signed & dated recto; signed, titled & dated verso; inscribed with artist’s inventory #430
Provenance: Estate of the Artist
Early in her career, Odjig attempted to move beyond her native heritage – perhaps leave it behind – but cultural and political developments in the early sixties intervened. The newly granted right to vote and the resurgence of first nations traditions, spurred a spiritual reawakening and sense of “Indian pride” within indigenous communities. Odjig’s own community of Wikwemikong (Bay of the Beaver), hosted the first modern pow wow in Ontario in 1961, bringing back and celebrating the traditions of dancing, drumming and story-telling. Odjig attended the Wiki Pow Wow in 1964; she was presented with a ceremonial dress and invited to participate with her friends and relatives. In “Daphne Odjig” (National Gallery of Canada; 2007) Bonnie Devine writes of the event: “Odjig recalls that she went into the dancing circle reticent and uncertain. She was forty-five years old and had spent more than half her life trying to forget she was a Native woman. ‘But I began to dance to the drum. And I became Indian’.” This experience profoundly affected her personal and artistic development, and the images of her Ojibwa ancestry would soon become an integral part of her work.
Odjig continued to attend Pow Wows throughout her life. Shortly before the execution of this canvas, Odjig attended a Pow Wow in Alberta. While seldom speaking much about her paintings, Odjig would later speak of this one, telling her family that following this event the images of the spirit dancers came to her in a dream…she felt compelled to paint them. The painting resonated with her and she kept the piece as part of her personal collection.
Odjig notably said: “I see my paintings as a celebration of life. My sub-conscious mind may well dictate some content and I’m content to leave it at that. I am uncomfortable with words—my paintings are perhaps my most honest and legitimate statement.”
