Daphne Odjig

Daphne Odjig was born in the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve on Manitoulin Island in Ontario, of Odawa / Potawatomi / English heritage. Her work is rooted in the Aboriginal cultures of Manitoulin Island, the art of Canada’s Northwest Coast and European artistic movements of the early twentieth century. In 1973, Odjig co-founded the Professional Native Indian Artists Incorporation, often referred to as the Indian Group of Seven, the first collective to promote and exhibit First Nations art in mainstream institutions. Odjig is one of the most important and influential First Nations artists in Canada, whose complex oeuvre, incorporating Anishinaabe motifs, themes and myths, represents a crucial turning point in the history of contemporary Native art in the country. Her major touring retrospective exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada in 2009 to 2010 was a milestone – it was the first exhibition at the gallery of a First Nations woman artist. In 1976, Odjig moved from the Shuswap area of British Columbia, where she felt liberated to tell her own story outside of demands for social and political commentary. Silent in Our Beauty We Stand, with its group of women united under the sheltering trees, is emblematic of this new freedom.