Universal Children's Day 2014

"Victoria and Family", 1978; "The Family", 1990's
/Copyright by Norval Morrisseau Estate/


"We were all children once. And we all share the desire for the well-being of our children, which has always been and will continue to be the most universally cherished aspiration of humankind."

We the Children: End-decade review of the follow-up
to the World Summit for Children
Report of the Secretary-General (2001)

 

Source: Universal Children's Day

*The paintings in this post shows a celebration of Norval Morrisseau's first grandchild from his daughter Victoria and Norval Morrisseau with Gabor M. Vadas & Michele Vadas with their first-born child: "Victoria and Family", 1978, © Norval Morrisseau Estate; "The Family", c. 1990's; © Norval Morrisseau Estate /Collection of Gabor & Michele Vadas/

Christmas 2013

Norval Morrisseau (1931-2007)


~  Niibaa' Anami'egiizhigad ~ Merry Christmas! ~ Joyeux Noël! ~

 I'd like to take this opportunity to greet all readers of the NORVAL MORRISSEAU FOR CHILDREN BLOG and wish them a Merry Christmas.

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

Sixth Anniversary of Norval Morrisseau's Passing Into the Spirit World

Ozaawaabiko-binesi ~ Copper Thunderbird ~ Miskwaabik Animikii

/1931-2007/

By marakakore-


"COPPER THUNDER BIRD"

Will the red, blues, and yellows, flow again soon?
Echoes of dawn sun, whispers of day moon
Your life hangs like a leaf deep in November
The raging fire of spring do you remember?

CHORUS: Ozawa Pug Nesi, Copper Thunder Bird
Ozawa Pug Nesi, Copper Thunder Bird

Ozawa Pug Nesi, they once named you
Thunder bird of copper, yes, they called you
Tossed by winter winds, scorched by a fire
You spread your wings and flew higher and higher.

Bear and serpent essence dancing
Spirit of the loon so softly singing
And Jesus with his ragged black hair, bending
His mouth down to the Earth a message sending.

How can your pale patrons understand you
Shaped by dark forest green and crystal sky blue?
Like a lone and restless wolf watching them playing
With songs deep from your soul you can't help singing.

Will you sail a canoe caught in a bottle?
Or on the deep river of your People?
Or do your pictures come deep from the storm sky?
And will they disappear when the wild winds die?

© 1990 David Campbell /All rights reserved/

"Around the end of the eighties... I was writing songs about Native American heroes... and wrote this song about Norval Morrisseau... who I considered to be one. After... I met him and told him I'd written a song about him. He didn't say much... but he didn't disapprove. In today's newspaper... I read that he had passed on... yesterday... and thought that I should pay tribute with this song... to Norval... one of the master painters of the world.

Rest In Peace... Norval."

David Campbell


David Campbell - a self taught song-writer/singer, poet, painter, writer and guitarist. He was born and raised in Guyana, South America. His father was Arawak Indian and his mother was Guyana Portuguese. He is a Canadian citizen who now resides in Vancouver, BC, Canada.--

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THANKSGIVING 2013 (USA)

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~ Originally published on 'Anishinaabe Blog' on 10/11/2009

>>> Celebration of the holiday which is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States (ancestral land of the Chippewa or Ojibwa people)

















"Looking Northward", © 1970s Norval Morrisseau
~ Issued on a post card to benefit UNICEF
/Click on image to Enlarge/


Giving Thanks for the Good Life

This is the weekend that Canadians, or those of us who live in Canada, give thanks for all that we have in life. It’s an occasion for families to get together. When students come back from school. Where were can sleep away our turkey-induced coma following a massive, but delicious Thanksgiving dinner.

It’s more a secular kind of thanks, though. For Anishinaabe people, and many other practitioners of middle-eastern and eastern religions – giving thanks happens each and every day.
-We give thanks for life. In Anishinaabemowin, we say: miigwetch mno-bimaadiziwin. “Thank you for this good life”.

Mno-bimaadiziwin is more than just a phrase, or general philosophy. It can be said that mno-bimaadiziwin in the thesis for all for Anishinaabe people. Western culture likes to debate “the meaning of life”. For the Anishinaabeg, mno-bimaadiziwin IS the meaning of life.

Long before the colonization of our lands, before our people were exposed to assimilation, Christianity, and european education – our children were taught the ways of the Anishinaabe. One of the most basic teachings was that of balance. The responsibility that human beings were given to look after our friends, family, Mother Earth and ourselves in a balanced way.

The most basic of these teachings is the path of life.

Many Anishinaabe people have heard of the Seven Grandfather teachings. However, before you are to learn of those gifts, our children are taught that there are seven opposites and how to recognize those divergent paths and how they will take you of the sacred “path of life”. This path is called mno-bimaadiziwin.

Once you learn the basics of mno-bimaadiziwin, you can spend a lifetime learning and living the values of Love, Respect, Honesty, Bravery, Truth, Humility and Wisdom.

The word used most loosely in Indian country is the word “teachings”. Teachings are more than a list of seven words. Teachings are more than the words of your wise local Elder. True Anishinaabe teachings have significant substance to them in the form of (1) specific narrative in the language, (2) history, (3) instruction from sacred law, (4) context, (5) songs and (6) ceremonial rites; and (7) action and following through with what you’ve learned.

Even Eddie Benton-Banai, who first translated the Seven Grandfather teachings in the English language (The Mishomis Book, 1979) would be the first to say that these seven teachings offer much more the significant chapter he dedicated in his book.

What Bawdwaywidun offered was a simplified, English pre-amble to the most significant teachings in the Midewiwin society. In reality, the narrative of the Little Boy and the Lodge of the Seven Grandfathers, and each of the seven teachings was something that lasted twenty-one years for the Little Boy.

Sadly, much of that detail has been lost to history – but the Three Fires Lodge and other Midewiwin lodges across the territory continue to carry much of those specific teachings to this day.To learn them, or just to hear them, requires commitment, preparedness, faith, an open heart and an open mind. They are open to anyone to learn. All you need to do is bring your tobacco to the Lodge.

But they can’t be found in any Masters program or new age retreat. Nor can they can’t be found next to the taco stand at your annual pow-wow, or in any one-hour teaching wigwam prior to Grand Entry. As Bawdwaywidun has been known to say: “Come to the Lodge”.

Bob Goulais

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Source: 'Anishinaabe Blog'
              * Blog by Bob Goulais


>>> Reference post:
- SEVEN GIFTS FROM SEVEN GRANDFATHERS 

* The painting in this post: "Looking Northward", © c. 1970s Norval Morrisseau

~ Norval Morrisseau together with other Canadian native painters had given their art to benefit United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF: "Giving Life" by Jackson Beardy, "Thunderbird" by Clarence Wells, "The Spirit of Life" by Sam Ash and "Anticipation" by Roy Thomas.
>>> Set of 20 post cards included 4 of each of the obove listed art pieces.

Universal Children's Day 2013

Norval Morrisseau Exhibit at the Legacy Gallery with participants
of the Victoria Children's Museum program in Victoria, BC - November, 2008
© All rights reserved by Victoria Children's Museum


The United Nations' (UN) Universal Children's Day, which was established in 1954, is celebrated on November 20 each year to promote international togetherness and awareness among children worldwide. UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, promotes and coordinates this special day, which also works towards improving children's welfare.

SEVEN GIFTS FROM SEVEN GRANDFATHERS

NORVAL MORRISSEAU (1931-2007)
"We Are All One in Spirit"-


SEVEN GIFTS FROM SEVEN GRANDFATHERS
The Anishnaabe Teachings cited from the Mishomis Book

1. To cherish knowledge is to know wisdom.
2. To know love is to know peace.
3. To honor all creation is to have respect.
4. Bravery is to face the foe with grace.
5. Honesty in facing a situation is to be honorable.
6. Humility is to know yourself as a sacred part of creation.
7. Truth is to know all of these things.

- Each person must find the delicate balance that lies in living in harmony with all creation.








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* The painting in this post: "Young Ojibway Indian Man with Eagle Headdress", 52"x28", © 1992 Norval Morrisseau; Provenance: Leona Lattimer Gallery, Vancouver BC, acquired directly from artist /Private Collection/

The Importance of Art Education

by lisaroselasaga


"The Shaman Artist
Wishes to express to us
Through
The art form
That we are all
Like children

Our childlike simplicity
With dignity and sweet humility
We view
One environment
and
Remind us of the Pure Spirit
Expressing itself upon ourselves."

Norval Morrisseau, 1983--
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Bears of Norval Morrisseau (Part I)

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"Untitled", © 1995 Norval Morrisseau

"The Ojibways have great respect for the Bear. According to their legends, in the distant past the Bear had a human form and was in fact an ancestor of the Ojibways. Therefore he understands the Indian language and will never attack or fight any Indian if he is addressed properly."

Norval Morrisseau

 

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-* The painting in this posting: "Sacred Fish", 18"x28", © 1971 Norval Morrisseau /Private Collection/

Fish of Norval Morrisseau (Part I)

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"Sacred Fish", © 1971 Norval Morrisseau

"Just as a fish swims in any clear northern lake (in a medium that is virtually invisible to the eye) so we, if we are to live all right, should realize we live in a dimension on which our very existence, as people and artists, depends. The dimension is that of connectivity in life shared together in mutual respect… Fish, in spawning runs, seem to urge each other on, to reach safe and secluded lakes, with plentiful food supplies. Once there, they can live more non-competitively."

Norval Morrisseau

 

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-* The painting in this posting: "Sacred Fish", 18"x28", © 1971 Norval Morrisseau /Private Collection/

Flowers of Norval Morrisseau (Part I)

"Flowers", © 1976 Norval Morrisseau

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"... 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."

Jack Pollock

 

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* The painting in this posting: "Flowers", 29"x27", © 1976 Norval Morrisseau /Private Collection/

Birds of Norval Morrisseau (Part I)

"I transmit astral plane harmonies through my brushes into the physical plane. These otherworld colours are reflected in the alphabet of nature, a grammar in which the symbols are plants, animals, birds, fishes, earth and sky. I am merely a channel for the spirit to utilize, and it is needed by a spirit starved society."
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Norval Morrisseau

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* The painting in this posting: "Owl", 14"x11", © 1960s Norval Morrisseau /Private Collection/

Far reaching influences of the Art of Norval Morrisseau (Part I)

-- Art by Hungarian fouth graders


by testlife


This 'You Tube' video presentation includes 13 paintings made in the style of Norval Morrisseau by Hungarian fouth graders. This in itself speaks volumes about the importance of his art.

Someone once commented to Norval Morrisseau that his work looked like it could have been done by a kid? Norval's reply was "the kid probably could, but you couldn't".

INVITATION TO TEACHERS:

Many children have never been exposed to the Art of Norval Morrisseau who has become one of Canada's greatest all time artists and is recognized for his importance Worldwide.

Contributions are welcome to this blog which is dedicated exclusively to inspire Children of Mother Earth about the Art of Norval Morrisseau a.k.a. Copper Thunderbird.

Hvala/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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