Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Blog Master's Public Address XI

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~ To all readers happy holidays and prosperous 2014 ~

From left to right: Ugo Matulić (Blog Master) with his brother JakÅ¡a by the Indian totem after the screening of one of the "Winnetou" films, based on German author Karl May novels; OmiÅ¡, Croatia - July 1966; Sourcewww.almissa.com /Click on image to Enlarge/



















Hi to all,

I appreciate all of you visiting the NORVAL MORRISSEAU BLOG. It is proving to be an exciting success as I have always anticipated it would be. The subject is dynamic and evolving to say the least. I wish to thank all the contributors for encouraging me to continue with this monumental project which is dedicated entirely to protecting the integrity of Norval Morrisseau's art and the preservation of his artistic legacy.

I am using this opportunity to express a special thank you to my very good friend, the late Michael Moniz who passed away on April 13th, 2013, for his relentless and unwavering dedication. Without his assistance this platform would not have been possible.

The main purpose of the NORVAL MORRISSEAU BLOG is to share information with anyone interested in the Woodland/Anishnaabe School of Art that Norval Morrisseau and other early aboriginal artists started in the late 1950's. From this start that is linked to the cliff paintings seen along the canoe routes of antiquity, and others yet to be found in other sparsely settled areas of North and South America, Canada and the World has become aware of the artistic genius of Our aboriginal culture.

This artistic genius doesn't stop at visual art alone but extends to the written and performing arts that are also being recognized. I am proud to be in the vanguard of the enlightened and non-commercially oriented people that want to extend their knowledge base to any other interested groups or individuals.

NORVAL MORRISSEAU BLOG isn't a sales, buying or authentication platform but will exhibit any to aid in the education of the blog readers that are growing in number.

Allow me again to introduce myself to those who don't know me.

I was born in Split, Croatia. As a child I saw, and continue to see, the Indians of North America as members of an outstanding race. My favourite childhood memory was the time when 'Winnetou' movies were filmed in Croatia (then part of Yugoslavia). As a memento from that time were countless memories and a photograph with my brother and I in front of Indian totem pole in my hometown of OmiÅ¡, Croatia after the filming of one of the 'Winnetou' movies based on novels by the best-selling German author of all time - Karl May.

My arrival in North America (24 years ago) provided the greatest discovery - NORTH AMERICAN NATIVE SPIRITUALITY.

When I emigrated to Canada my aim was to become a true Canadian and contribute to the advancement of this outstanding country. I also wanted to advance the cause of the First Nations Citizens. The best way I could do this appeared through advancing the cause of native art. Researching the background of Norval Morrisseau and other native artists and their lives has shown the adversity these artists had to overcome to become recognized. Some wonderful people emerged through this research, as did the hardships the art goddess imposed on many of these talented artists.

The subject of my passion is Norval Morrisseau's art. He was one of the very few artists who started a completely new art movement: the Woodland/Anishnaabe School of Art, and has been dubbed the Father of Canadian Aboriginal Art. My extensive knowledge and research along with my personal collection which I have amassed over the years are what I draw my knowledge base from. I have been fortunate to acquire a collection which consists of pieces of genuine Norval Morrisseau art that span all of his career from 1952 to 2002.

It seems like almost every day I find a new and fantastical correlation within this man's work. It is never ending. The scope and depth of Morrisseau's visions throughout his lifetime have left an impact on my soul that I cannot describe in words. "Perhaps I should paint as Morrisseau did to express feelings otherwise would not be explicable within my vocabulary?" His Art Work is my passion...

... The artistic genius of Norval Morrisseau was best described by Jack Pollock (1930-1992) who wrote: "...Norval, with his incredible ability with the formal problems of art (colour-design-space) and his commitment to the world of his people, the great Ojibway, give one the sense of power that only genius provides... It is sufficient to say that in the history of Canadian Painting, few have, and will remain giants. Norval shall."

Thank you for your continuing support.


INVITATION TO ALL READERS:

There are many of you who possess important valuable information such as paintings, photographs and other printed/written materials which will greatly assist our common goal. I urge you to provide this information to me for public record. Norval Morrisseau has become one of Canada's greatest all time artists and is recognized for his importance Worldwide...

... All the parties mentioned in posts presented on this platform are free to comment on this blog's findings under condition that they present their statements and opinions which are backed up with documentation to support these statements and these opinions.

ONLY statements and opinions which are supported with corresponding documentation will be published on this platform for public record and possible discussion.

Also, this invitation extends not just to the individuals and organizations mentioned on this platform but to all Norval Morrisseau's admirers, researchers, investigators, news reporters and art collectors as long as they verifiably disclose their identity...

... Your assistance is needed now! Your actions will greatly benefit your art as an investment and safeguard Norval Morrisseau's Legacy.

Thank you/Miigwetch,

Ugo Matulić a.k.a. Spirit Walker
/spiritwalker2008@gmail.com/

> For the purposes of this blog I would like to be referred to as Spirit Walker. Miigwetch!




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>>> Reference posts:
- Blog Master's Public Address I,
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Blog Master's Public Address II,
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Blog Master's Public Address III,
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Blog Master's Public Address IV,
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Blog Master's Public Address V,
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Blog Master's Public Address VI,
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Blog Master's Public Address VII,
- Blog Master's Public Address VIII,

- Blog Master's Public Address IX,
- Will the real SpiritWalker please stand up?, - The real Spirit Walker is standing up!,
- Ugo Matulic wins $1,000,000 SLAPP suit against Kinsman Robinson Galleries (Part I)/Blog Master's Public Address X)- >>> The Story behind photograph published in the post "The real Spirit Walker is standing up!" & - The Best-Selling German Author of All Time /Ref. Karl May/.-
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Norval Morrisseau a.k.a. Copper Thunderbird

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-Shaman-Visionary-Storyteller-Artist
- Anishinaabe/Canadian Painter-


© 2008 by Vanessa Liston


"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, thirty-five 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.

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.

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."

Norval Morrisseau, 1979-





Source: The text from THE ART OF NORVAL MORRISSEAU ('Jack Pollock's Book') /Lister Sinclair, Jack Pollock, and Norval Morrisseau/; ISBN: 0-458-93820-3 /Toronto, Ontario: Methuen, 1979./-
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Monday, December 30, 2013

Norval Morrisseau: 'Best Canadian painter ever'

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~ This post was originally published on January 23rd, 2008

-/Opinions and thoughts of admirers of Norval Morrisseau art, art collectors, friends.../



















"Flower of Life," © c.1990s Norval Morrisseau
/Click on image to Enlarge/


NORVAL MORRISSEAU: BEST CANADIAN PAINTER EVER

I'm guessing that when the 2010 Vancouver/Whistler Winter Olympics finally roll around in two years there's going to be lots of references to Aboriginal culture. Lots of dancing, drumming, native dress, references to aboriginal creation myths during the opening ceremonies; some elders will be brought in to bless the proceedings, that kind of thing. You can already see them using an Inuksuk (those Inuit 'rock piles') as one of their official icons. And as it should be. I have no problem with it, in fact I'm all for it. Like Australians we post-centennial, post-modern Canadians like to reach back to the deep time or the dream time when it comes time to show our face to the world. How real we are. The indigenous art. What inspired up and out from the land before the blight of colonialism. See, "we" are as ancient as everybody else. As old as Europe. I suppose its a kind of progress really, but a large dose of irony might still be necessary amidst all our mutual, terribly official self-congratulation.

Residential schools aside - check out Bill Reid on the twenty dollar bill. Bill Reid at the Vancouver airport. And my personal favourite, Bill Reid at the Canadian Embassy in Washington.

Many a Canadian white boy and girl has ventured forth into The Bush, however clumsily, trying to catch a whiff of the spirits. Going deep, getting back, oh yeah - getting real. Going back to the earth, because as the late, great Canadian poet Gwendolyn MacEwen once wrote: "No one invited us here."

But I wonder if any "Canadian" (and yes, in the context of this post I do feel the need to put that word in quotation marks) ever saw this 'real spirit' behind the surface of what we now call Canada better and more vibrantly than the recently, dearly departed Norval Morrisseau. His paintings were literally churning from the inside out. Skeletal and skeletons. Often called "x-ray". People within animals and animals within people and animals within animals within people covered in flowers riding on a fish, and all of it singing in the most glorious colour. And so out there and dangerous, freaky, hallucinogenic, tripping the bounds of sanity, and erotic. And inspired by sacred, ancient aboriginal myth.

"Why am I alive?"he said in a 1991 interview with The Toronto Star. "To heal you guys who are more screwed up than I am. How can I heal you? With color. These are the colors you dreamt about one night."

I've adored his work for years, before I ever knew his name or even knew who the heck he was. I bought my first Norval Morrisseau print a few years back at some poster sale in Hamilton and I remember riding the GO bus back into Toronto with the thing spread out on my lap for the whole trip, taking it in grinning ear to ear, just dazzled. And that was just a print. A poster. I tacked it to my kitchen wall and it made me happy every time I looked at it.

If anyone was the God Father of the Renaissance of Aboriginal Art and Culture that has ultimately made Canada a much humbler, more honest, better and yes more beautiful place, it had to be him. And at its heart the work was a profound movement for justice. That which cannot be denied.

Marc Chagall famously compared him to Picasso.

Keep your Group of Seven's, sure.

But Norval Morrisseau was the Best Canadian Painter Ever.

Reid Neufeld

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Source: Global Health Nexus Blog /Global Health, Politics and Culture/
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Note from a Blog Master: I am encouraging others to send their thoughts, opinions and personal experiences that refer to Norval Morrisseau and his art.-

* Detailed information about the painting in this post unknown: "Flower of Life", © c. 1990s Norval Morrisseau /Private Collection/

A poem for Norval Morrisseau by Dana Claxton

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* This post was originally published on April 4th, 2009 (click HERE)

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Norval Morrisseau in front of "ANDROGYNY" at the National Gallery of Canada /© 2006 Bruno Schlumberger, CanWest News Service/


NORVAL

The last time I saw you, was the first time
Live, in person
The man
Live, in person
The Artist
Live, in person
The Icon
Live, in person
The Shaman

I walked through your exhibition at the NAG
I felt wrapped in an ancestor’s blanket

You Norval, the great one
You Norval, the innovator
You Norval, the astral traveller
You Norval, set the pace

Was there a race?
For the artworld to behold
To acknowledge the work of your ancestors told
To help the artworld and public understand
The medicine in your paint…is what is at hand
Ahhhhhhhh…look at his colourful work
OMG she faints…
…cuz the paint …

His paint…his paint!!!
Norval’s paint, pushing to and fro
You push the paint Norval with Shaman flair
With ease and grace…oh!! how you care
You pushed the paint across this land
You pushed the paint into the universe
The gallery was full of mind!
The gallery was full of spirit!

Multi hues and figures much
All there on the canvas, or brown paper, blue
All there on the birch bark too
Back to the old stories told
In the land where the ancestor roll
In the land where that spirit lives old

Colour so flash…across the canvas told
Stories of creation and how the people roll
The spirit beings and bears
Xray vision, oh so bare!

A movement you created through art
Grandfather of contemporary Aboriginal Art
You painted the canvas and the gallery beholds
Upon their white walls you showed
An ancient culture painted by a shaman on his ancient homeland
Stories of the land, sky and water too
Complex inter-celestial beings sat across from me to!
That Indian thang! of supernatural beings
Visit our people and bring
Teachings to us to share somehow

You choose the paint
As the paint must
Tell the words of old stories told
Tell the words of land and water as they hold
They hold our stories and ancestors too
Land and water beings all over this place
They connect us to above and below
Ahhhhhhhhhhh….to behold.

Paint the words of those underworlds
Paint the words of those aboveworlds
Paint the words of those supernatural beings
They harken to you to show their appeal
To show they are real
To show they bring gifts with them
For us to live in a certain way

Who will sway?
And listen to land.
Who will sway?
And listen to water.
Who will sway?
And listen to song bird sing.
I swayed so long ago and now I begin.

Turquoise blue you paint the sky
Turquoise blue the being crawled
Turquoise blue that healed so many
Uplift, uplift to the land of plenty?

The land of plenty? What is that?
Have we seen that upon our land?
What happened really? I want to know.
From the north to those ugly schools you go
I learned your story through books
I loved your work through books
I heard people talk about their Norval encounters

The stories that I only heard
Of a man named Copper Thunderbird
Of a man whom walked so gently
Of a man who painted endlessly
Of a man who shook the artworld
Of a man who showed them so

Some got it, what this man has shown
I am altered from how yo shone!!
Shine Norval shine in the land of peace
You!!! up there now…with all those…
Entities?

What shall I call all those worlds?
Swirling, twirling and swirling so
All around us… there you go
The man Norval who created so

Dana Claxton , 12/05/2007


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~ Blog Master is thanking Ms Dana Claxton for the submission of a poem dedicated to Norval Morrisseau and encouraging others to contribute to the NORVAL MORRISSEAU BLOG for purposes of informing and educating the readers.-
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* The above photograph of of Norval Morrisseau taken in Otawa in February, 2006 at the opening of the "Norval Morrisseau - Shaman Artist" exhibition. It was the first solo exhibition featuring a First Nations artist in 126-year history of the National Gallery of Canada.

>>> St. Kateri Tekakwitha, ‘Lily of the Mohawks’ - the First Native American to be declared a Saint

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"Lily of the Mohawk," 72"x35", © 1979 Norval Morrisseau
/Click on image to enlarge/

~ Note the inscription on the front of the canvas, bottom right (click HERE for an enlargement) which includes the title, date (year) and recognizable signature of the artist

>>> The above presented image of a Genuine Norval Morrisseau painting is currently part of the Collection of the National Museum of the American Indian* (NMAI); Formerly in the collection of R.E. Mansfield (1937-2007), donated to NMAI in 2003; Catalog number: 26/4095. * - the Smithsonian Institution


St. Kateri Tekakwitha (1656 - 1680)
"Lily of the Mohawks"-

Kateri Tekakwitha also known as Catherine Tekakwitha/Takwita, was born in 1656 in Gandahouhague, on the south bank of the Mohawk River, in a village called Ossernenon. The Mohawks were known as the fiercest of the "Five Nations" of the Iroquois. War was waged between the Mohawks and Algonquins. Kateri's mother, a christian Algonquin, was taken captive by a Mohawk warrior and soon they were married. They had a happy life together and eventually had a girl. They named her Tekakwitha, which means "she who moves forward". When she was four years old, a smallpox epidemic claimed the lives of her parents and baby brother. Their names are unknown. Kateri survived the disease but her eyesight was impaired. Her face was scarred and the disease left her weak the rest of her life. After five years of the sickness, the survivors of the village moved to the north bank of the river to begin a new life. Tekakwitha and her relatives moved into the Turtle Clan village called Gandaouague.

She was then raised by aunts and an uncle, the Chief of the Turtle Clan.

In 1667 the Jesuit missionaries Fremin, Bruyas, and Pierron spent three days in the lodge of Tekakwutga's uncle. They had accompanied the Mohawk delegation who had been to Quebec to conclude peace with the French. From the Blackrobes she received her first knowledge of Christianity.

In 1670 the Blackrobes established St. Peter's Mission in Caughnawaga now Fonda, NY.

In 1674, Fr. James de Lamberville arrived to take charge of the mission which included the Turtle Clan.

Tekakwitha met Father de Lamberville when he visited her home. She told him about her desire to become baptized. Despite opposition to Christianity from her tribe and particularly her uncle, she met with the Blackrobe in secret. She began to take religious instructions. On Easter Sunday, April 5, 1676, at the age of 20, she was baptized and given the name Kateri, Indian for Katherine. Her family wanted her to abandon her religion. She became the subject of increased contempt from the people of her village for her conversion, as well as her refusal to work on Sundays or to marry. She practice her religion unflinchingly in the face of almost unbearable opposition. Finally her uncle's lodge ceased to be a place of protection to her.

With the help of Christian Indians she fled her village. Two months later and about two hundred miles through woods, rivers and swamps, Kateri arrived at the Sault.

On Christmas Day, 1677, Kateri received her first Holy Communion. Here she lived in the cabin of a Christian Indian, Mary Teresa Tegaiaguenta. She and Kateri became friends. Both girls performed extraordinary penance. Kateri and her friend asked permission to start a religious community. The request was denied.

At Caughnawaga she contributed to the community's economy while engaging in great personal sacrifices. She also continued to keep her personal vow of chastity.

In 1678, Kateri was enrolled in the pious society called The Holy Family because of her extraordinary practices of all virtues.

St. Kateri Tekakwitha died on April 17, 1680, when she was 24 years of age. When she died, much to the amazement of those in attendance, all the disfiguring scars on her face miraculously disappeared.

Pope John Paul II beatified her in Rome on June 22, 1980, in the presence of hundreds of North American Indians. She was then known as Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha.

St. Tekakwitha died on April 17, 1680, when she was 24 years of age. In the past, we commemorated her Feast Day on the day of her death. April 17 often falls during the season of Lent or during Easter Week. When the Bishops of the United States gathered for their fall meeting in Washington, DC, in November 1982, they voted to change the day of observance of the Feast of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha to July 14th.

Source: http://impurplehawk.com/kateri.html


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She was canonized on October 21st, 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. 


Feastday: July 14
Patron of the environment and ecology
1656 - April 17, 1680
Beatified By: Pope John Paul II
Canonized By: On 10/21/2012 by Pope Benedict XVI
Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, Virgin, was canonized on 10/21/2012 by Pope Benedict XVI.
 
 

>>> Reference information:
- ‘Lily of the Mohawks’ on brink of sainthood /www.thestar.com/
- Kateri Tekakwitha, Lily of the Mohawks to be canonized /http://aptn.ca/
- Who is Kateri Tekakwitha, Canada's first aboriginal saint? CTV News

* The painting in this post: "Lily of the Mohawk", 72"x35", © 1979 Norval Morrisseau; Currently part of the Collection of the National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI); Formerly in the collection of R.E. Mansfield (1937-2007), donated to NMAI in 2003; Catalog number: 26/4095.

'Winter Wonderland' by Jana Mashonee

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~ Sung in Anishinaabemowin (Ojibwe)
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By JanaMashonee
-- /www.janamashonee.com /
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"We natives believe in the following saying: "Our God is Native. The Great Deity of the Five Planes is so. We are neither for nor against, We speak not of Christ nor of God. We say, 'Let them be.' We follow the Spirit on its Inward Journey of Soul through attitudes and attentions. Remember we are all in a big School and the Inner Master teaches us Experience over many Lifetimes."

Norval Morrisseau



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Sunday, December 29, 2013

"Indian Jesus Christ," © 1974 Norval Morrisseau

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"Indian Jesus Christ," 53"x27", © 1974 Norval Morrisseau
/Click on image to Enlarge/


"I went through a phase of painting Christian religious pictures, but yet I always saw them with the eyes of the Indian. My mind may have been thinking the way the Christians thought in the Byzantine times. My mind perceives the ritchness, the silver, the jewellery and so on, but when I translate the thoughts that are in my mind, when I put them down on paper or on canvas, something different comes out. It's one thing to visualize the Christian figures and another to paint them."

Norval Morrisseau

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* The acrylic painting on paper in this post: "Indian Jesus Christ", 53"x27", © 1974 Norval Morrisseau ; Collection of Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, Ottawa, Ontario CANADA; Image of this painting can be found on page 106 in "The Art of Norval Morrisseau" /Sinclair, Lister, Jack Pollock, and Norval Morrisseau/ -Toronto, Ontario: Methuen, 1979/

James Simon MISHIBINIJIMA & the "Legacy of Norval Morrisseau"...

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* This post was originally published on August 1st, 2011






















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"Legacy of Norval Morrisseau", acrylic on canvas, 30"x24",
© 2010 James A. Simon MISHIBINIJIMA /Click on image to Enlarge/



WHEN THE EAGLE LANDS ON THE MOON, NATIVE PEOPLE WILL TEACH THE WORLD HOW TO LIVE ON MOTHER EARTH...

There is a native prophesy born in the Trail of Tears: When the eagle lands on the Moon, things will begin to improve for native people. When the eagle landed on the moon in 1969, ancient ceremonies in traditional cultures were remembered and renewed throughout the globe.

In North America, the spiritual elders of tribal nations travelled to the east to teach the ceremonies and share their knowledge. It is in the East that tribal nations first met the arriving Europeans and were the last to recover from the impact. For forty years, the revitalization of native culture has taken on an astounding momentum that has been barely perceptible to the modern society.

Civilization is defind as the language, art and consciousness of a people. Consciousness is defined as the way in which humans know, language informs this consciousness. Art is the universal language of abstract symbolism that holds the meaning of this consciousness.

In 1962, the Anishnaabe - Ojibwe artist Norval Morriseau, delibrately broke the ancient taboo of his culture and revealed the following generation to provide the meaning of their symbols in their paintings.

These symbols are the mnemonic device for a written form of language incised and crossed - hatched on Birch Bark Scrolls and hidden in hollowed logs far west as Denver, Colorado and far as Newfoundland. They are also painted on the precambrain rock face of the Canadian shield for thousands of miles.

Over five hundred years ago, a foretelling of devastation arrived in the east, began a migration of thousands of families from the Atlantic seacoast inland to the Great Lakes territories. The western location given was simply: Where the food grows on water. This is the wild rice region of Wisconsin.

Today, eastern tribal nations known as the Wabanaki - The people of the dawn - who sent their sacred bundles and teachings inland to be protected until called for their safe return. The Anishnaabe travel east to the territories that incuded Norhern Maine. South Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland.

These symbols within the teachings piece together the history, migration, and consciousness of the Algonquin Family of Nations. The meaning in these symbols communicates a knowledge that includes the practical and metaphysical natural science of human consciousness, distilled to a simplicity and refinement.

Science man be the easiest analogy to make in introducing the meaning contained within the symbol to those outside of it's culture. As LAO TSU warned in the texted known as the Tao Te Ching, "THE WAY THAT CAN BE TOLD IS NOT THE ETERNAL WAY." but the symbols inform the consciousness of a natural law more encompassing that rational science alone can prove.

The cause and effect principles of Cartesian Physics have advance human achievement in science and industry. By isolating and fragmenting smaller and smaller particals, the manipulation of these particles has been determined. But when subatomic particals were able to be seen. They appeared to vibrate randomly and chaotically beyond human control. Humans could not manipilate the movement of particales, but the most important discovery may be that humans have been proven to influence their movement. When the scientist behind the microscope was changed to another scientist, the movement of the particals also change.

The realm is familair territory to Native Spiritual elders. The Natural law of the universe is understood as a vastness in which human behaviour influences the vibrantional alignment of the universe and all the life on Earth, including the animate and inanimate. Our relationship to the universe is interconnection and interdependant as an extended family.This consciousness is not a sentiment but a trained and disaplined awareness that is felt within the human being. The alignment of human beings to the universe is the science of Native Spiritual Tradition.

When quantum physicists reported that subatomic particals move randomly and chaotically in space, Einstein declared "God does not play dice with the universe" Native elders would agree with him on this point. Native traditions and ceremonies are the science and disapline of expanding human consciousness to natural law within the universe. When facing the unknown and unfathomable, a natural science orients human beingness to the earth in four directions: The electromagnetic wave of life forms. The invisable life force wiithin them, the gravitational pull on the earth and the eliptical orbit of planets around the sun. All of these forces are taken into account in the rocket science that landed the eagle on the moon, and all of these forces are taken into account in ceremonies.

In anishnaabe painting which is the sole domain of spiritual elders in Anishnaabe tradition culture, the symbol of the circle denotes perfection, completeness and continuity. A simple dot represents: Manitou (spirit). When science discovered that the balance of carbon and oxygen nuclei is so fragile in supporting life that they wonder if human life was designed into the creation of the universe. The dot communicates that the Anishnaabe have asked this question and answered yes. They refer to natural law as the original instructions created in the creation of the universe to balance human conduct with this law. The symbol of a circle with two perpendicular lines inside of it is refered to as the medicine wheel.

When philosophy seeks the first principle of creation and askes if something can come form nothing, ancient native knowledge answers "Something comes from nothing and nothing is the Creator of all Creation."

The meaning of Anishinaabe symbolism expressed by modern Anishinaabe painters is the ancient science and knowledge that informs human consciousness and conduct when faced with the unknown. This becomes an urgent message in the beginning of the twenty-first century. The rational objectivity of modern societies and educational systems collapse in the face of natural science which can be influenced but not manipulated. The protected domain of isolation and fragmented nations face the earth's response.

We live in a global village of connected relationship to each other. The earth and the universe a life an extended family. The electromagnetic wave force within life forms, whether animate or inanimate, upon the earth, is held by the gravitational pull upon a rotating planet that moves elipically around the sun. When human beings align themselves within the natural law of the natural universe, the sensation resonated as joy and love.

As human beings enter a new century after the previous century that brings the earth to ecological crisis. ancient meaning and knowledge shifts into a position to address the imbalance of human behaviour to natural law.

The anicent traditions and ceremonies which inform and discipline human concsiousness to the vast expanse of the universe while orienting human beings to the earth has become required knowledge. The influence which aligns the vibrational universe proves scientifically rational.

It is the time of cleansing when the earth will cleanse itself through fires, floods and earth quakes. This native prophesy ocurs simultaneously with the new beginning when human consciousness expands to understand the meaning of ancient knowledge, tradditons and ceremonies.

When the Eagle Landed on the Moon in 1969, the Message and Vision was, "Spirit and Love was delievered to the Grandmother the Moon who controls the tides, fertility and seasons upon Mother Earth". Forty years later, the earth responds even more urgently as human conduct remains unsustainable. The symbols of a natural science communicates the earth's response and their meaning communicates how to realign the balance of a natural law.

This is the conciousness and language of the Anishnaabe civilization and it is communciated in the universal language of Anishnaabe symbolism.

Painting has been communicating tool of Anishnaabe spiritual elders and remains so, to this day. We look to the paintings of these artist to orient and give meaning to human beings upon the earth as the twenty-first century dawns.

© 2008 James A. Simon MISHIBINIJIMA/RAMEY





Source: M I S H I B I N I J I M A - International Contemporary Artist
/Text & image used with permission of the artist/
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>>> Reference posts:
- Great Anishinaabe/Woodland Artists (Part XI)
-/Ref.: James A. Simon MISHIBINIJIMA; ARTIST STATEMENT/,
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* The painting in this post: "Legacy of Norval Morrisseau" , Acrylic on Canvas, 30"x24", © 2010 James A. Simon MISHIBINIJIMA

Mr. Randy Potter's genuine Norval Morrisseau paintings available on eBay (Part V)


~ Reference for Norval Morrisseau's admirers, & art collectors





"SONG OF THE BEAVER", 34"x20", 
© 1976 Norval Morrisseau /click on image to Enlarge and/or click HERE to view canvas VERSO signed by the artist with a dry brush (DB) technique/ ~ from Mr. Randy Potter's collection 
 
 
"I AM LISTING THIS PAINTING TO POSSIBLY EDUCATE THE PUBLIC ABOUT MORRISSEAU PAINTINGS. MY NAME IS RANDY POTTER AND I AM A RETIRED AUCTIONEER. I HAVE SOLD PROBABLY AROUND 1500 OF NORVALS PAINTINGS AND HAVE NEVER HAD EVEN ONE RETURNED TO ME FOR A REFUND. 100% HAPPY CUSTOMERS." 

Randy Potter
Port Hope, Ontario





Source: 'eBay' Item number: 161185355557


BLOG MASTER'S NOTES:

All of Norval Morrisseau paintings acquired from Mr. Potter's auction (Randy Potter Estate Auctions) that were analyzed for artist's signatures were forensically authenticated by three top internationally recognized Forensic Document Examiners and Handwriting Experts from Ottawa, Toronto and Calgary (click HERE).

Also, every single painting purchased from Mr. Potter's auction which had been brought for appraisal to Mr. Joseph McLeod (Maslak McLeod Gallery) was positively authenticated as well.  


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>>> In a court judgement Hatfield vs. Artworld of Sherway /Court File No. SC-09-087264-0000/ Judge Paul J. Martial stated the following:

"The Court finds that there is overwhelming evidence that Norval Morrisseau signed paintings in black brush paint.” (Judgment by Judge Paul J Martial: March 25th, 2013 - Page 34)


NOTE: Genuine Norval Morrisseau painting involved in this court case was also acquired from Randy Potter Estate Auctions and appraised by Mr. Joseph McLeod.

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>>> Reference posts:
- Mr. Randy Potter's genuine Norval Morrisseau paintings available on eBay (Part I),
- Mr. Randy Potter's genuine Norval Morrisseau paintings available on eBay (Part II),
- Mr. Randy Potter's genuine Norval Morrisseau paintings available on eBay (Part III) &
- Mr. Randy Potter's genuine Norval Morrisseau paintings available on eBay (Part IV).
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"St. Christopher", © 1980 Norval Morrisseau

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* This post was originally published on December 26th, 2009


"St. Christopher", © 1980 Norval Morrisseau
/Click on image to enlarge/


Before the 1969 reform of the Roman calendar, Christopher was listed as a martyr who died under Decius. Nothing else is known about him. There are several legends about him including the one in which he was crossing a river when a child asked to be carried across. When Christopher put the child on his shoulders he found the child was unbelievably heavy. The child, according to the legend, was Christ carrying the weight of the whole world. This was what made Christopher patron saint of travelers and is invoked against storms, plagues, etc.. His former feast day is July 25.

Before the formal canonization process began in the fifteenth century, many saints were proclaimed by popular approval. This was a much faster process but unfortunately many of the saints so named were based on legends, pagan mythology, or even other religions -- for example, the story of the Buddha traveled west to Europe and he was "converted" into a Catholic saint! In 1969, the Church took a long look at all the saints on its calendar to see if there was historical evidence that that saint existed and lived a life of holiness. In taking that long look, the Church discovered that there was little proof that many "saints", including some very popular ones, ever lived. Christopher was one of the names that was determined to have a basis mostly in legend. Therefore Christopher (and others) were dropped from the universal calendar.

Some saints were considered so legendary that their cult was completely repressed (including St. Ursula). Christopher's cult was not suppressed but it is confined to local calendars (those for a diocese, country, or so forth). His name Christopher, means Christ-bearer. He died a martyr during the reign of Decius in the third century.

Feast: 25 July (West), 9 May (East);

Attributes: tree, branch, as a giant or ogre, carrying Jesus, spear, shield, as a dog-headed man;

Patronage: bachelors, transportation (drivers, sailors, etc.), travelling (especially for long journeys), storms, Brunsweik, Saint Christopher's Island (Saint Kitts), Island Rab, Croatia, Vilnius, Lithuania; epilepsy, gardeners, holy death, toothache.


Source: www.catholic.org; 'Wikipedia', the free encyclopedia

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* The painting in this post: "St. Christopher", © 1980 Norval Morrisseau /Private Collection/