“The “gift” to which Morrisseau refers in the title has several meanings that highlight a complex conflation of interrelated issues. First, the dots inside the three figures suggest smallpox and symbolize the historic spread of disease that arrived with Europeans and devastated Indigenous populations. Additionally, while the shaman and the missionary appear to exchange spiritual ideas, the young child seems to be captivated by the medicine bag. Though the shaman is shielding his child (and subsequent generations of Indigenous peoples), the Christian ways and European ideas signified by the missionary and the “gifts” in his medicine bag are seductive…. The work, then, deals with both historic and contemporary problems associated with colonialism.” — Carmen Robertson, excerpted from Norval Morrisseau: Life & Work
Art & Influence
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Norval Morrisseau, The Gift, 1975
Acrylic on paper, 196 x 122 cm, Helen E. Band Collection, Thunder Bay Art Gallery, ON