Body Politics and the Art of Norval Morrisseau ofRegina University Carmen Robertson, Résumé de créésparla colonisation de mêmeque l'ambiguïté unlangage visuel uni- divergents NorvalMorrisseau utilise L'artiste Anishnaabe mécaautochtone montre les culturelle. Dans un descorps,alliant qui style expressions l'hybridité que pourconstruire symboliquement troucommente l'histoire du corps,Morrisseau de ses œuvres.Le présent nismesintérieurs dansplusieurs formelles et culturelles de la variole et les blante de la colonisation de Morrisseau enversla colonisation, texteexplorel'engagement canadienne, l'héritage tout entre les Autochtones et le courant le message relations incarnent tellequ'elles'inscrit surle corps.Ses figures dominant, en anishnaabe. forme et aux traditions adroitement de Morrisseau, alorsqu'ilexploite Ainsi,pour artistiques renvoyant politique lecorpsdevient unsitepolitique. la politique du corps Morrisseau, de manière médium critique, pouraborder, visuels lespoints devue entermes autochtone. Lescorpsexpriment Two MenHoldingHands arenaof bodypolitics, to thecontested directsour attention the thatunderwrite relational and to form, dynamics power's thecomplexities ofthecorporeal Foucault's conceptual image. intocolonial foranalyzing thebodyprovides l^^^apping meaningfroman imageof two men holding template insights a numberofdis- relations handstodaydemandsa negotiation a discoursethat and racism.Homi Bhabhainitiates through and agency,linking requires the body,identity, coursessurrounding oforiginary and initial one to lookbeyond"narratives in post-colonial framesre- subjectivities themto theoretical that or processes and to focuson thosemoments developments Suchan imageattests are producedin the articulation ofcontemporary culture. latedtoanalysis of culturaldifferences."4 to notionsthat bodies are sociallyand culturally on bodypolitics hisvisualdiscourse shaped. Morrisseau problematizes enter into this artistNorvalMorrisseau's Anishnaabe "in on those between" where paintings byfocusing spaces signsofidentity in scholmainstream viaa pathway unnoticed discourse The racialized contestation and typically space in which emerge. These that of his work are andnegotiMorrisseau's own and paintings arship indigenousbodypolitics.1 body positioned in Canadianartas theyexpertly and hon- atedfurther constitute a rupture informs thisdiscussion. on colonialambiguity, a commentary Mans Curse EnterWhite , TheGift , and TheLand (Landhybridity, estlyundertake seldomaddressedby and borderland with their titlesand unorThese spacesof identification provocative paintings, rights). thisterrain whilesatisfying thodoxforms, I haveattempted tonegotiate others. viewers. The titles unsettle and incite. challenge in whatJoleneRickardarguesis an integral attention to issues cast blame and call aspect indigenous They manyCanadians In her "Soverthatofaesthetic artcriticism, to This mainstream Canadian sovereignty. essay penchantforsiprefer ignore. an in "As A Line the Rickard to ofrace ambivalence with asserts, lence and Sand," ongoing eignty: regard questions seeming to be of artists needs for the work has thus left these Morrisseau andmarginality indigenous strategy survival, paintings largely lensofsovereignty and self- outsidethe realmof liberaldiscourse.Instead,analysissurtheclarifying understood through notjustin termsof assimilation, on oeuvrehasbeencentered Morrisseau's colonization, rounding determination, exclusively andidentity YetMorrisseau's politics."2 spiritual aspectsofhisartandhisroleas artist. withcolonial art,especiallyhis workof the late 1960s and early1970s, artremainfraught ofAboriginal Discussions in 1969 Mans Curse White When Morrisseau thatcalls contains a richdialogueon raceandcolonialrelations painted baggage. in The Land m and The 1975 fallout from for Issues of cultural further 2), 1), assimilation, (Landrights) (fig. (fig. Gift scrutiny.5 of male bodies intertextual 1976 (fig.3), he offered on the White Indian Trudeau readings up Policyin Paper government's I willfocuson examinations 1969,a riseinmilitancy ofmeaning. thatlocatea plurality activism to and and related sovereignty texts that are contextualized as visual ofMorrisseau's bodies in 1974, Parkstandoff by landrights, bytheAnicinabe exemplified The threepaint- theMacKenziepipelineproject relations. Anishnaabek aesthetics and cultural inthe1970s,andtheJames Bay in thisessayconfront thesubjectofcolonization: Northern ingsdiscussed Quebec land secessionof themid-70s,resonatein a subjectaddressed arthas notbeen artists, theseworks.6 ThatthisaspectofMorrisseau's bymanycontemporary indigenous this Morrisseau seizes in in to the lackofattentopicusingindigenous engagedcritically depthspeaks, part, upon although earlier than and joinsthisdiscursive aesthetic traditions to the sensitive but also tion to details, space wayMorrisseau politically much fashioned this contested most,predating analysis. post-colonial space. to MichelFoucault,thebodyis "theinscribed Bhabha'sdeclaration thatambivalence It is worthrecalling According anddissolved ofevents(tracedbylanguage surface as "oneofthemostsignificant byideas),the hasfortoolongbeenoverlooked theillusionofa substantial discursive Self(adopting locusofa dissociated of discriminatory and psychical power."7 strategies Foucault The dominantsilenceof "whiteness" allows,as RichardDyer unity),and a volumein perpetualdisintegration."3 70 This content downloaded from 132.170.219.53 on Thu, 07 Jan 2016 19:06:37 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Robertson / BodyPolitics andtheArtofNorvalMorrisseau notes: however. Charlotte Townsend-Gault toprivilege" andisoften As arthistorian deftly playedout putsit,for"apassport in politicsrelating to thebody.8As MaryDouglashas shown, isprone toready valorization as a symbol ofsociety acrosscultures, Nations work thebodyoperates andthe [First artists'] by towork can sensitive butthey arescarcely allowed rituals, rules,and boundaries description, bodilybehaviour concerning onwhichtobe be understood as thefunctioning of socialrulesand hierarfrom their ownhomebase,as thegrounds chies.9SandraGilmanfurther remindsus that"theOther's do, they includingstrategic legitimated. Everything orprotecting knowlis revealed in anatomy."10 To thatend,FranzFanon essentializing, including withholding pathology liberal tolerances.17 of racism" withnervousbodilyreacis seen and associates the"sensuality edge, judged through a tionsand phobiasof racialproximity.11 Morrisseau provides ownerandartinstructor on whiteness TorontoGallery discourse and redness(ifI can use sucha term), JackPollockmet in 1962 in Beardsmore, afterin themannerin whichhe Morrisseau and colonization Ontario,andshortly racism,agency, a solo showforthe artistat his oftheimageoftwomenholdinghands. wardsPollockorchestrated conceives In his 1989 autobiography, Pollockconfirmed theimgallery. him "The exhibit made both The MythoftheMan of this exhibition. portance pivotal himto international atten"It brought and me,"he explained. in northwestern Bornin 1931 at SandyLakeReserve Ontario, tionand it madethePollockGallerya publicname."18His commercial NorvalMorrisseau success;theshowsoldout. grewup withhisAnishnaabe grandmother workfoundimmediate thatMorrisseau as "exoticother" Moses"Potan" a sixth- CuratorGregHill suggests andgrandfather Véronique Nanakonagos, in hisentry intotheartestablishwhosemem- remained a significant factor shamanin theMidewiwinsociety,12 generation as botha primitive and to RuthPhillips, "recorded theiroraltraditions, ment."He wasreceived bers,according simultaneously Hill.19 Morrisseau's of initiation modern writes esoteric and rituals artist," byincising Concerning inauguknowledge, complex thenartcriticforTheGlobeand on birchbark Morrisseau's PearlMcCarthy, symbols panels.13 picto- ralexhibition, pictographic orbreaking ofvisionquests Mail, stated:"Morrisseau's rialinfluences as a youthwererockpaintings space geniusforunifying ofline.It cannot the noted in hisdesignsis astounding, as is hissureness and ceremonialimagesand, most significantly, scrolls.It was in thesesacreddrawings be classedas primitive Midewiwinbirchbark art,becauseboth the ideas and the has evincecultivated thatMorrisseau foundan aesthetic thatshapedhisownsignifi- expression thought.As thismysticism In 1962, he is breaking newground."20 cationof the body.Usingheavyblackoutlinesand interior neverbeenrecorded, on theexhibition at Pollocksgallery, Morrisseaubeganto produceart that Timemagazine dida story bodilysegmentation, theseinfluences. and describeda "[h]ulking(6 foot 2 inches) Primitivist reflected at different scorn Morrisseau Morrisseau [who]beganto paintonlythreeyearsago aftera pointsin hiscareersuffered In the dreaminwhichhewastoldtosetdownthesymbols andmyths frombothFirstNationsand mainstream communities. him im. . . The artist himself forexposing ceremonial ofhisfellowOjibways 1950shislocalelderschided constantly beaming attraction thanhiswork."21 audiences.Morrisseau resisted challenges wasalmosta larger ages to mainstream fromAnishnaabek The notionof the exotic,primitive artistcontinuesto traditionalists by arguingthathis images wereunique,notmerely and his work.Cast as botha drunkand a copiesofsacredimages.He opposed hauntMorrisseau in thisracialized thathispersonalaes- shaman,theartist remains members withtheargument community trapped space- the set mainstream Canada. Media sources thetichelpeddecolonizeartistic and social and boundaries have, issues, by practice in In the artist the lens members conceded his the late since the cast 1960s,typically stereotypical eventually community point. at once work on of of both the noble and and Morrisseau's centered vision-derived 1950s spiritual images ignoblesavage violent.22 andanimalspaintedonwhatRuthPhillips connectedto theland,but also drunkenand Jack spiritual experiences advanceda calls"commodity suchas birchbark containers andrepli- Pollock,his"discoverer" and gallery representative, genres himas an idiotsavant. oftheartist, cas of drums."14 On theadviceof earlypatronssuchas Dr polarized description casting In both a Pollock remembered Morrisseau on theevening Weinstein and 1979 text, SelwynDewdney, Joseph anthropologist in thisway: of the exhibition Morrisseau to move his art onto and of the successful trained 1962 artists, paper began opening to the canvas.Weinstein, introducprovided according Phillips, I satthere interror thisgreat artist tionto"modernist artistic andthevaluesandconvenandsensitive watching sensibility hima levelof tionsoftheartworld."15 Easelpainting afforded drink himself intoa complete Then,keeping stupor. vigil I begantothink thatconformed toWestern notionsof"high"artand overthesleeping ofthenorth, about seriousness giant toworkin thenative ofthewhitemanand thatwouldhavebeenunattainable hadhecontinued mistrust peopleandtheir birchbark orhide.16 Thistrajectory isnotuniquetoMorrisseau, his ways.This mistrust lies behindthe passiveand 71 This content downloaded from 132.170.219.53 on Thu, 07 Jan 2016 19:06:37 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions RACAR/ XXXII,1-2/ 2007 I. Norval White Man's 1969. oncanvas, 127x 101.6 cm. Morrisseau, Curse, Figure Acrylic MacKenzie Art ofMacKenzie Art Regina, Gallery (Photo: courtesy Gallery). untilalcohol... chisels façade, nonexpressive awayat that ofquietto bring outthehatred andrejection ofan layer aliensociety.23 Curatorand writer thatMorrisseau also BarryAce asserts workedto fashiona mythicpublicpersonaas an exoticyet artistto appeasehiscollectors. Morrisseau, primitive according to Ace, offered theart-buying to public,"a rareopportunity own a fragmentary glimpseof a mythical past."24Whether Morrisseau playedto his audienceor his audiencedemanded suchperformances, constructions simplistic persist. The NationalFilmBoardof Canada'spopular1973 film TheParadoxofNorvalMorrisseau , forexample,an earlybut influential didacticsourceabouttheartist andhiswork,framed himas drunken, and but childlike, violent, alsoas beingat one with natureand nativespirituality.25 JackPollockappears thedocumentary, to reinthroughout givingexperttestimony forcethisperspective. The filmmakesmuchof Morrisseau's tortured and Anishnaabek pull betweenCatholicism religious traditions whilecuriously little discussion of offering tangible hisart.The framing oftheartist in thisfilmcontinues tohaunt Morrisseau.26 aside,Morrisseau's Raciallycast constructions the three and works discussed oeuvre, notably here,defiessuch facileandpolarized representations. The Curse The titleWhiteMans Curse(fig.1) politically and socially articulates andsituates thepainting withina racialized context. To whatcurseorcursesdoestheartist refer means of by bodily associations onthecanvas? dominant world Disease,Christianity, assimilation andcultural areat issuehere. view,sexualcontrol, One emergent curseis smallpox, thebodilyscourgethat theAmericas atthetime plaguedAboriginal peoplesthroughout ofContact.We can clearly viewthespreadofdiseasefromthe on therightsideofthecanvasto thewarrior on the missionary leftthrough theinterior of Morrisseau's articusegmentation forms. intheform latedcorporeal ofreddots,invade Pathogens, thebodiesofeachfigure, thefierce symbolically spread tracking ofthediseasethrough communities. Scholarsnow agreethatepidemicdisease,and notably shouldbe considered themajorfactor in thepopulasmallpox, tion declineof indigenous in the Americas. Disease peoples immense of numbers begankilling peoplessoon Aboriginal after to arrive in the New World. Forexample, Europeans began in groupssuchas theBeothuks ofNewfoundland ortheHaida oftheNorthwest Coastislandsas muchas ninety ofthe percent a catastrophe to David that,according population disappeared, of theBlackDeathin Cook, "farexceed[ed] eventhedisaster The Anishnaabe medievalEurope."27 havea relatedoraltradi- tionaboutsevenprophets whoforecast ifthepeopledid disaster notleavetheAtlantic coastalregion.28 The westward migration undertaken was documented in birchbark by theAnishnaabe scrolls. Morrisseau's of diseaseand of the body, representation more generally, revealshis decidedlyindigenousaesthetic. Morrisseau's visualvocabulary, oftenreferred to in termsofxdemonstrates interior raysoras Woodlandstyle, segmentations to reveal encapsulated bythickblacklines,utilized symbolically thespreadofbothcultural and biologicaldiseasethrough the malebodies.In thiswaytheartist creates a contemmasterfully poraryformof artisticexpressionlinked to pre-Contact Anishnaabekaesthetictraditions.In WhiteMans Curse , Morrisseau pushesthe limitsof his visuallanguageand his aesthetic toconstruct thepainting toengageviewers indigenous in a colonialhistory lesson.Clearly, Morrisseau's in upbringing a raciallychargedenvironment informs therealization of his bodies.The painting seizesan opportunity to comaggressively menton andconfirm theexchange ofpathogens. the However, effect of diseaseis butone ofthecursesMorrisseau devastating includesin thispowerful canvas. The missionary on therightofthecanvas,carrying figure hiscross,emblematically introduces thespreadofChristianity 72 This content downloaded from 132.170.219.53 on Thu, 07 Jan 2016 19:06:37 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Robertson / BodyPolitics andtheArtofNorvalMorrisseau communities. Thecross, across and dominant worldview- a resultofthinking withonlythe amongAboriginal swungcasually thefigures shoulder(a visualmimesis ofChrist's ownburden), brainrather thanincluding theheart. thesymbolic andtangible ofadherents toChrisEach ofthecursesdiscussedthusfarrelatesto colonizing signifies reality the destructive missionof events thatoccurred after Contact.Notsurprisingly, thepolitics tianity. Accordingto Morrisseau, like has cursed Cerof also found their into this discursive 1969 Christianity, smallpox, Aboriginal peoples. way space.The year from the outlaw of Anishnaabek to the deremains in Canadian 1969 tainly, ceremony pivotal politics:a time indigenous struction of socialand politicalinstitutions, loss of language, whencivil-rights movements and politicsclashed.The year and theresidential schoolexperience, theassimilating forceof marksthebeginnings ofa unitedFirstNationspoliticalvoice. cannotbe denied. Morrisseau to suchdevelopments in thiscanvas.PoChristianity responds LikealmostallFirstNationspeopleofMorrisseau's totheTrudeaugovernment's assimilationist genera- liticaleventsrelated theharshreality ofresidential school policiesspecifically in theWhitePapersurfacein articulated tion,theartist experienced first hand.29Forcibly sentto an institution in FortFrancesas a Morrisseau's painting. Morrisseau suffered and sexual abuse.30 This politicalimportance of 1969 resulted frompolitical youth, psychological The powerdynamic ofhandholdingconveyed in thepainting machinations of theTrudeaugovernment to changeCanada's occurrence of sexual relationship withAboriginal Minister ofInmay obliquelyreferto the widespread peoples.Trudeau's abusesuffered within the issuedtheWhitePaper,theStatebyAboriginal youth JeanChrétien, religious-control-dianAffairs, led schoolsand mayserveas an allusionto Morrisseaus own mentoftheGovernment , in Juneof ofCanadaonIndianPolicy ForscoresofAboriginal thatyear.33 It proposedtheabrogation of theIndianAct,the painfulschoolexperience.31 peoplesin Canadatheresidential schoolexperience remains another curse abolitionofspecialstatusforAboriginal peoples,and thecloassociatedwithChristianity. The missionary, readas a priest, sureofIndianreserves. Thisassimilationist document becamea conflates historical accountsofsuffering for "Red Power" in akin to civilCanada, byAboriginal peoples rallying cry organized sinceContactwithMorrisseau's ownpersonaltraumaat resi- rightsmovements in theUnitedStates,and helpedfashiona dentialschool. voiceforAboriginal political peoplesin Canada- onetowhich Morrisseau reveals the distinct worldviewsheldby Morrisseau addedhisvoice.34 visually eachfigure on thecanvasbyemploying theAnishnaabek aesto theLiberalgovernment, the releaseof the According thetictradition ofinterior anda symbolic colour WhitePaperpromised a newdirection in Canadian-First Nasegmentation torevealtheinterior worldofthebody.Utilizing redand tionsrelations. First the document However, Nations, system among hiscoloration ofthecross causeda furor andtheNationalIndianBrotherhood, greento illustrate bodilydynamics, precursor beareremphasizes thebrain- a siteforreasoned of FirstNations,issueda pressreleasestating understanding to theAssembly of theworld- as thebody'spowersource.Christian doctrine thattheeffect oftheWhitePaperwouldbe "thedestruction ofa and rationalthought fusein Western nation of and culturalgenocide."35 The traditions, philosophical peopleby legislation and Morrisseau revealsthe rightfigure's world Trudeaugovernment theideaofAboriginal convincingly essentially rejected viewandhisEurocentric colonialist motivations. rights,and arguedfora timelimitto honourthe treaties. Morrisseauattemptsto redressthe balance between NeitherChrétiennorTrudeaucalculated, how the however, colonizerand colonizedwith regardto epistemology and WhitePaperwould mobilizeand uniteFirstNationsacross ontologyby locatingindigenous waysof knowingand being Canada. withinthebodyofthefigure on theleftsideofthecanvas,in Alberta becamethebattleground tofight theWhite quickly orderto expounda Aboriginal worldviewthatplacestheheart, Paper,withtheprovince's FirstNationsleadersresponding to rather thanthebrain,at thecentreof all understanding.32 the withtheaptlynamedcounter-attack, theRed By controversy theleftfigure's internal chestcavity andheartin green Paper,written painting byNationalIndianBrotherhood representative withcoloration brain), HaroldCardinalon behalfoftheChiefsofAlberta.36 (juxtaposed appliedto therightfigure's Though Morrisseau makesvisibletheirclashing worldviews.Utilizing mostofthetreatise readas a clausebyclauserefutation ofthe coloursthatfortheAnishnaabe refer to both White it also stated that the was symbolically power Paper, government offering and to theearth,theartistspalettesupports theimportance of Indianpeoplea future"withno land and consequently the eachfigure's of In Anishnaabe future would be to condemned the and culture, uniqueways knowing. generation despair ugly and indeed,in manyindigenousculturesin the Americas, specter ofurbanpoverty inghettoes."37 Soonafter thereleaseof decisionmaking"fromthe heart"acknowledgessystemic theRed Paper,theNationalIndianBrotherhood adoptedit as differences betweenthe colonizerand the colonized.While itsofficial national andtheTrudeaugovernment abanposition, each bodyevokesdistinctwaysof knowingthe world,this doneditsownassimilationist positionpaper. a cursecausedbytheimposition ofan opposing ofcourse, didnotjusthappenwiththearrival Assimilation, imagesignifies 73 This content downloaded from 132.170.219.53 on Thu, 07 Jan 2016 19:06:37 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions RACAR/ XXXII,1-2/ 2007 Thunder The onkraft 196x 122cm. 2.Norval 1975. Morrisseau, Gift, paper, Acrylic Figure of Thunder Art Art Helen E. Band Collection Thunder courtesy Bay Bay Gallery, (Photo: Bay, Gallery). ofTrudeauor theWhitePaper.The longprocessto "killthe afterContact, Indianand savetheman"38had begunshortly Morrisseau's twobodiesunited almostfivehundred yearsearlier. however. in TheWhite Mans Curseexpress a different position, not Other thisas "analienated Self and Bhabhadescribes image; intheperverse oftheSelfinscribed buttheotherness palimpsest Morrisseau ofcolonialidentity."39 expoundpaintedtwofigures thefigures arenot worldviews,but,significantly, ingdifferent on therightof The assimilated castas racially separate. figure - he is almostthe theconceptofmimicry thecanvasexpresses same,but notquite,as thefigureon theleft.He is at besta of thecolonizerand thecolonizedtorepresentation "partial" Morrisseau's title the"whiteman'scurse,"yet proclaims gether. The two thecanvasshowstwobrownbodiesinterconnecting. men remain connected brothers, racially culturally ambiguous and divergent by differing religions despitebeinginfluenced the ofassimilation, waysofknowing.40 Throughtheprocesses figureon the rightof the canvasremainsa complexracial a hybrid thatholdsthewhiteman'scurses construction, actually, in hisbrownbody. The twoAboriginal menholdhandsas theywalktogether, theartist theleftsidefigure leadingtheway.Withthisdynamic, inthisequationaswellashisowndecolonizing reveals hisagency thecontested arena motivations. ClearlyMorrisseau recognizes of sucha of racialpolitics.Viewerswitnessthecomplexities aesthetic theindigenous spaceMorrisseau relationship through ofhisbrush, a thickblacklineunitesthe Witha stroke occupies. them them.This twofigures, and symbolically linking framing in all theenergy forcetheartist visualdevicesignifies recognizes in the The two bundles upperportionof energy livingbeings. The forms thecanvasrelateto Anishnaabe teachings. circular conform to imagesofthesunandmoon,andalsosymbolically - thecowrieshellthatalludestotheAnishnaabe artistfundamentally shiftedthe powerdynamicthathe was represent megis inhisart.Maintaining a similar colourpalette, earthy exploring storyofcreation.41 in and redto exhibit Morrisseau The the two Morrisseau further men, employs green Gift again By fusing acknowledges focalpointsand areasoftheheartand thebrainas juxtaposed to in thiscolonizedspace.Bhabharefers notionsof hybridity thebodypolitics ofthetwoforms thatopen up "in-between worldviews.However, borderline changes experiences contingent, of thecontested elucidate Morrisseauhas fashionedwhat tofurther colonizerand colonized."42 space hybridity. in White Whereastheshamanled theChristianized Bhabhacallsa "spaceofcultural andinterpretive figure undecidability" The Mans Curse here a face-to-face encounter Al, thatis producedin thepresent of thecolonialmoment.43 transpires. shaon the of the man canvas,accompanied reflects a conciliatory bya appears right figure approachto thoughMorrisseau's painting character no longerbearsa cross,but IndianActresisted child.The missionary racialpolitics,theCanadiangovernment's witha cross.The colonizer carries a medicine decorated assimilationist the and thisunderstanding, bag preferringpaternalistic of the TheAboriginal medithe colonized. co-opts adeptly signs approach. a is cine with its sacred The the titled In 1975 Morrisseau becoming bag, meaning, appropriated, painted ironically Gift of colonization. themes and visual Here the artist revisited sign signifiers circulating (fig.2). The youngster reachesforthissacredbundleofChristian in WhiteMans Curse further introduced , providing dialogue With his doctrine. arms,the As in theearlier ofracialpolitics. abouthisconceptions yelloweyeandoutreached glowing paintall it Morrisseau is the and by bag captivated signifies. space.In the child clearly employsthebodyas a discursive ing,Morrisseau on theleatherpouchin sucha waythatit fiveyearsthatpassedfromthedateof theearliercanvas,the paintsthefringe 74 This content downloaded from 132.170.219.53 on Thu, 07 Jan 2016 19:06:37 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Robertson / BodyPolitics andtheArtofNorvalMorrisseau 3. Norval The Land 1976. oncanvas, 122x 96.7cm.Kleinburg, Morrisseau, ON, Figure (Landrights), Acrylic McMichael Canadian Art Collection ofMcMichael Canadian Art (Photo: courtesy Collection). intoMorrisseau's canvas,and layerofdiscourse directsattention awayfroma staticreadingof The youngchild,hugging the colonialrelations. allows of the leg embracing right-hand figure, tofurther comment on thegift/curse Morrisseau in the 1969 canvas,addinga he introduced thatconsiders the relational interaction dynamic the colonial coneffects by generational wrought dition.The youthlooksbeyondhiselderto the In thisworktheartistconassimilated figure. Nativespirituality and racialidentity templates forfuturegenerations. The childsignifies the In of assimilation. Morrisseau 1979 pull enticing that"theyounger youare,thegreater explained theimpression, thebeliefwill and thestronger be."46The artistcapturesthe impressionable forceof natureofyouthand also theseductive assimilation. With assimilation comesan admixture ofspiritual concerns. Morrisseau expehis riencedthissenseof hybridity throughout life,as he studiedand learnedaboutreligions and eventually settledon Eckankaras a directionaloutletforhisspiritual understandings.47 Borderlands force.The smallfigure appearsto emita powerful, tantalizing stretches beyondtheshaman's protective bodyto welcomethe so-calledgift. Morrisseau lines conjoinsthetwomenthrough serpentine thatflowfromone armthrough theother- a handshake that does notend. Concomitantly, themencan be viewedas one, a splitting of identity, a dissembling revealing imageof being, whichconstitutes a figureof colonialotherness- neither AnishnaabenorWhite,in a stateof ambiguity.44 Withthis confrontation Morrisseau thegiftoffered bycolonizaquestions thecomplexities ofracialidentification,whileacknowledging tion.As Bhabhacontends, is inclusivein that"the hybridity colonialhybrid isthearticulation oftheambivalent spacewhere the rightof poweris enactedon the siteof desire,making In bothWhite anddisseminatory."45 objectsatoncedisciplinary Mans Curseand The GiftMorrisseau thecomacknowledges ofhybridity. plexities The introduction of a thirdfigureincorporates another TheLand(Landrights) (fig.3) from1976enters in a lesssubtleform. The thearenaofhybridity workconfronts to land sovertimely challenges andrights evincedbyindigenous eignty groups Canada.48The paintingis visually throughout ofpost-colodividedintoa cultural borderland nial space.The bisecting line downthecentre,accordingto eachgroupsattitudes toward theland.49 Morrisseau, symbolizes Bothsidesviewthelandas a valuableasset,but- again- world viewsandagendasclash. In anintersection ofpower, andplace,Morrisseau's identity, inthispaintof the colonial fully conception landscape emerges nor The the Neither White Mans Curse considers ing. Gift broaderconceptoflandin theirarticulations ofbodypolitics. in colonialpolitics Yet,theconceptoflandfigures prominently in considerations ofthecoloniallandscape. anddefiesdismissal of TheLand (Landrights) and exteriority interiority configures an interstitial that both and at the borders identity place space and mainstream Canadiansmustconsider. Borders Aboriginal in theprocessofidentification remaincritical anddis/location, AvtarBrahstates, of,as sociologist "arbitrary consisting dividing terrilinesthataresimultaneously andpsychic; social,cultural, toriesto be patrolledagainstthosewhomtheyconstruct as wherethe outsiders, aliens,theOthers;formsof demarcation 75 This content downloaded from 132.170.219.53 on Thu, 07 Jan 2016 19:06:37 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions RACAR/ XXXII,1-2/ 2007 zoneswherefear inscribes veryactofprohibition transgression; of the Otheris the fearof the self;placeswhereclaimsto - arestaked - claimsto "mine", and"theirs" "yours", ownership over."50 Morrisseau's bordefended and fought out,contested, sitesofresistance. derspacesmaybe viewedas narrative of space have been conceived Westernconceptions of AsLindaTuhiwai withintheideological position dominance. was as something to Smithexplains, for viewed "Land, example, be tamedandbrought undercontrol. . . Spacewasappropriated fromindigenous cultures and the giftedback'as reservation, reserved peoplewhooncepospocketsoflandforindigenous sessedall of it."51IndigenousscholarGail Valaskakisadds, ofNativeAmerica; culture "Landispivotalinthecontemporary in thediscursive construcandtoday,itsmeaningis negotiated tionofcontingent and current history, pracemerging heritage, describes ticeinstories."52 Asartist andtheorist GeraldMcMaster "The struggle forlandby (native)Canadiansis a landrights, to createand expandspace:claimingland,claiming struggle to 'reterritorialize', tocreatein space.A landclaimis an attempt lawnewborders anddivisions, andtomarkoffrights, privileges andobligations."53 Fromtheperspective oftheAnishnaabe andofMorrisseau, to reflect this hisindigenous aesthetic landis sacred.Utilizing of canvas with Anishnaabe Morrisseau the left the infuses concept, realities oftheearthas a livingbeing.The rightofthecanvas, a viewoftheearthas precious, butvaluein this too,expresses theorist sensetranslates as monetary value.Whiteness George how mainstream Americans have usedwhitedescribes Lipsitz whileforcing nessto createand secureeconomicadvantages for Morrisseau's to racialized However, camps compete approval.54 the ofthis of this interface challenges powerdynamics reading ofhisownagencyin The artistremains conception. cognizant thiscoloniallandscape.Morrisseau upsetsthedominant power byusingparodyto definethebodiesoftheclownish dynamic mocksthe two government "white"men. Morrisseau agents withtheirlily-white albinofacesbrokenonlybythetendril-like looks.Usingparodyas a formof moustaches and stupefied takes authorthe artist resistance, powerawayfrominstitutional for his contribution to this the ityfigures, political seizing space In placeofa heart,a blackvoidexistsin thebodyof situation. thispiecein 1979: thebureaucrat. Morrisseau explained or Theworld ofthewhite manrepresented bya government a or miner white white man and construction corporation theoldergeneration and man.TheIndianfigure represents to the theancestors arebehindhim,looking backwards man.He speaks aboutthe treaties madewiththewhite they Thebabylooksaggressive. Itrepresents theyounger oldways. whospeakaboutwhatthey want. themilitants generation, thewhite manandthe Theworlds crossthelinesbetween Thefistisclenched. Theanimals areprotesting the Indian. intheir environment. Theyareanimportant partof change theland,thewater, andtheIndians life.Inthecenter partof I showthelandanditsownership.55 thepainting As in White in The Mans Curseand TheGift , Morrisseau Land(Landrights) continues toexpress bodily meaning through formand indigenous aesthetics. The leftsideofthecanvas,an unoneness,positsthegenerational organicwholeexpressing ofunitybetween land,animal,andman.Ancestors derstanding formthebackboneof thisfigure seatedupon fish,cradlinga wombmadeof plantsand animals,protected by birdfigures andthechildseateduponit.Littlecommonality existsbetween thispartoftheimage,paintedon a bluefield,andtheopposing "red"contested borderland. UnlikeWhite Mans Curseand TheGift , whereMorrisseau notionsofhybridity heretheartinteriority, explicates through istmanipulates notionsofspace- bothinterior and exterior A oppositional powerrelations. usingtheborderto demarcate settler's claimto possession ofthelandconfronts an Aboriginal ofbeingin theland.YetMorrisseau articulates understanding thisproblematic siteas botha zoneof conjuncture and of reterritorialization. Rather than areas of marginalization, Morrisseau's canberecognized aslocations ofpower. borderlands thegovernment official on therightsideof the Interestingly, canvashasalsobrokentheplanebetween theborderlands that Morrisseau has fashioned. The leftfootof thecentralfigure hisborder thespacespresented. Withthis anddisturbs oversteps the artist the dramatizes power-laden transgression place-idenofcolonialpolitics. tityconjunctures A romanticized is oftenviewedas priidentity Aboriginal mordial, bytimeor contactwithWestern thought, unchanged The but Morrisseau resistssuchfacileculturalconstructions. animals,theelder,and theyouthall actively speakout,their - displayedby blackcurvilinear words- formsof resistance linesthatconfront thegovernment bureaucrats withlittlevisibleeffect. it is themilitant However, youth keenlyawareof the bothAboriginal andWestern who straddles ways literally the twoworlds, hisfistthrust forth, breaking through planeto The artist conceives thecontested do battle. spaceofthebordercoalesceon thecanvasto reveala lands,as placeand identity narrative ofcontemporary withinthecolonial politicalstruggle landscape. wasa timeofintense awareIndeed,themid-1970s political inindigenous In nessandactivism the summer of 1974 politics. theOjibweWarrior in near Morrisseau's Ontario, Society Kenora, at so-called AnicinabePark.Thisland home,stageda standoff issuesawa risein militancy thatwasoneof andactivism rights thefirst ofcountless overland roadblocks andpoliticalprotests issuesacrossCanada.TheMacKenziepipeline the project, Berger 76 This content downloaded from 132.170.219.53 on Thu, 07 Jan 2016 19:06:37 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Robertson / BodyPolitics andtheArtofNorvalMorrisseau andC. seeR. BruceMorrison withtheCanadian government, Native The Canadian Roderick Wilson, (Oxford Experience Peoples: andNewYork, 2004). Location 7 Bhabha, , 66. 8 Richard 1997),44. (NewYork, Dyer,White andDanger: AnAnalysis 9 MaryDouglas, of oftheConcepts Purity Pollution andTaboo andBoston, 1966),125. (London Toward anIconog10 Sandra "Black WhiteBodies: Bodies, Gilman, Conclusion in Late of Female Art,MediNineteenth-Century Sexuality raphy andVisual Cultural ed. TheFeminism Reader, cine,andLiterature," Amelia 147. York, (New 2003), Jones In theend,the WhiteMans Curse , The Gift,and TheLand , WhiteMasks , trans.CharlesLam ofthe 11 FranzFanon,BlackSkin readas a multi-layered palimpsest together (Landrights) Markmann York, 1967). (New culturallandscapewhereAnishnaabe ideascommingle witha 12 TheAnishnaabe isshki kiiniina. TheMidewiwin term forshaman forcesbarelycontained, somemorevisnumberofcolonizing as theGrandMedicine undertakes alsoknown Society, society, ofthepaint. iblethanothers, andall caughtwithinthesurface within Anishnaabe andspirit functions specific guidance healing Morrisseau notionsofcolonization andhybridity, contemplates ofa shaman. culture under thedirection linkto with the and ofthenecessary métonymie engagements 'Entrance': "Morrisseau's 13 RuthPhillips, Primitivism, Negotiating the corporealbodies,whichinhabitour nationand national Norval Morrisseau: ShaandAnishnaabe Tradition," Modernism, Reserve life,residential school,andcontemporary of National manArtist , ed.GregHill,exh.cat.,Ottawa, identity. poliGallery ticsinform hiscommentary as heattempts topositively Canada(Ottawa, 2006),52. imagine Identities: TheSouvenir in NativeNorth a politics ofanti-imperialism. TheaccesspointMorrisseau chooses 14 RuthPhillips, Trading American Art the 1700-1900 Northeast, 1998), (Montreal, acknowlforhiscross-cultural demands from however, interpretation, 266. The Anishnaabek articulated aesthetics, body, by edgement. 60. "Morrisseau's 15 Phillips, 'Entrance," servesas thesiteforhiscolonialdiscourse. 2 1 66. 6 Identities, Phillips, Trading "Exoticized oftenresults whenindigenous artis spectacle" "HaveWeEverBeenGood?"Rebecca 17 Charlotte Townsend-Gault, culture.56 Morrisseau s arthas beenconframed bydominant MorandtheUnnamed, exh.cat.,Vancouver, Belmore: TheNamed finedto sucha spacealthough, on closerreflection, theartist risandHelenBelkin ArtGallery 2003),17. (Vancouver, resists suchcategorization. aesthet- 18 clearly Utilizing indigenous DearM: Letters a Gentleman Pollock, (Toronto, Jack ofExcess from a critique advances ofcolonization andhybridity ics,Morrisseau 1989),40. in sophisticated thatengagesthisdiscourse terms. exh.cat.,Ottawa, Morrisseau: Shaman 19 GregHill,Norval Throughhis Artist, of an to we learn Othered and ofCanada(Ottawa, National 2006),21. response contemporary images Gallery TheGlobe andMail,25August historical Morrisseau his 20 Pearl conditions. articulates 1962,Rl. McCarthy, political visually Art Norval Morrisseau 21 Lister The Sinclair and Pollock, in role Canada'scolonialproject. The bodyremains Jack of problematic 21. 1979), (Toronto, in Morrisseau's centrally implicated questionsof self-identity seeCarmen oftreatment ofMorrisseau, discussion ofindigeneity oftheCanadian 22 Fora detailed andconstructions attheborders An of the "The Reel Norval Morrisseau: Robertson, Analysis cultural landscape. FilmBoardofCanada's ofNorval National Paradox Morrisseau," XI (2005),315-21. International Journal ofLearning, Notes 24. Norval andPollock, 23 Lister Morrisseau, 24 Barry "Artist as Curatorial Collective , Ace, Shaman," Aboriginal 1 "Anishnaabe," "the and mean2005,p.3,http://www.aboriginalcuratorialcollective.org/resear meaning people," "Anishnaabek," refer totheOjibway, morriseau3.html 5,2007). Odawa, (accessed January ing"ofthepeople," Ojibway-Cree, "TheReelNorval andPotawatomi of north central North America. For of this see further 25 film, Robertson, peoples analysis 2 Jolene A Line in the 39 315-21. Rickard, Sand," , Morrisseau," "Sovereignty: Aperture attheNational 26 During Morrisseau's recent exhibition 1995),51. retrospective (Spring Morrisseau was andPunish : TheBirth inOttawa, theNFBfilm Paradox 3 MichelFoucault, , Gallery Discipline ofNorval ofthePrison A. Sheridan related to the trans. as partoftheeducational screened (London, 1977),148. programming 4 HomiBhabha, Location event. No context forthefilm wasprovided. (London, 1998),1. ofCulture to thesepolitically Born to Die: Disease andNewWorld Morrisseau also Noble David 5 In addition 27 works, Cook, charged Conquest, a of See alsoAlfred W. Crosby, number that demand 13. 1492-1650 1998), sexually produced charged paintings (Cambridge, andCultural further TheColumbian analysis. of Exchange: Biological Consequences 6 Foranoverview ofhistoric andcontemporary relations 1492 CT, 2003). (Westport, indigenous and thebeginning commission, stagesoftheJamesBayhydro inthedecadeofthe wereallsitesofAboriginal resistance project to re-territorialize and decolonize.The Land 1970s: efforts thepoliticalturmoilinvolvedin visually captures (Landrights) thesecontroversial as byAnishnaabek flashpointscontextualized aesthetics andcultural politics. 77 This content downloaded from 132.170.219.53 on Thu, 07 Jan 2016 19:06:37 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions RACAR/ XXXII,1-2/ 2007 " TheMishomis Book:TheVoice American Indians: 28 Edward Benton-Banai, oftheOjibway Writings bythe Friends oftheIndian"1880260. 1900 95. WI, Mass., 1988), 1973), (Hayward, (Cambridge, ofthehistory ofCanada's residential 39 Bhabha, Location discussion 29 Fora thorough , 44. inUpper seeJ.R.Miller, Vision : A History ofmissionary efforts CanadaisE. Graham, schools, survey ofNative 40A useful Shingwauk's Medicine MantoMissionary: Missionaries asAgents Residential Schools (Toronto, 1996). ofChange among made theIndians ofMorrisseau's sexualabusewereonlyrecently 30 Thedetails 1784-1867(Toronto, Ontario, 1975). ofSouthern inthedocumen- 41 BasilJohnston, son,GabeVadis, (Toronto, 1987). adopted Ojibway Heritage publicbyMorrisseau's "ASeparate Norval director PaulCarvalho 42 Bhabha, 206. Location, Morrisseau," tary Reality: 206. 43 Bhabha, Location, (2005). 44 remains an area for further 31Thispower 45. Bhabha, Location, dynamic analysis. see 45 Bhabha, oftheAnishnaabe world Location discussion 32Forananthropological view, , 112. to Selected 46 Lister TheArtofNorval 64. Alfred Contributions and Pollock, Morrisseau, Hallowell, Anthropology: Irving Norval Morrisseau: Travels totheHouseofInvenHallowell 47 Norval Morrisseau, 1976),357-449. Papers ofA.Irving (Chicago, tion(Toronto, ofIndianAffairs andNorthern State33 Department 1997). Development, thisworkas a commissioned Morrisseau tocreate ment (Ottawa, 1969), 48 Timemagazine ofCanadaonIndian Policy oftheGovernment seeSallyM. Weaver, Canacover fortheir curator that 5-8.Foranexcellent analysis, publication, Making though GregHillconfirms the work was Time. can as TheHiddenAgenda never used One dianIndianPolicy: 1968-1970 , (Toronto, by onlyspeculate to whether the confrontational of the influenced the 1980). politics painting on Native not to use the cover art. Norval Morrisseau: Shaman IndianCountry: decision 34 GailValaskakis, Hill, Essays Contemporary Culture 23. Artist^ ON, 2004). (Waterloo, Manuel andthe 49 Lister TheArtofNorval Brotherhood toNationhood: andPollock, 134. 35Peter Morrisseau, McFarlane, George Identities Indian Movement 50Avtar Brah,Cartographies (Toronto, 1993),109. (London ofDiaspora: Contesting Making oftheModern ofAlberta, Plus:A Presentation andNewYork, Citizens 36 IndianAssociation 1996),198. ofthe Research and toRight Honourable P. E. Trudeau IndianChiefs Smith, ([Ed- 51 LindaTuhiwai Decolonizing Methodologies: ofAlberta 51. (NewYork, 1999), monton], 1970). Indigenous Peoples IndianCountry toNationhood, 116. Brotherhood 52Valaskakis, 37 McFarlane, , 94. ofAesthetic on theeducation of 53 GeraldMcMaster, "Borderzones: The 'Injun-uity C. Pratt's 38 American Capt.Richard position Cultural ofthevocational residential Native Americans andthefounding 9,no.1 (January Tricks," Studies, 1995),80. ThePossessive Investment inWhiteness: HowWhite residential schoolsys- 54 George schools became a modelfortheCanadian Lipsitz, in "Official Politics tem.See hisaddress 1998),1-23. (Philadelphia, People Profit from Identity givenat an 1892convention TheArtofNorval ofCharities and 55Lister andPollock, oftheNineteenth AnnualConference 134. Morrisseau, Report inRichard H. Pratt, "TheAd- 56 FryandWillis, Correction Art,160. (1892),46. Reprinted Aboriginal the of Mingling IndianswithWhites," Americanizing vantages 78 This content downloaded from 132.170.219.53 on Thu, 07 Jan 2016 19:06:37 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
