian Art, une exposition itinérante, se déroule en 1974 à la McIntosh Gallery, University of Western Ontario et dans les consulats canadiens aux États-Unis. Enfin, en 1975–76, la troisième, Contemporary Native Art: The Woodland Indians, ouvre ses portes au Musée royal de l’Ontario avant d’être présentée à la base des Forces armées canadiennes à Lahr (Allemagne) et à la Maison du Canada à Londres (Angleterre).

Parallèlement, plusieurs autres expositions de l’art des Premières Nations se tiennent dans des institutions d’art publiques au Canada. L’une des plus importantes, Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171, a lieu en 1972 au Musée des beaux-arts de Winnipeg. Elle met en vedette Alex Janvier, Jackson Beardy et Daphne Odjig, et Jacqueline Fry, anthropologue et éducatrice de l’art française, en est la commissaire. Selon Jan Kamienski de Focus/Arts, cette exposition est « une des premières expositions ‘officielles’ pour ces trois artistes. On aimerait en voir plus ». 25 Toujours à la même époque se tiennent Canadian Indian Painting au Musée royal de l’Ontario en 1973, Contemporary Indian Art: The Trail from the Past to the Future en 1977 à la Mackenzie Gallery, Trent University, Peterborough (Ontario), Indian Art 77 au Woodland Indian Education Cultural Centre à Brantford (Ontario) et Art of the Woodland Indian à la Collection McMichael d‘art canadien à Kleinburg (Ontario), en 1978.

En dépit de l’intérêt du gouvernement fédéral et du soutien qu’il apporte à l’art des Premières Nations au cours des années 1970, l’opinion publique, les politiques et les pratiques institutionnelles changent peu. En 1978, on demande à Tom Hill : « Pour les institutions artistiques telles la Banque d’art du Canada, le Musée des beaux-arts de l’Ontario, le Conseil des arts du Canada et la Galerie nationale du Canada, où se trouve la ligne de démarcation entre l’art canadien et l’art autochtone? »26 Il répond : « Je ne le sais pas et je ne crois pas qu’elles-mêmes le sachent, et c’est ce qui me dérange un peu car, en effet, je ne pense pas que pour elles les Indiens soient tout à fait Canadiens sinon elles n’auraient pas fait autant de difficultés pour que nous fassions partie intégrante de leurs institutions. »

Le premier Colloque national des artistes autochtones se déroule à l’île Manitoulin le 1er octobre 1978 et le second, à Regina, au Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (SIFC) en septembre 1979. Selon l’artiste autochtone, conservateur et universitaire Alfred Young Man, ce sont des artistes autochtones qui organisent ces rencontres « pour que leurs créations soient reconnues comme professionnelles par le grand public, les institutions d’enseignement, les galeries et les musées canadiens et internationaux ». 27 En 1979, le ministère des Affaires indiennes tente, en vain, de transférer sa collection d’art autochtone à la Galerie nationale du Canada. Bob Knox, directeur général de la Direction opérationnelle de soutien aux programmes des Affaires indiennes, déclare dans le Ottawa Citizen que « la Galerie nationale a refusé de prendre en charge la collection car ‘l’art ethnique’ n’est pas de son ressort. . .

Cela illustre bien la fausse impression que l’art autochtone est de nature historique et non contemporaine ». 28 LE NOUVEAU GROUPE DES SEPT Avant 1970, peu de galeries d’art commerciales achètent ou encouragent l’art autochtone, et les galeries d’art publiques et les musées n’ont organisé que cinq expositions de groupe mettant en vedette l’art des Premières Nations. En 1927, dans le cadre de l’exposition Canadian West Coast Art: Native and Modern préparée par Eric Brown, directeur de la Galerie nationale du Canada, les pièces traditionnelles provenant de la collection des musées nationaux du Canada avaient été exposées avec les travaux d’artistes contemporains comme Emily Carr. 29 Vingt-neuf ans plus tard, en 1956, le Musée des beaux arts de Vancouver avait accueilli sa première exposition d’art de la côte Nord-Ouest, People of the Potlatch, suivie, en 1967, par Arts of the Raven. Toujours en 1967, la Galerie nationale du Canada avait inclus un seul tableau de Norval Morrisseau dans Trois cents ans d’art canadien. En 1969, l’exposition Chefs-d’œuvre des arts indiens et esquimaux du Canada organisée par le Musée de l’homme à Paris (France) et le Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, présente des oeuvres historiques anonymes, mais aucune œuvre d’artistes contemporains. 30 Bien que de nombreux artistes des Premières Nations tels Jackson Beardy, Tony Hunt, Alex Janvier, Norval Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig et Bill Reid acquièrent une renommée internationale au cours des années 1970, leurs travaux ne sont toujours pas exposés dans les galeries d’art canadiennes publiques ou privées. Le début des années 1970 voit également apparaître une nouvelle vague d’artistes cherchant des occasions d’exposer leurs travaux pour être éventuellement reconnus. Parmi eux, citons Sam Ash, Shirley Bear, Benjamin Chee Chee, Eddy Cobiness, Ron Hamilton, Walter Harris, Robert Houle, Doreen Jensen, Roy Kakegamic, Don Laforte, Clifford Maracle, Jerry Marks, Earl Muldoe, Art Price, Carl Ray, Art Sterritt, Neil Sterritt, Alan Syliboy, Roy Henry Vickers et Leo Yerxa.

Ils font face aux mêmes défis qu’un artiste en milieu de carrière ou un artiste établi. La plupart des artistes des Premières Nations de l’époque ne peuvent pas vivre de leur art.

Souvent, les artistes autochtones qui vivent hors de leur réserve ou de leur collectivité ne trouvent pas leur place dans la société canadienne. Tels des expatriés dans leur propre pays, ils se retrouvent dans les villes — dans leurs églises, leurs écoles ou lors d’activités artistiques — et se lient d’amitié. C’est le cas de Daphne Odjig qui, en 1970, s’installe à Winnipeg (Manitoba). Elle ouvre Odjig Indian Prints of Canada Limited et un petit magasin auquel s’intègrera plus tard la Warehouse Gallery. Odjig travaille avec Norval Morrisseau pour reproduire les tableaux de ce dernier sous forme d’estampes à tirage limité. Elle rencontre également Jackson

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Beardy qui fait la promotion des sculptures de la coopérative de Garden Hill.

La Warehouse Gallery devient vite un lieu d’exposition et un endroit de rencontre pour les artistes. Joseph Sanchez, un artiste de souche Taos Pueblo qui vit à Winnipeg est de ceux-là. Il se souvient: Ces rencontres de 1972 à Odjig Indian Prints et à la Warehouse Gallery, au 331 Donald Street, ce sont les germes de la Professional Native [Indian] Artists Inc., aussi connu comme le Groupe autochtone des sept, qui se constitue officiellement en février 1974. 31 Bien que quelques 50 artistes aient été invités à venir à Winnipeg, sept seulement ont répondu à l’appel. Le groupe se compose de Daphne Odjig, Norval Morrisseau, Alex Janvier, Jackson Beardy, Carl Ray, Eddy Cobiness et d’un marine américain expatrié, Joseph M. Sanchez. 32 Pourquoi est-il nécessaire de créer la Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. ou PNIAI? Peu de choses ont été écrites à son sujet. Les biographies et les comptes-rendus d’expositions sont informatifs, mais dans les catalogues d’exposition les références à la PNIAI ou au « Groupe indien des sept » sont peu nombreuses et portent souvent à confusion. Pour mieux comprendre la situation de l’art autochtone dans les années 1970, j’ai décidé d’étudier les principaux documents qui portent sur le groupe et ses expositions, et de rencontrer deux artistes du groupe qui sont encore actifs : Alex Janvier, propriétaire d’un studio et d’une galerie à Cold Lake (Alberta) et Joseph Sanchez, le plus jeune membre du groupe, qui vit actuellement à Santa Fe (Nouveau-Mexique).

Alex Janvier se souvient, qu’à l’origine, le groupe était ouvert à d’autres artistes. À un moment donné, Bill Reid a exprimé son intérêt à se joindre au groupe. Comme il travaillait pour le réseau anglais de Radio-Canada, il aurait porté la PNIAI à l’attention des médias, une attention dont elle avait bien besoin. Son agent, Bill Ellis, l’en aurait toutefois dissuadé. Selon Janvier, les artistes qui avaient travaillé ensemble à Expo 67 voulaient être traités en professionnels. 33 Bien qu’Expo 67 et leurs expositions personnelles leur aient apporté une reconnaissance nationale, ils avaient de la peine à se faire accepter par les galeries et institutions d’art. Janvier se souvient d’une rencontre en 1974, à Ottawa, avec John Dennehy du Secrétariat d’État du Canada, affecté aux Affaires indiennes, pour préparer les documents d’enregistrement de la PNIAI. Janvier et plusieurs autres artistes du groupe en profitent pour chercher un endroit où organiser une exposition du groupe. On leur propose le Musée canadien de la guerre, mais pour Morrisseau et Cobiness, c’est là une insulte car ils aspirent à être traités en artistes professionnels.

Dennehy propose de rendre visite à Max Stern, docteur ès arts, marchand d’art de réputation internationale et propriétaire de la Galerie Dominion à Montréal (Québec) afin de lui faire découvrir de « l’art vraiment canadien » réalisé par les artistes de la PNIAI. Stern collectionne et vend les œuvres d’artistes canadiens tels Paul-Émile Borduas, A. Y. Jackson et d’autres membres du Groupe des sept, Emily Carr ainsi que d’artistes internationaux comme Henry Moore, Rodin, Kandinsky et Emilio Greco. Pour la PNIAI, cette rencontre est un coup de maître. Selon le Montreal Star, Stern a « une énorme influence dans le monde de l’art. . . Il découvre collectionne, conseille et exploite les artistes, mais il prédit aussi l’évolution de l’art et en fixe le prix sur le marché ». 34 Stern programme sa première exposition d’art autochtone de la Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. pour le printemps de 1975.

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Colours of Pride: Paintings by 7 Professional Native Artists / Fierté sur toile : Tableaux par sept artistes indiens canadiens a lieu du 11 mars au 5 avril 1975. 35 Ce même jour, une critique de l’exposition dans la revue montréalaise Secrets des Artistes, révèle l’étonnement du public montréalais devant l’art autochtone : Fierté Sur Toile a été une réussite et le public montréalais a pu apprécier le talent et l’originalité de ces artistes. Je dis bien artistes, car plusieurs croient encore que le travail des Indiens est surtout de l’artisanat, mais dans le cas des peintres dont nous parlons aujourd’hui, c’est tout a fait différent. 36 Deux autres expositions de la PNIAI auront lieu en 1975, l’une à Wallack Galleries à Ottawa et l’autre au Art Emporium à Vancouver. Il semble que ce sont là les deux dernières expositions de la Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. Après ces expositions, les galeries d’art de Toronto et Ottawa montrent plus d’intérêt pour l’art autochtone et Janvier attribue ce changement à l’exposition de la Galerie Dominion. Il dit ne pas savoir comment ils ont fait pour rester ensemble. À part l’exposition de 1975 à la Galerie Dominion, qui avait reçu une aide financière des Affaires indiennes, les artistes devaient régler leurs frais de voyage, d’expédition et de téléphone. Selon lui, c’est « Daphne Odjig qui a contribué à la création du groupe et à sa cohésion ». 37 Après 1975, à mesure que les artistes travaillent à leurs propres projets, ils commencent à se perdre de vue. Ils sont représentés par des marchands et galeries d’art différents et il est désormais impossible de maintenir la cohésion du groupe. La seule information que j’ai pu trouver sur la PNIAI après 1975 est une copie d’une lettre d’Eddy Cobiness, au nom de la Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., adressée à William Cook du Bureau régional du Manitoba des Affaires indiennes, datée du 8 juin 1984. Il y demande de l’aide financière pour réaliser une vidéo de promotion de ses travaux. 38 Rien n’indique que le Ministère ait répondu.

Les années 1970 ont été témoins de la renaissance de l’art des Premières Nations au Canada et la Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. est une partie intégrante de ce phénomène. Ce groupe a été éphémère, mais en contribuant au changement d’attitude du public vis à vis de l’art autochtone, il a jeté les bases de l’art contemporain des Premières Nations. Dans l’histoire de l’art autochtone, le succès individuel des artistes de la PNIAI est vraiment remarquable. Norval Morrisseau et Daphne Odjig sont les premiers artistes des Premières Nations à avoir eu chacun leur propre rétrospective au Musée des beaux-arts du Canada. 39 En 1993, Alex Janvier peint une murale de 418 mètres carrés qui orne le dôme sud-est de la Grande galerie du Musée canadien des civilisations à Gatineau (Québec). C’est Étoile du matin, un élément du patrimoine canadien. En 2006, lors de la remise des Prix du Gouverneur du Nouveau-Mexique pour les arts, Joseph Sanchez reçoit le Prix Allan Houser pour l’excellence artistique et l’engagement communautaire. Jusqu’à sa retraite en 2009, Sanchez sera le conservateur en chef et directeur adjoint par intérim du musée du Institute of the American Indian Arts Museum — devenu le Musée de l’art autochtone contemporain à Santa Fe (Nouveau-Mexique). Aujourd’hui encore, avec leur passion pour la vie et pour l’art, Alex Janvier, Daphne Odjig et Joseph Sanchez continuent à inspirer les jeunes artistes.

notes

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8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Avec l’autorisation de l’artiste, extrait du curriculum vitæ d’Alex Janvier (1976), Dominion Gallery fonds, Box 313, File 4, Dominion Gallery Collections 1968–2000-Indian Artists Exhibitions, Bibliothèque et Archives, Musée des beaux-arts du Canada.

La Loi concernant les Indiens, L.R.C., 1985, ou la Loi sur les Indiens est une loi fédérale votée la première fois en 1876 qui consolide et révise la loi qui s’appliquait jusqu’ici aux « Indiens ». Elle existe encore aujourd’hui sous une forme remaniée par les amendements qu’on y a apportés. La Loi sur les Indiens définit qui, en vertu de cette loi, est Indien (et qui ne l’est pas), qui gère les terres « réservées aux Indiens » et établit l’autorité du gouvernement fédéral sur « les Indiens et leurs terres ». Voir Historique de la Loi sur les Indiens (Ottawa : Affaires indiennes et du Nord, 1980), John Leslie, Ron Maguire, Robert G. Moore. Un amendement apporté à la Loi sur les Indiens rend le potlatch (une cérémonie comprenant un festin, le don de cadeaux et des danses, qui remonte au système économique originel des nations de la côte Nord-Ouest du Pacifique) illégal. On nomme cet amendement la Loi sur le potlach.

Wayne Warry, Ending Denial: Understanding Aboriginal Issues (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009), 34–35.

Doreen Jensen, « Metamorphosis », dans Topographies–Aspects of Recent B.C. Art, éd. Grant Arnold, Monika Kin Gagnon et Doreen Jensen (Vancouver: Musée des beaux-arts de Vancouver, 1996), 97.

Dans son testament, Carr a également légué son matériel d’artiste à Clutesi.

Voir Gerta Moray, Unsettling Encounters: First Nations Imagery in the Art of Emily Carr (Vancouver: Musée des beaux-arts de Vancouver, 2006), 344.

Pour une discussion portant sur George Clutesi, Ellen Neel, Judith Morgan et d’autres artistes contemporains en activité en Colombie-Britannique au milieu du vingtième siècle, voir Marcia Crosby, « Making Indian Art ‘Modern,’ » Ruins in Process: Vancouver Art in the Sixties, vancouverartinthesixties.com/essays/ making-indian-art-modern. Voir également British Columbia Indian Arts Society fonds, 1942–1983, Accession 2011.118, British Columbia Archives.

La Commission Massey est le nom qui désigne couramment la Commission royale d’enquête sur l’avancement des arts, des lettres et des sciences au Canada. En 1951, la Commission publie un rapport reconnu comme un document extrêmement important pour l’histoire culturelle du Canada car il préconise le principe de soutien du gouvernement fédéral pour un large éventail d’activités culturelles, dont la création du Conseil des arts du Canada. The Canadian Encyclopedia, s.v. « Massey Commission », www. thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/emc/massey-commission. Ce site existe en français.

The Way of the Indian, série documentaire de la CBC en treize épisodes, 1963, E.78.C2 W3, City of Vancouver Archives; Our Native Land, CBC Programs, digital archives; Episode Guide: Quentin Durgens, M.P., TVarchive.ca.

Tom Hill, essai du commissaire de l’exposition, dans Beyond History, éd. Tom Hill et Karen Duffek, catalogue d’exposition (Vancouver: Musée des beaux-arts de Vancouver, 1989), 6.

Carl Waldman et Molly Braun, Atlas of the North American Indian (New York: Facts on File, 2009), 270.

De 1950 à 1965, les Affaires indiennes et inuit relèvent du ministère de la Citoyenneté et de l’Immigration. En 1966, elles passent sous l’égide du ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien.

Peter D. Elias, Development of Aboriginal People’s Communities (Concord, ON: Captus Press, 1991), 4.

Tom Hill, « Canadian Indian Art: Its Death and Rebirth », Artmagazine 5, no. 18 (été 1974): 11. « Personality Profile: Alex Janvier », Native People 10 (11 novembre 1977): 3.

Norval Morrisseau et Selwyn Dewdney, Legends of my People, the Great Ojibway (Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1965); Herbert T. Schwarz, Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways (Toronto: McCelland and Stewart, 1969).

Bonnie Devine, Les dessins et peintures de Daphne Odjig (Ottawa: Musée des beaux-arts du Canada, 2007), 19–22.

Kent Gooderham, éd. I am an Indian (Toronto: Dent, 1969).

Tracey Lindberg, « Changing Policy and Modern Day Agreements », in Discovering Indigenous Lands: The Doctrine of Discovery in the English Colonies, éd.

Robert J. Miller et al. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 162.

La Tragédie des Indiens du Canada. The Unjust Society: The Tragedy of Canada’s Indians (Montréal : Éditions du jour, 1970) de Harold Cardinal est sa réponse au slogan populaire de Pierre Elliot Trudeau pendant la campagne électorale de 1968 pour « une société juste ».

22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31

32 33 34 35

36 37 38

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Monica Pine, « Tom Hill: Artist Promotes Native Culture », Glebe Report 5, no. 3 (11 mars 1977): 8 .

Loren R. Lerner et Mary F. Williamson, Art and Architecture in Canada: A Bibliography and Guide to the Literature (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991), 444.

Melissa Lazore, « D.I.N.A. Art Collection », The Native Perspective, 3, no. 2 (1978): 41.

Le ministère des Affaires indiennes et du Nord a publié Tawow, une revue trimestrielle portant sur l’art et la culture autochtones de 1970 à 1981. Parmi les rédacteurs, citons Jean Goodwill, Tom Hill, Georges Sioui et Viviane Gray.

Lazore, « D.I.N.A. Art Collection », 41.

Jan Kamienski, « Symbolism links three gallery shows », Focus/Arts (26 août 1972): 20.

Melissa Lazore, « An interview with Tom Hill », The Native Perspective, 3 no. 2 (1978): 40.

Alfred Young Man éd., Networking: Proceedings from the National Native Indian Artists Symposium IV, July 14–18, 1987 (Lethbridge, AB: University of Lethbridge, 1988), 5.

Rita Seagnetti, « Indian art gathers dust », The Ottawa Citizen, 2 mars 1979.

Brown présente des « artefacts » provenant de la collection du Musée national comme des œuvres d’art, déplorant une tradition artistique « en voie de disparition ». Il semble ignorer les politiques fédérales qui ont entraîné cette disparition. Pour une discussion de Canadian West Coast Art: Native and Modern, voir Diana Nemiroff, « Modernism, Nationalism and Beyond: A Critical History of Exhibitions of First Nations Art », dans Reesa Greenberg et al, éd. Thinking About Exhibitions (London UK: Routledge, 1996), 292–94.

Diane Nemiroff, « Modernism, Nationalism and Beyond », 301.

Une demande pour se constituer en société sous le nom de PNIAI est préparée en février 1974, puis révisée et redéposée au ministère de la Consommation et des Affaires commerciales (maintenant Corporations Canada) le 13 mars. « Anisinabe » a été ajouté au nom de la PNIAI dans la demande révisée dont les objectifs sont assez proches de la proposition soumise en 1973 au NIAC. La demande a été approuvée plus d’un an plus tard et le 1er avril 1975 sont émises les lettres patentes qui donnent à la PNIAI son statut de société sous le nouveau nom de Anisinabe Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. Toutefois, le Groupe a continué a fonctionné sous le nom de PNIAI.—Éd.

Joseph Sanchez, curriculum vitæ de l’artiste, 2012.

Alex Janvier, entrevue personnelle avec l’auteure, Ottawa (Ontario), 24 octobre 2012.

Lou Seligson, « Max Stern: Big Gun in the World of Art », Montreal Star, 2 novembre 1972, A-5.

Les fichiers d’archive de l’exposition Colours of Pride: Paintings by 7 Professional Native Artists / Fierté sur toile : Tableaux par sept artistes indiens canadiens à la Galerie Dominion à Montréal mentionnent deux dates. Une lettre datée du 28 janvier 1975 de Susan Saigal, Central Marketing Services, Ottawa, à Michel Moreault, Galerie Dominion, porte les dates manuscrites du 11 mars au 5 avril 1975. Une lettre de Michel Moreault à Monsieur Dumont, datée du 19 février 1975, mentionne les mêmes dates, tout comme une note inscrite au dossier contenant des renseignements sur l’exposition. Toutefois une lettre du 25 février 1975 que Michel Moreault, Galerie Dominion, adresse à Doreen Hughes, Section « Arts et spectacles » du Montreal Star, donne au journal les renseignements relatifs à l’exposition, mais les dates indiquées sont du 11 mars au 12 avril. « Sept Peintres Indiens Exposent à la Galerie Dominion », Secrets des Artistes, 5 avril 1975, 24.

Alex Janvier, entrevue personnelle.

Eddy Cobiness à William Cook, Directeur des opérations, Affaires indiennes et du Nord canadien, 8 juin 1984, Winnipeg (Manitoba). Cobiness dit aussi que John Dennehy est son porte-parole. Dossier de l’artiste, Eddy Cobiness, Centre d’art autochtone, Affaires autochtones et développement du Nord Canada: lettre numéro de dossier 28-11.

Norval Morrisseau: artiste chaman est la première exposition rétrospective d’un artiste des Premières Nations au Musée des beaux-arts du Canada (3 février au 30 avril 2006). Daphne Odjig est la première Autochtone à avoir une exposition rétrospective, Les dessins et peintures de Daphne Odjig une exposition rétrospective au Musée des beaux-arts du Canada (23 octobre au 3 janvier 2010).

351

LIST OF WORKS * Works appearing at the MacKenzie Art Gallery only.

8

JACKSON BEARDY 1

2

3

4

5

6

7

352

Untitled, 1970 acrylic on beaver hide 69.5 x 50 cm Courtesy of Stan Somerville, Kelowna, BC Reproduced on page 296 Cycle of Life, 1972 acrylic on paper 81.4 x 101.7 cm Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 097215 Reproduced on page 299 Myth Image, 1972 gouache on paperboard 71.1 x 61.1 cm Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery G-71-91 Reproduced on page 218 Nanabush Catches the Eagle, 1972 acrylic on board 81.2 x 101.6 cm Ermi Tano Collection Reproduced on page 176 Flock, 1973 acrylic on canvas 119.2 x 167.3 cm Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 152381 Reproduced on page 39 Thunderbird Woman, 1975 gouache on paper 50.6 x 37.7 cm Collection of the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Gift of L. Bruce Pierce 1994.10.008 Reproduced on page 170 Man Offering Beaver to Chief Thunderbird, 1975* painting on beaver pelt 89.5 x 67 cm Canadian Museum of Civilization, III-D-1037 Reproduced on page 174

9

10

11

12

13

14

Thunderbird Woman 1, 1975* painting on beaver pelt 75.3 x 60 cm Canadian Museum of Civilization, III-D-1038 Reproduced on page 171 Four Orders of Life, 1976* acrylic on canvas board 48 x 63 cm Courtesy of Edward Morassut Reproduced on page 115 Rebirth, 1976 acrylic on cardboard 39 x 49 cm (sight) Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 152380 Reproduced on page 110 Pour Les Jeunes, 1977 gouache and ink on board 45 x 55.2 cm (sight) Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 152947 Reproduced on page 292 Untitled, 1978 painting on birchbark (two-sided) 60.8 x 61.4 cm Canadian Museum of Civilization, III-D-1039 Reproduced on page 175 Spirit Being, 1978 oil on canvas 172.2 x 121.6 Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 097204 Reproduced on page 113 Calling the Ningik, 1981 acrylic on canvas 61 x 75.6 cm Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 152938 Reproduced on page 178

EDDY COBINESS 15

16

17

18

19

Camp Fire, 1973 ink on paper 50.2 x 60.8 cm (sight) Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 097231 Reproduced on page 232 Let There Be Life, 1973 acrylic on canvas 259 x 172.9 cm Canadian Museum of Civilization, III-G-1471 Reproduced on pages 82–83 Medicine Man and His Vision, 1973 watercolour on paper 54.5 x 75.5 cm (sight) Courtesy of Jim Kresta Reproduced on page 275 Untitled, 1973 painting on illustration board 120 x 81.5 cm Canadian Museum of Civilization, III-G-1275 Reproduced on page 40 Wild Rice Harvesting, 1973 ink on paper 53.4 x 63.5 cm (sight) Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 097188 Reproduced on page 85

20 Scraping Deer Hide, 1974 pen and ink 57 x 72.3 cm Courtesy of Woodland Cultural Centre 975.15.1 Reproduced on page 302 21

Untitled, 1974* watercolour on paper / gouache on paper 56.8 x 75.7 cm Collection of the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Gift of L. Bruce Pierce, Norflex Limited 1994.01.012 Reproduced on page 172

22 Untitled, 1974 mixed media on paper 54.5 x 69.8 cm (sight) Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 170025 Reproduced on page 86 23 Watering the Horse, 1974 pen and ink 57 x 72.1 cm Courtesy of Woodland Cultural Centre 975.15.2 Reproduced on page 303 24 The Four Winds, 1975 acrylic on paper 49.5 x 70 cm (sight) Courtesy of Warren Nickel Reproduced on page 313 25 Untitled, 1975 acrylic on paper 42.5 x 57.7 cm Courtesy of Stan Somerville, Kelowna, BC Reproduced on page 312 26 Caribou, 1979 acrylic on canvas board 43.2 x 58.3 cm (sight) Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 152426 Reproduced on page 300 27 Rainmaker, 1980 acrylic and mixed media on paper 76.4 x 60.8 cm National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Gift of Jennifer and Gary Scherbain, Winnipeg, 2011 43463 Reproduced on page 277 28 Two Herons, 1982 acrylic on paper 40.4 x 70.6 cm (sight) Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 152423 Reproduced on page 301

ALEX JANVIER 29 Coming of the Opposite, 1972 acrylic on canvas 61.3 x 92.3 cm National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

Purchased 2003 41203 Reproduced on page 150 30 No One Understands Me, 1972 acrylic on canvas 91.6 x 122.4 cm Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 151990 Reproduced on page 293 31

Sun Shines, Grass Grows, Rivers Flow, 1972 acrylic on canvas 60 x 90.7 cm Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 151973 Reproduced on page 149

37 High Hopes of a Liberal, 1974 acrylic on canvas 90.5 x 122.5 cm Courtesy of Janvier Gallery Reproduced on page 91 38 Today is the First Day, 1974* acrylic on canvas 93.5 x 110.2 cm Courtesy of Janvier Gallery Reproduced on page 159 39 The Bureaucratic Supremist, 1975* acrylic on canvas 56 x 71.3 cm Purchase 1975 McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1975.26.2 Reproduced on pages 96–97 40 The True West, 1975 acrylic on canvas 122 x 91.5 cm Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 151991 Reproduced on page 94

32 Wounded Knee Boy, 1972 acrylic on masonite 122.2 cm x 122.2 cm Courtesy of Janvier Gallery Reproduced on page 146

41

33 The Last Joke, 1973 acrylic on masonite 122 x 121 cm Canadian Museum of Civilization, VI-D-225 Reproduced on page 154

42 The Four Seasons of ‘76, 1977 acrylic on masonite 91.4 x 81.3 cm Courtesy of Janvier Gallery Reproduced on page 308

34 Beautiful Young Lines, 1974 acrylic on canvas 91 x 122.2 cm Courtesy of Janvier Gallery Reproduced on page 161

43 Birch Bark Symphony, 1978* acrylic on canvas 61 x 50.8 cm Private Collection Reproduced on page 310

35 Eagle Insect, 1974 acrylic on canvas 91.4 x 121.9 cm Courtesy of Janvier Gallery Reproduced on page 298

44 Exodus from the Soil, 1978 acrylic on linen 121.9 x 182.9 cm Courtesy of Dr. Luigi Rossi Reproduced on page 37

36 Earth and Sky, 1974 acrylic on canvas 121.8 x 60.5 cm Courtesy of Janvier Gallery Reproduced on page 307

45 The August Sunrise, 1978 acrylic on paper 39.3 x 55.7 cm Courtesy of Janvier Gallery Reproduced on page 309

Alberta Rose, 1977* acrylic on canvas 91 x 60.6 cm Courtesy of Janvier Gallery Reproduced on page 210

46 Flag Ceremony, 1980* acrylic on linen 60.3 x 60.3 cm Courtesy of Janvier Gallery Reproduced on page 279 47 Fall Symphony, no date gouache on paper 50 x 60 cm Collection of the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, The Helen E. Band Collection 1994.10.036 Reproduced on page 311 NORVAL MORRISSEAU 48 Coming Away, 1960* ink, ball point pen on paper 61 x 121.2 cm Collection of the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, The Helen E. Band Collection 1994.10.060 Reproduced on page 141 49 White Man‘s Curse, 1969 acrylic on canvas 127 x 101.6 cm Collection of the MacKenzie Art Gallery, purchased with the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance Program 1999-017 Reproduced on page 151 50 Legend of the Ojibwa Woman and her Bear Offspring, 1970* ink on paper 68 x 53 cm From the collection of the Canada Council Art Bank 72/3-1135 Reproduced on page 181 51

The Thunderbird, 1970* oil and ink on paper 75.5 x 55.5 cm (sight) From the collection of the Canada Council Art Bank 72/3-1115 Reproduced on page 169

52 Artist in Union with Mother Earth, 1972 acrylic on canvas 77.5 x 116.8 cm National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

Purchased 2009 42476 Reproduced on page 315

53 Shaman Rider, 1972 tempera on tarpaper backing 101 x 161 cm Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 151807 Reproduced on page 130 54 Water Spirit, 1972 acrylic on paper 93 x 184.5 cm Canadian Museum of Civilization, III-G-1102 Reproduced on page 42 55 Christ, 1974 oil on masonite 87 x 69 cm From the collection of the Canada Council Art Bank 72/3-1533 Reproduced on page 272 56 Lily of the Mohawk (Katerie Tekawitha), 1974 acrylic on paper 136.1 x 59.1 cm Private Collection Reproduced on page 271 57 Artist‘s Three Sons, 1975 acrylic on canvas 101.7 x 76.5 cm Purchase 1975 McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1975.38.2 Reproduced on page 134 58 Artist‘s Wife and Daughter, 1975 acrylic on hardboard 101.6 x 81.3 cm Purchase 1975 McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1981.87.1 Reproduced on page 135 59 Impressionist Thunderbirds, 1975 acrylic on matte board 49 x 39 cm (sight) Collection of Richard H. Baker Reproduced on page 168 60 My Children Watching a Dragon Fly, 1975* acrylic on paper board 81.2 x 101.7 cm Courtesy of Ann Sanchez, Arizona Reproduced on page 133

353

61

Obsessions, 1975 ink on paper 73.7 x 43.2 cm (sight) Collection of Richard H. Baker Reproduced on page 289

62 Self-Portrait, 1975 acrylic on hardboard 100 x 80 cm Purchase 1975 McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1981.87.2 Reproduced on page 224 63 Spirit Enclosed by a Serpent, 1975 acrylic on card 100 x 79.8 cm (sight) Private Collection Reproduced on page 291 64 The Great Flood, 1975 acrylic on canvas 85 x 325.5 cm Courtesy of the Jones Family Collection Reproduced on pages 144-45 65 The Land (Landrights), 1976 acrylic on canvas 122 x 96.7 cm Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Richard H. Baker, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1982.6 Reproduced on page 148 66 Life Regenerating, 1977* acrylic on canvas 99.1 x 149.9 cm Government of Ontario Art Collection, Archives of Ontario, 623855 Reproduced on page 297 67 Symbols of Opposites, 1977 acrylic on canvas 172.8 x 124.5 cm Courtesy of the Jones Family Collection Reproduced on page 288 68 The Story Teller — The Artist and his Grandfather, 1978* acrylic on canvas 174 x 94 cm (each of two panels) Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 151805A-B Reproduced on pages 138–39

354

69 Sundance, no date acrylic on canvas 100.2 x 85 cm (sight) Private Collection Reproduced on page 269 DAPHNE ODJIG 70 Possessed, 1969 pastel on paper 89 x 58 cm (sight) Courtesy of Nancy and Don Cranston Reproduced on page 290 71

Massacre, 1971 oil pastel on paper 62.3 x 92.5 cm Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery G-71-21 Reproduced on page 147

72 Medicine Man Collage, 1972* mixed media on masonite 91.4 x 61 cm Courtesy of Dr. Luigi Rossi Collection Reproduced on page 276 73 Spirit of the Mighty Thunderbird, 1972 pastel 90 x 60 cm (sight) Courtesy of Bearclaw Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta Reproduced on page 166 74 Back to the Earth, 1973* acrylic and ink on paper 49.2 x 36.6 cm (sight) Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 153021 Reproduced on page 314 75 Chained to Time, 1973 drybrush acrylic on paper 108 x 82.2 cm (sight) Ermi Tano Collection Reproduced on page 79 76 From Mother Earth Flows the River of Life, 1973 acrylic on canvas 153.8 x 215.3 cm Canadian Museum of Civilization, III-M-55 Reproduced on pages 316–17

77 Big One and the Bad Medicine Woman, 1974* acrylic paint over graphite on heavy ivory wove paper 91.7 x 61.2 cm National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Gift of Phillip Gevik, Gallery Gevik, Toronto, 2010 45581 Reproduced on page 180 78 Medicine Man in the Shaking Tent, 1974 drybrush acrylic on paper 86 x 114.3 cm (sight) Ermi Tano Collection Reproduced on page 274 79 The Medicine Man, 1974 acrylic on canvas 101.8 x 81.3 cm Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 151970 Reproduced on page 76 80 Untitled, 1974* mixed media 60 x 47 cm (sight) Courtesy of Stan Somerville, Kelowna, BC Reproduced on page 157 81

Conflict Between Good and Evil, 1975 acrylic on canvas 81.5 x 101.9 cm Purchase 1975 McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1975.11.3 Reproduced on page 286

82 Mother Earth Struggles for Survival, 1975* acrylic on canvas 86.5 x 71 cm Courtesy of Barbara A. Newton Vedan Reproduced on page 196 83 So Great Was Their Love, 1975 acrylic on canvas 101.6 x 81.3 cm Private Collection Reproduced on page 75

84 Tribute to the Great Chiefs of the Past, 1975 acrylic on canvas 101.8 x 81 cm Purchase 1975 McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1975.11.3 Reproduced on page 36 85 Vision, 1975* acrylic and graphite on ivory wove paper 61 x 51 cm National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

Purchased 2008 42232 Reproduced on page 281 86 Shopping in the Walled City, 1977* acrylic on canvas 61 x 45.5 cm Courtesy of Dr. Wayne Carman Reproduced on page 280 87 Thunderbird of Courage, 1977 acrylic on canvas 61 x 50.8 cm Private Collection Reproduced on page 167 CARL RAY 88 Shaman, 1972 ink on paper 57.1 x 68.4 cm Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Acquired with funds from The Winnipeg Foundation G-72-55 Reproduced on page 100 89 The South Wind, 1972 ink on paper 57.2 x 70.2 cm Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Acquired with funds from The Winnipeg Foundation G-72-56 Reproduced on page 104 90 Tree of Life, 1972* ink on paper 57.2 x 46.7 cm Collection Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. Gift of the Collection of Dr. Michael Braudo, 2004 Acc. 2004/171 Reproduced on page 278

91

Windigo, 1972 acrylic on paper 57.1 x 46 cm Collection of the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, The Helen E. Band Collection 1994.10.085 Reproduced on page 183

98 Shaking Tent, 1976 acrylic on paper 57 x 86.7 cm Collection of the Thunder Bay Art Gallery, The Helen E. Band Collection 1994.10.082 Reproduced on page 273

92 The Great Flood, 1973* ink on paper 49 x 59 cm Collection Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. Gift of Dr. Peter Lewin, Toronto, 1995 Acc. 95/375 Reproduced on page 143

99 Binay-sih, 1977 acrylic on canvas 78.3 x 58.5 x 2 cm National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

Purchased 2012 45390 Reproduced on page 173

93 Bang-Wa-Jusk the Man-Eater of the Underworld, 1975* ink and acrylic on paper 57 x 77.5 cm Purchase 1975 McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1975.3.3 Reproduced on page 177

100 Ja-Ka-Byash is Trapped, 1977 acrylic on canvas 58.8 x 73.6 x 2 cm National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

Purchased 2012 45389 Reproduced on page 182

94 Conflict Between Good and Evil, 1975* acrylic on paper 56 x 75.9 cm Purchase 1975 McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 1975.32.5 Reproduced on pages 284–85

101 Medicine Bear, 1977 acrylic on canvas 73.7 x 99.1 cm Collection of Sunita D. Doobay Reproduced on page 103

95 Fox & Glove, 1975 acrylic on canvas 55.5 x 76 cm Courtesy of Woodland Cultural Centre 975.12.1 Reproduced on page 179 96 Thunderbird, 1975* ink, acrylic on paper 48.4 x 62.7 cm Collection Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. Gift of Dr. Brian Cornelson, 2008 Acc. 2008/446 Reproduced on pages 164–65 97 Camping Over Ancestral Grave, 1976* ink, acrylic on paper 68.5 x 48.3 cm Collection Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto. Gift of Dr. Peter Lewin, Toronto, 1995 Acc. 95/374 Reproduced on page 192

102 Premonition of Death, 1977* acrylic on canvas 74 x 99.3 cm Courtesy of Renate and Ludwig Hendricks Reproduced on page 160 103 Rock Painter, 1977 acrylic on canvas 74 x 61 cm Courtesy of Bay of Spirits Gallery Reproduced on page 142 104 Untitled No. 4, 1977 acrylic and black ink on canvas 60 x 75.1 cm Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 151981 Reproduced on page 43

JOSEPH SANCHEZ 105 Unconsummated Rape of Mongo, 1970 black pencil on manila paper 72.2 x 57.2 cm Courtesy of the artist and Daphne Odjig Reproduced on page 119 106 Manitoba Landscape, 1972 charcoal drawing 29.2 x 22.6 cm Courtesy of the artist Reproduced on page 304 107 Night of the Moon Mobile (Second Time Hit by Lightning Drawing), 1972 pencil on paper 30.2 x 45.8 cm Courtesy of the artist Reproduced on page 155

112 Fertility Totem, 1973 wood sculpture 222 x 30 x 30 cm Collection permanente du Centre culturel francomanitobain Acc. 95/374 Reproduced on page 124 113 A‘s Family Portrait, 1974 coloured pencil and ink on paperboard 57.8 x 73.1 cm Courtesy of Ann Sanchez, Arizona Reproduced on page 41 114 Man and Banana, 1974* watercolour 61 x 45.7 cm Courtesy of Gallery Gevik Reproduced on page 186 115 The Archangel Michael (aka the death of Lilith), 1974 ink and coloured pencil on Strathmore board 65.4 x 50.8 cm Courtesy of the artist Reproduced on page 287

108 Self Portrait with Planetary Conjunction, 1972 ink on paper 34.3 x 27.9 cm Collection of the MacKenzie Art Gallery, purchased with funds donated by Taylor Automotive Group in memory of Bobbie Taylor 2012-018 Reproduced on page 306

116 Invitation of a French Maiden, 1975* oil on canvas 71.1 x 61 cm Courtesy of the artist Reproduced on page 126

109 The Vision of Joseph, the Coming, 1972* pencil and paper 30.2 x 45.8 cm Courtesy of the artist Reproduced on page 158

117 The Rattle, 1975* oil on canvas 61 x 55 cm Courtesy of Edward Morassut Reproduced on page 127

110 Untitled (Richer, Manitoba Landscape), 1972 ink on paper 34.3 x 27.9 cm Collection of the MacKenzie Art Gallery, purchased with funds donated by Taylor Automotive Group in memory of Bobbie Taylor 2012-19 Reproduced on page 305

118 Big Bullet (Self Portrait), 1976 pencil on paper 78.6 x 53.9 cm Collection of Mike Strobel Reproduced on page 156

111 Business Man‘s Lunch, 1973 graphite on cardboard 94 x 67 cm (sight) Collection of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada 306231 Reproduced on page 123

120 La Fenixera, 1980 monotype 99.8 x 74.4 cm Courtesy of the artist Reproduced on page 270

119 Ghost Shirt, 1979-80 stone lithograph 56.4 x 76.2 cm Courtesy of the artist Reproduced on page 268

355

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY BOOKS AND CATALOGUES Canadian Museum of Civilization. In the Shadow of the Sun: Perspectives on Contemporary Native Art. Exhibition catalogue. Hull: Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1993.

Clements, Marie. Copper Thunderbird. Dramatic play. Vancouver: Talon Books, 2007.

Devine, Bonnie. The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective Exhibition.

Exhibition catalogue. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2007.

———. Selected Proceedings of Witness: A Symposium on the Woodland School of Painters. Toronto: Aboriginal Curatorial Collective and Witness, 2009.

Morrisseau, Norval. Legends of My People, The Great Ojibway. Edited by Selwyn Dewdney.

Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1965.

———. Norval Morrisseau: Return to the House of Invention. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2005.

Morrisseau, Norval, Jack Pollock, and Lister Sinclair. The Art of Norval Morrisseau.

Toronto: Methuen Publications, 1979.

Morrisseau, Norval, and Donald Robinson. Norval Morrisseau: Travels to the House of Invention.

Toronto: Key Porter Books, 1997.

Norval Morrisseau and the Woodland Artists: The Red Lake Years. Exhibition catalogue. Red Lake, ON: Red Lake Museum, 2008.

Zegher, Catherine de, and Gerald McMaster.

Draw and Tell: Lines of Transformation, Norval Morrisseau/Copper Thunderbird. Exhibition catalogue. New York: The Drawing Center, 2001.

PERIODICALS “A painting by an Indian Artist of Ontario Resources Minister.” Winnipeg Free Press, June 10, 1972, 7.

Allan, Ted. “Morrisseau Meets Press but the Vibes are Bad.” Winnipeg Free Press, March 23, 1979.

“Author, Cree Indian Portray Indian Culture.”

Sioux Lookout Daily, December 1971.

Edmonton Art Gallery. Alex Janvier. Exhibition catalogue. Edmonton: Edmonton Art Gallery, 1973.

Odjig, Daphne. Legends of Nanabush Series. Ten children’s books written and illustrated by Daphne Odjig. Toronto: Ginn & Co. Education Publishers, 1971.

Baele, Nancy. “High Art: Alex Janvier Reaches for the Ceiling of the Museum of Civilization with New Mural.” The Calgary Herald, June 4, 1993.

Fry, Jacqueline. Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171: Three Indian Painters of the Prairies. Exhibition catalogue. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1972.

Odjig, Daphne, M. E. Southcott, and R. M. Vanderburgh. A Paintbrush in My Hand.

Toronto: Natural Heritage/Natural History Inc., 1992.

Beardy, Jackson. “Two Cree Legends.” Mosaic 3, no. 3 (January 1, 1970): 112.

Hill, Greg A. Norval Morrisseau: Shaman Artist.

Exhibition catalogue. Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2006.

Odjig, Daphne, and Morgan Wood. Daphne Odjig: Four Decades of Prints. Exhibition catalogue.

Kamloops: Kamloops Art Gallery, 2005.

Hughes, Kenneth James. Jackson Beardy—Life and Art. Exhibition catalogue. Winnipeg: Canadian Dimensions Publishers; Toronto: J. Lorimer, 1979.

Odjig, Daphne, Bob Boyer, Carol Podedworny, and Phillip Gevik. Odjig: The Art of Daphe Odjig, 1960–2000. Toronto: Key Porter Books, 2001.

Logan, Jim. Homeboys: Alex Janvier and Alan Syliboy. Exhibition catalogue. Halifax: Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, 2001.

Penney, David and Gerald McMaster, eds. Before and After The Horizon: Anishinaabe Artists of the Great Lakes. Washington, DC: National Museum of the American Indian, 2013.

Madill, Shirley. Jackson Beardy: A Life’s Work.

Exhibition catalogue. Winnipeg: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1993.

Martin, Lee-Ann. Alex Janvier: Negotiating the Land. Exhibition catalogue. Saskatoon: Mendel Art Gallery, 1994.

Martin, Lee-Ann, and Robert Houle. The Art of Alex Janvier: His First Thirty Years, 1960–1990.

Exhibition catalogue. Thunder Bay: Thunder Bay Art Gallery, 1993.

Martin, Lee-Ann and Morgan Wood. Exposed: Aesthetics of Aboriginal Erotic Art. Exhibition catalogue. Regina: MacKenzie Art Gallery, 1999.

McLuhan, Elizabeth. Norval Morrisseau: Recent Work. Exhibition catalogue. Thunder Bay: Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art, 1983.

Ray, Carl, and James Stevens. Sacred Legends of the Sandy Lake Cree. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1971.

Robertson, Carmen. From Wigwas to Canvas: Generations of Woodland Art. Exhibition catalogue. Regina: MacKenzie Art Gallery, 2002.

Robertson Galleries. Robertson Galleries Presents “Chains of Being” by Jackson Beardy. Exhibition catalogue. Ottawa: Robertson Galleries, 1977.

Schwarz, Herbert T. “The Art of Norval Morrisseau,” in Eskimo Sculpture and Eskimo Prints and Paintings of Norval Morrisseau.

Montreal: Galerie Cartier, 1968.

Schwarz, Herbert T., and Norval Morrisseau.

Windigo and Other Tales of the Ojibways.

Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1969.

McLuhan, Elizabeth, and Tom Hill. Norval Morrisseau and the Emergence of the Image Makers. Exhibition catalogue. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario / Methuen Publications, 1984.

Schwarz, Herbert T., and Daphne Odjig. Tales from the Smokehouse. Edmonton: Hurtig Publishers, 1974.

McLuhan, Elizabeth, and R. M. Vanderburgh.

Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective, 1945 – 1985.

Exhibition catalogue. Thunder Bay: Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre / Centre for Indian Art, 1985.

Stevens, James R. A Picasso from the North Country: The Wild Journey of Canadian Artist, Norval Morrisseau. Exhibition catalogue.

Thunder Bay: Lake Superior Art Gallery, 2011.

356

“Beardy Sun Glows Timelessly.” Winnipeg Free Press, July 7, 1979.

Blakeman, Evelyn. “Vibrant Odjig Exhibition an Assault on the Senses.” Winnipeg Free Press, May 7, 1977.

Bletcher, Mary. “Artist’s Books about Nanabush Relates Tales of Indian Legends.” Winnipeg Tribune, December 23, 1971.

———. “Indian Artist ’Born with a Paintbrush’ in Her Hand.” Winnipeg Free Press, December 14, 1971.

Brown, Elaine. “Demand for Art Rising but City Dealers Unable to Survive on Sales Alone.”

Winnipeg Free Press, August 13, 1974, 13.

Brydon, Sherry. “The Indians of Canada Pavillion at Expo 67.” American Indian Art Magazine, Summer 1997.

Campbell, Ron. “Hunting Deer at Night: Indian ’War’ Threats.” Winnipeg Free Press, November 17, 1971, 1.

“Carl Ray: Library Now Displays his Pen-Ink Sketches.” Fort Frances Times, October 1971.

Carroll, Joy. “The Strange Success—And Failure of Norval Morrisseau” Canadian Art vol 94 (Nov–Dec 1964): 348-50.

Cox, Bob. “Beardy’s Widow Unhappy Over Cross-Country Auction of Native Artist’s Paintings.” Peterborough Examiner, October 29, 1987.

“Cree Artist in Rare Show: A Critique by John W. Graham.” Winnipeg Free Press, May 15, 1972, 34.

Dault, Gary M. “Ojibwa Artist May Soon Find He’s Turned into a Living Legend.” Toronto Star, August 28, 1975.

Davis, Tony. “Native Artists Smear Work.”

Winnipeg Free Press, July 16, 1994.

———. “Style and Spirit: Eddy Cobiness’s Gentle Paintings Belie Big Hands that Once Punched Noses.” Winnipeg Free Press, 1994.

Houle, Robert. “Alex Janvier: 20th Century Native Symbols and Images.” Native Perspective 2, no. 9 (1978): 16–19.

Dewdney, Selwyn. “Norval Morrisseau.” Canadian Art 20, no. 1 (January–February 1963).

——— “Odjig: An Artist’s Transition.” Native Perspective 3, no. 2 (1978): 42–46.

“Display Featured at Meet.” Winnipeg Free Press, February 2, 1963.

Hughes, Kenneth James. “Jackson Beardy—Life and Art.” Canadian Dimension 14, no. 2 (1979): 1–48.

Edmonstone, Wayne. “Indian Artist Clings to Legends.” Toronto Star, November 3, 1972.

“Exhibition Offers Retrospective of Works by Indian Artist Odjig.” Winnipeg Free Press, March 21, 1977.

“Famed Native Artist Dies from Heart Attack.”

Regina Leader-Post, December 12, 1984.

“Fierce Clarity and Sophistication.” Time Magazine, August 25, 1975.

FitzGerald, Mary A. “Hard Life Focus of Beardy Tribute.” Winnipeg Free Press, December 12, 1984.

Freedman, Adele. “Reservations are for Artists: Liberating the Native Imagination with Daphne Odjig.” Toronto Life, June 1979.

Fry, Jacqueline. “Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171.” artscanada, (Autumn 1972).

Geddes, John. “The Ecstasy of Norval Morrisseau.” Maclean’s, January 26, 2004.

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CONTRIBUTOR BIOS Barry Ace (Anishinaabe [Odawa], M’Chigeeng First Nation) is a visual artist living in Ottawa. His work has appeared in numerous group and solo exhibitions at venues including the Canadian Museum of Civilization (Ottawa); the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba (Brandon); the Leonard and Ellen Bina Art Gallery (Montreal); the American Indian Community House Gallery (New York); and the Nordamerika Native Museum (Zurich). Most recently, his work was included in the major international touring exhibition Changing Hands 3—Art Without Reservations, Museum of Art and Design, New York (2012). His work can also be found in numerous public and private collections. Ace has also written extensively on contemporary Canadian Aboriginal art and is the 2012 recipient of the Ontario Association of Art Galleries (OAAG) Curatorial Writing Award for his essay “A Reparative Act” for Robert Houle’s exhibition Paris/Ojibwa.

Viviane Gray (Mi’gmaq, Listuguj Mi’gmaq First Nation) is a visual artist, curator, and writer with more than forty years’ experience in Aboriginal arts and culture. In 1989, she was appointed Manager of the Indian Art Centre, Aboriginal and Northern Development Canada, a position she held until 1997. She then served as Chief of the Indian and Inuit Art Centre and Director of the Aboriginal Art Centre until her retirement in 2010. She also worked on assignment as Interim Aboriginal Coordinator for the Canada Council for the Arts from 1999 to 2001. In 2012, Viviane received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for her lifetime contributions to Aboriginal art.

Tom Hill (Konadaha Seneca, Six Nations) has played a crucial role in the advancement of Aboriginal arts and culture in Canada and internationally since the 1960s. An influential curator, art historian, artist, and writer, he has contributed to numerous groundbreaking exhibitions of Aboriginal art, including the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo 67, Montreal, and Indian Art ’74, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. In 1977, he became Director of the Cultural Affairs Section of Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, where he oversaw the organization of exhibitions and support programs for artists of Aboriginal heritage. Later, in 1982, he was appointed Director of the Woodland Cultural Centre in Brantford, Ontario where, for over 20 years, he produced a number of art and historical exhibitions. He has served on numerous Boards and committees including the National Gallery of Canada, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Film Development Corporation, National Task Force on Museums and First Peoples, Ontario Arts Council, and Centre for Indigenous Theatre. He is the recipient of countless awards and honours, including the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts (2004) and an honorary doctorate from Wilfred Laurier University. In 2006, the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective recognized Tom Hill as Canada’s first Aboriginal curator.

Michelle LaVallee (Ojibway, Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation, Neyaashiinigmiing/Cape Croker) is a curator, artist, and educator. Since 2007, her curatorial work at the MacKenzie Art Gallery has explored the colonial relations that have shaped historical and contemporary culture through exhibitions including: 13 Coyotes: Edward Poitras (2012); To Be Reckoned With . . . (2010); Blow Your House In: Vernon Ah Kee (2009); Captured: Portraiture and the Permanent Collection; and Miss Chief: Shadow Catcher—Kent

Monkman (2008). She is a recent participant in the Canadian Aboriginal Curators delegations sent to the 2011 Venice Biennale and the 2010 and 2008 Biennale of Sydney, and a recipient of the 2006 Canada Council for the Arts Assistance to Aboriginal Curators Grant for Residencies in the Visual Arts.

Lee-Ann Martin (Mohawk, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory) is Curator of Contemporary Canadian Aboriginal Art at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. She has held positions as First Peoples Equity Coordinator at the Canada Council for the Arts and as Head Curator of the MacKenzie Art Gallery. Between 2001 and 2004, she was Curatorial Fellow with the Walter Phillips Gallery in Banff, Alberta. She has curated and co-curated numerous nationally and internationally touring exhibitions, including: INDIGENA: Perspectives of Indigenous Peoples on 500 Years, Canadian Museum of Civilization (1992); Alex Janvier: His First Thirty Years (1960 – 1990), Thunder Bay Art Gallery (1993); Bob Boyer: His Life’s Work, MacKenzie Art Gallery in association with the Canadian Museum of Civilization (2008); and Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years, Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art in association with the Canadian Museum of Civilization (2011).

Cathy Mattes (Michif, Southwest Manitoba) is Assistant Professor in Visual and Aboriginal Art at Brandon University. She completed a curatorial residency with the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 1998 and was an active board member of Urban Shaman Contemporary Art Gallery and Artist-Run Centre for four years. Between 2003 and 2005, she served as Curator of the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba. She has curated numerous exhibitions including: Transcendence—KC Adams, Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba (2006); Rockstars & Wannabes, Urban Shaman Gallery, Winnipeg (2007); Blanche: KC Adams & Jonathan Jones, Chalkhorse Gallery, Sydney, Australia (2008); and Frontrunners, Urban Shaman Gallery and Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, Winnipeg (2011). She is currently pursuing her PhD studies at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg.

Carmen Robertson (Lakota/Scottish) is Associate Professor in Art History at the University of Regina, with a specific focus on Aboriginal visual culture. She received her PhD in Educational Research from the University of Calgary in 2005 and maintains an active curatorial practice. Dr. Robertson recently received a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and is working on a monograph of Norval Morrisseau.

She is co-author of Clearing a Path: Traditional Indigenous Arts of Saskatchewan (Canadian Plains Research Center, 2009) and Seeing Red: A History of Natives in Canadian Newspapers (University of Manitoba Press, 2011).

Joseph Sanchez (Spanish/German/Pueblo) is an artist and curator currently residing in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a founding member of the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., as well as Movimiento Artistico del Rio Salado (MARS) and Ariztlan. In 2002, he was appointed Deputy Director and Chief Curator of the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, a position that he held until his retirement in 2010. He is the recipient of the 2006 Allan Houser Memorial Award for outstanding artistic achievement and community service, and was a curatorial partner for the 7th International Biennial at Site Santa Fe in 2008.

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© 2014 the contributors and the MacKenzie Art Gallery / © 2014 les auteurs et la MacKenzie Art Gallery MacKenzie Art Gallery 3475 Albert Street Regina, Saskatchewan Canada S4S 6X6 All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. / Tous droits réservés. Aucune partie de cette publication ne peut être reproduite sans le consentement écrit de l'éditrice.

7: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. is organized by the MacKenzie Art Gallery.

This project has been made possible through a contribution from the Museums Assistance Program, Department of Canadian Heritage. The MacKenzie Art Gallery is a not-for-profit cultural organization supported by membership and volunteers, and generously funded by individual donors, corporate sponsors and public funders, Canada Council for the Arts, Saskatchewan Arts Board, SaskCulture, City of Regina, University of Regina, Regina Public Schools, and Regina Catholic Schools.

7: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. est organisée par la MacKenzie Art Gallery. Ce projet a été rendu possible grâce à une contribution du Programme d’aide aux musées du ministère du Patrimoine canadien. La MacKenzie Art Gallery est un organisme culturel sans but lucratif soutenu par ses membres et ses bénévoles, et financé généreusement par des donateurs individuels et corporatifs; le Conseil des arts du Canada, le Saskatchewan Arts Board, SaskCulture, la Ville de Regina, l’Université de Regina, les Regina Public Schools et Regina Catholic Schools. curator/commissaire / editor/éditrice Michelle LaVallee publication coordinator / coordonnatrice de publication Hilary Knutson chief editor / rédacteur en chef Timothy Long copy editor & content advisor / révision & conseils sur le contenu Sherry Farrell Racette copy editor / révision Anne James french translation / traduction française Brigitte Haguès, Françoise Stoppa indigenous translation / traduction autochtone Aboriginal Languages of Manitoba Inc. ­­— Cree / Cri : Alderick Leask; Ojibwe / Ojibwé : Roger Roulette; Dene / Déné : Carl (Geoff) Bussidor design / graphisme Rio Saxon Design, Regina printing / impression Friesens, Altona, Manitoba photography credits / crédits photographiques All photography by Don Hall unless otherwise noted / Photos : Don Hall à l’exception des suivantes Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada / Affaires autochtones et Développement du Nord Canada : Cats. 2, 5, 10, 11, 13–15, 19, 22, 26, 28, 30, 31, 74, 79, 111. Pages 80, 98.

Sean Weaver / Art Gallery of Ontario / Musée des beaux-arts de l’Ontario : Cats. 90, 92, 96, 97.

Canadian Museum of Civilization / Musée canadien des civilisations : Cats. 7, 8, 12, 16, 18, 33, 54, 76.

National Gallery of Canada / Musée des beaux-arts du Canada : Cats. 27, 29, 52, 77, 85, 99, 100.

National Gallery of Canada Library and Archives, Dominion Gallery Fonds / Musée des beaux-arts du Canada Bibliothèque et Archives, Fonds Galerie Dominion : Pages 72, 88, 106, 116, 128.

Winnipeg Art Gallery / Musée des beaux-arts de Winnipeg : Cats. 3, 71, 88, 89.

copyright permissions / copyright permissions Works by Jackson Beardy © Estate of Jackson Beardy / Œuvres de Jackson Beardy © Succession Jackson Beardy Works by Eddy Cobiness © Estate of Eddy Cobiness / Œuvres de Eddy Cobiness © Succession Eddy Cobiness Works by Norval Morrisseau © Estate of Norval Morrisseau / Œuvres de Norval Morrisseau © Succession Norval Morrisseau Works by Carl Ray © Estate of Carl Ray / Œuvres de Carl Ray © Succession Carl Ray “A Main Street Indian: A Poem,” reprinted by permission of Canadian Dimension, pp. 108–9. / « A Main Street Indian: A Poem », reproduit avec l’autorisation de Canadian Dimension, pp. 108–9.

“Artist Beardy revives tribal culture,” reprinted by permission of The Montreal Gazette, pp. 111–12. / « Artist Beardy revives tribal culture », reproduit avec l’autorisation de The Montreal Gazette, pp. 111–12.

“Canadian Indian Art, its Death and Rebirth,” reprinted by permission of Tom Hill, pp. 193–95. / « Canadian Indian Art, its Death and Rebirth », reproduit avec l’autorisation de Tom Hill, pp. 331–32.

“Carl Ray: Library now displays his pen-ink sketches,” reprinted by permission of Fort Frances Times, p. 101. / « Carl Ray: Library now displays his pen-ink sketches », reproduit avec l’autorisation de Fort Frances Times, p. 101.

“His art lives in his soul: Inspiration rides on the wings of sleep,” reprinted by permission of QMI Agency, p. 84. / « His art lives in his soul: Inspiration rides on the wings of sleep », reproduit avec l’autorisation de QMI Agency, p. 84. itinerary / itinéraire de l’exposition MacKenzie Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan September 21, 2013 to January 12, 2014 / 21 septembre 2013 ¬ 12 janvier 2014 Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba / Musée des beaux-arts de Winnipeg May 9 to August 31, 2014 / 9 mai – 31 août 2014 Kelowna Art Gallery, Kelowna, British Columbia October 11, 2014 to January 4, 2015 / 11 octobre 2014 – 4 janvier 2015 McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario / Collection McMichael d'art canadien May 10 to August 16, 2015 / 10 mai – 16 août 2015 library and archives canada cataloguing in publication / données de catalogage avant publication de bibliothèque et archives canada 7 : Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. / curated by Michelle LaVallee ; with essays by Joseph Sanchez, Tom Hill, Barry Ace, Lee-Ann Martin, Cathy Mattes, Carmen Robertson, Viviane Gray.

A catalogue of the exhibition 7: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., on view at the MacKenzie Art Gallery from September 21, 2013 to January 12, 2014, and touring nationally from 2014 to 2016.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-1-896470-87-0 (bound) 1. Professional Native Indian Artists Inc.—Exhibitions. 2. Indian art—Canada—20th century—Exhibitions. I. LaVallee, Michelle, 1977-, writer of added commentary II. MacKenzie Art Gallery, host institution, issuing body III. Title: Seven. IV. Title: Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. N6549.5.A54S49 2013

704.0397'071074

printed and bound in canada / imprimé au canada

C2013-905511-8