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Emily Anderson

Dr. Wargo

EDU 251

29 October 2022

Multicultural Art

The painting I chose is Eastern Woodland by Norval Morrisseau. The painting takes

place in the Eastern Woodlands of Canada, focusing on the Ojibwe tribe. In the painting, both

humans and animals are painted, with the energy they possess being reflected through their

image, further calling it an “X-Ray” painting.

The Ojibwe tribe is the biggest tribe in North America. Originally, the Ojibwe tribe lived

in the northeastern section of North America, including along the Atlantic Coast. Eventually, the

tribe moved towards the Great Lakes due to tribal conflict and mainly settled at Sault Ste. Marie

of Canada at the beginning of 1600. Some groups ended up moving into the northern part of

Minnesota later on. The Ojibwe are known to hunt, fish, make maple sugar/syrup, and harvest

wild rice, and they used to live in wigwams and travel by birch bark canoes in the water before

the 20th century.

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Norval Morrisseau was born in the early 1930s and grew up on the Sandy Point Lake

Reserve. He was raised by his grandparents and had grown up in the customs, values, and beliefs

of the Ojibwe tribe. In the 1950s, Morrisseau was in the hospital with Tuberculosis. His art

began when he painted and drew visions on items such as birch bark and brown bags when he

was in the hospital. In the 1960s, he traveled to other communities in Canada and Minnesota to

greaten his art skills and teach others.

A verse that I found to fit with this piece and multiculturalism is the verse, Job 33:4,

which reads, “The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life”

(New King James Bible, Job 33:4). I feel this verse aligns with the painting and multiculturalism

in that it is through God that we are given life and that we are designed according to his

wonderous plan. While we may live different lives than one another, we all come from one

creator, God.
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Works Cited

New King James Bible. HarperCollins Christian Publishing. Bible App.

KinderArt. Norval Morrisseau X-Ray Painting.

https://kinderart.com/art-lessons/multic/norval-morrisseau-x-ray-painting/

#:~:text=Norval%20Morrisseau%20used%20what%20is,bird%2C%20a%20turtle

%2C%20etc.

Minnesota Historical Society. The Ojibwe People.

https://www.mnhs.org/fortsnelling/learn/native-americans/ojibwe-people.