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Canadian Native Art
An Elder's Stories about Ojibwa Culture
Canadian native art...especially contemporary Ojibwa art...is sourced by a deep well of native legends and myths. Art has become one of the last connections between the spiritual interpretation of a declining Ojibwa culture and the modern world. Here you'll meet some of those artists and you'll be able to learn about the Eastern Woodland Indian culture that at one time stretched from Florida to the headwaters of the MacKenzie River.
My name is Nokomis. I'm an Ojibwa artist and storyteller who grew up in the bush almost seventy years ago. The literal translation of my name means "the great mother" for Nokomis was the spirit who created the Ojibwa in the world. In another context the word can mean grandmother. The name was given to me by my elders at a naming ceremony when it was apparent to them who I would be in this lifetime.
Nokomis the Storyteller
I don't think there's ever been a time I didn't tell stories. In the bush, stories were entertainment. My father could go on a two day hunting trip and by the time he got home it was a two week story. My mother could have a cup of tea with her friend and by the time she got back she had enough stories to fill a book.
But stories were also used to educate...to make a point, to explain why some behaviors were inappropriate, why it might be best to choose another course of action, even to explain the mysteries of the universe. About a dozen years ago it dawned on me that I still had a few more stories to tell...stories about the Ojibwa culture and how the world came to be. Or just stories about what it was like out there in the bush.
Nokomis the Artist
I've always been a storyteller but I haven't always been an artist. The world of Canadian native art would have passed me by if it hadn't occurred to me one day that a good story might be even better if it had a good picture to illustrate the point. I haven't had any training in the area of art. My work is sort of naive. But what the heck - it's my life and I get to paint it any way I please!
For too long, I've been travelling back and forth across the country showing my pictures and telling stories but age has caught up with me. I've decided that it's finally time to learn how to be a techie so that I can sit on my duff and spread the word about Canadian native art through this world wide web thing. Who woulda thunk that being a techie is almost as easy as being an artist. It's just a matter of telling some more stories.
So.
Here's some tales.
Some of them are about me. Some of them are about my friends.
Emerging from the Wilderness is the story about how Canadian Native Art began to transform from iconography to an emotional interpretation of a culture.
Norval Morrisseau blasted onto the Toronto art scene and Canadian Native Art was changed forever.
The Indian Group of Seven became the nucleous of a new movement...the Woodland School of Native Art.
The Ojibwe Connection was a powerful force in the developmentof Canadian Native Art.
The Second Wave of Woodland Artists followed in the footsteps of the Indian Group of Seven.
Other Native Artists took up the cause. Not every native artist is a legend painter, but each interprets his personal experience from a distinctly First Nations point of view.
I'm Nokomis and I paint memories of growing up in the bush north of Lake Superior almost 70 years ago. I give you my personal perspective on Ojibwa culture and try to interpret the Ojibwa Beliefs in a ways that you can hear. They include the Ojibwa version of the Creation Story of the Universe (it wasn't a big bang!) and the tale of how our world, Turtle Island, came to be. And I also tried to clear up a few misconceptions about the concept of a vision quest.
Megweech
