b. 1919, Wikwemikong Indian Reserve, Manitoulin Island, Ontario
First Nations Affiliation: Ojibwa / Potawatomi

In addition to prestigious commissions for Ottawa's National Museum of Man [now the Canadian Museum of Civilization as of 1989], Woodland School painter Daphne Odjig has earned some of this nation's most important honours, including the Order of Canada (1986), and honourary degrees from several universities. Distinguished among the Woodland group by her expressive and lyric use of the formline, Odjig's work contributed to many of the milestone exhibitions of contemporary Native art throughout the seventies and eighties. Her professional activities multiplied in the seventies, when she co-founded the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc., created Indian Prints of Canada, Inc. and the Warehouse Gallery, and taught and consulted for the Society of Canadian Artists of Native Ancestry (SCANA). Odjig serves on the board of the Canadian Native Arts Foundation and is a member of the Royal Canadian Academy, but the most telling honour was the eagle feather given by her home reserve in 1978, an accolade reserved previously for males excelling in hunting or combat.

R E C E N T   E X H I B I T I O N S

S E L E C T E D   C O L L E C T I O N S

Brandon University, Brandon, Manitoba
Canadian Guild of Crafts Québec, Montréal, Québec
Canadian Indian Marketing Services, Ottawa, Ontario
Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec
Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Department of Indian Affairs, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Glenbow Museum, Calgary, Alberta
Glenview Corporation, Ottawa, Ontario
Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario
Laurentian University Museum and Art Centre, Sudbury, Ontario
Manitoba Centennial Centre Corp., Winnipeg, Manitoba
Manitoba Indian Brotherhood, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, Winnipeg, Manitoba
McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg, Ontario
New College, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario
Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, West Bay, Ontario
Peguis High School, Hodgson, Manitoba
Pontiac School, Wikwemikong, Ontario
Prince Edward Island Museum, Charlottetown, P.E.I.
Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Ontario
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario
Thunder Bay Art Gallery, Thunder Bay, Ontario
Tom Thompson Gallery, Owen Sound, Ontario
Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Woodland Cultural Centre, Brantford, Ontario

S E L E C T E D   B I B L I O G R A P H Y

Beglo, Jo Nordley. "Canadian art publishing, 1990-1993: An overview of monographs and exhibition catalogues." Art Documentation 13, no. 1 (Spring 1994): 19-26.

"Brush in hand: Daphne Odjig is the grand lady of Native art." Calgary Herald, 12 February 1993, p. C1,C3.

Canadian Museum of Civilization, ed. In the Shadow of the Sun: Perspectives on Contemporary Native Art. Hull, Québec: The Museum, 1993.

Cardinal-Schubert, Joane. "In the red." In Borrowed Power: Essays on Cultural Appropriation, eds. Bruce Ziff and Pratima V. Rao, 122-133. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 1997.

Cardinal-Schubert, Joane. Time for Dialogue: Contemporary Artists. Calgary, Alberta: Aboriginal Awareness Society, 1992.

"Daphne Odjig's hand an extension of the soul (A Paintbrush in My Hand)." Windspeaker 13, no. 1 (May 1995): 8.

Hill, Tom. Woodlands: Contemporary Art of the Anishnabe. Thunder Bay, Ontario: Thunder Bay Art Gallery, 1989.

Hill, Tom and Elizabeth McLuhan. Norval Morrisseau and the Emergence of the Image Makers. Toronto, Ontario: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1984.

Houle, Robert. "Odjig: An artist's transition." The Native Perspective 3, no.2 (1978): 42-46.

Just Talking About Ourselves. Penticton, British Columbia: Theytus Books Ltd., 1994.

Lazore, M. "Odjig's paintings unveiled at the National Arts Centre." The Native Perspective 3, no.1 (1978): 42f.

Lunn, Dr. John, et al. Canada's First People: A Celebration of Contemporary Native Visual Arts. Fort McMurray, Alberta: Syncrude Canada; Alberta Part Art Publications Society, 1992.

McLuhan, Elizabeth and R.M. Vanderburgh. Daphne Odjig: A Retrospective, 1946-1985. Thunder Bay, Ontario: Thunder Bay National Exhibition Centre and Centre for Indian Art, 1985.

Nanabush series (published individually):
Odjig, Daphne. Nanabush and Mandomin; Nanabush and the Chipmunk; Nanabush and the Dancing Ducks; Nanabush and the Rabbit; Nanabush and the Spirit of Thunder; Nanabush and the Spirit of Winter; Nanabush and the Wild Geese; Nanabush and the Wild Rosebushes; Nanabush Loses his Eyeballs; Nanabush Punishes the Raccoon. Toronto, Ontario: Ginn, 1971.

Odjig, Daphne. Nanabush and the Spirit of Winter. Retold and illustrated by Daphne Odjig Beavon. Cobalt, Ontario: Highway Book Shop, 1989.

Odjig, Daphne through R.M. Vanderburgh and M.E. Southcott. A Paintbrush In my Hand. Toronto, Ontario: Natural Heritage / Natural History, 1992.

Perry, Richard. Review of A Paintbrush in my Hand by Daphne Odjig. Books In Canada 22, no. 3 (April 1993): 30-32.

"Retrospective reveals changing expressions in Daphne Odjig's art." Globe & Mail Metro Edition, 13 December 1985, p. D14.

Review: Galeria Shayne. The (Montréal) Gazette, 19 November 1983, p. A16.

Review: Gallery Phillip. Globe & Mail Metro Edition, 21 November 1985, p. E8.

Schwarz, Herbert T. Tales from the Smokehouse. Illustrated by Daphne Odjig. Edmonton, Alberta: Hurtig Publishers, 1974.

Southcott, Mary E. The Sound of the Drum: The Sacred Art of the Anishnabec. Erin, Ontario: Boston Mills Press, 1984.

"Spirit's journey: The life and art of Daphne Odjig." Equinox 5, no. 4 (July/August 1986): 50-59.

Sydie, R. A. Review of A Paintbrush in my Hand by Daphne Odjig. Canadian Ethnic Studies 27, no. 1 (1995): 176-177.

Tan-William, Conchita and Shiu Loon Kong. Canadian Achievers and their Mentors. Toronto, Ontario: University of Toronto Press, 1994.

Warner, John A. "New visions in Canadian plains painting." American Indian Art Magazine 10, no. 2 (Spring 1985): 46-53, 77.

Winnipeg Art Gallery. Treaty Numbers 23, 287, 1171: Three Indian Painters of the Prairies. Winnipeg, Manitoba: Winnipeg Art Gallery, 1972. [Catalogue by Jacqueline Fry, curator of non- western art, exhibition of works by Jackson Beardy, Alex Janvier, and Daphne Odjig Beavon at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, 12 August - 10 October 1972]

Woodley, Barbara. Portraits of Canadian Women in Focus. Toronto, Ontario: Doubleday Canada Limited, 1993.

Zuk, W. M. and D. L. Bergland. Art First Nations: Tradition and Innovation. Montréal, Québec: Art Image Publications Inc., 1992.