Norval Morrisseau, artist (b at Sand Point Reserve, near Beardmore, Ont 14 Mar 1932; d at Toronto 4 Dec 2007). Norval Morrisseau was a self-taught artist of Ojibwa ancestry (his Ojibwa name, which appears in syllabics on his paintings, means “Copper Thunderbird”) and he originated the pictographic style, or what is referred to as “Woodland Indian art,””legend painting” or “x-ray art.” This style is a fusion of European easel painting with Ojibwa Midewiwin Society scrolls and pictography of rock paintings. Introduced to the Canadian public at the Pollock Gallery, Toronto, in 1962, Morrisseau was the first artist of First Nations ancestry to break through the Canadian professional white-art barrier. Throughout the 1960s Morrisseau’s pictographic style grew in popularity and was often perceived by other Cree, Ojibwa and Ottawa artists as a tribal style, to be adapted for their own cultural needs. By the 1970s younger artists painted exclusively in his genre.

For Morrisseau, the 1970s were a time of struggle to reconcile traditional Midewiwin and Christian religions in his art and personal life. Combining his Ojibwa heritage, instilled in him by his maternal grandfather, Moses Nanakonagos, with the religion Eckankar, his works during the 1980s became more focused on spiritual elements. Morrisseau continues to study Ojibwa shamanistic practices, which he believes elevate his work to a higher plane of understanding.

Norval Morrisseau was presented with the Order of Canada in 1978. In 2006, the National Gallery of Canada mounted Norval Morrisseau – Shaman Artist, a travelling retrospective exhibition of the artist’s work.

The Canadia Encyclopedia, Author: Tom Hill

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