Inspired by Turtle Island: The Places that Helped Shape Daphne Odjig’s Artwork

Manitoulin Island, Ontario

Born in 1919 on Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, Manitoulin Island, Odjig’s childhood was filled with creativity, play, and hard work. She was an avid student, but when illness ended her formal education, she spent time observing and learning from her artistic family. Her father sketched and her mother stitched, but her grandfather’s stone-carving had the most influence on Odjig.

“As a young adult in northern Ontario Odjig had encountered racial discrimination and faced barriers to employment because of her Indigenous name and appearance. In response, she began to call herself Daphne Fisher, (‘fisher’ being the English translation of the Anishinaabe word ‘odjig’) and focused her early artwork on non-native subject matter painted in a European style. But in 1964 her sister-in-law Rosemary Peltier Odjig invited her to attend the fourth annual Pow Wow in Wikwemikong. Rosemary had led the effort to re-establish the powwow in 1961 over the objections of the local priest. And it was Rosemary who led 45-year-old Daphne into the powwow circle to dance to the beat of the drum. Daphne described this event as life changing. “At first I was scared to dance” she told me. “But gradually I let the drumbeat enter my body and I felt a new knowledge come to me. I understood that I was an Indian.”

Determined to thenceforward accept and honour her heritage, she redirected her art to investigate and celebrate the history and traditions of her people. Her painting style became more graphic, incorporating the sweeping calligraphic lines she had learned from her stone carver grandfather. At Rosemary’s suggestion she wrote and illustrated a series of children’s books based on the legends of Nanabush the trickster.  Later she used her art to tell the Indigenous story of upheaval, land loss, recovery, and survival. From this time forward she signed her work with her real name, Odjig.” – Bonnie Devine, Anishinaabe visual artist, curator, and personal friend of Daphne Odjig.

Toronto, Ontario

After moving from Parry Sound to Toronto during the Second World War, Odjig worked at various factories. During her spare time in the city, she visited art galleries and museums, including the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Toronto, as well as the gallery at Eaton’s College Street store. By studying these artworks, Odjig taught herself how to paint through trial and error, replicating the different styles and techniques that spoke to her—a self-guided education that laid the foundation for her evolving style.

“Toronto was a great place at that time. They were so multicultural.” – Daphne Odjig

Coquitlam, British Columbia

Odjig’s move to British Columbia marked the beginning of her artistic breakthrough. While in Coquitlam, she married and had a son—all while continuing to create. She experimented with oil paints on materials like recycled tent canvas and created artworks that portrayed nature and landscapes. By studying modern influences through books and magazines, her experimentation continued—and her talent began to flourish.

“I’m influenced by a lot of my culture, I’m influenced by who I meet, I’m influenced by where I live, I’m influenced by so many things.” – Daphne Odjig

Lindell Beach, British Columbia

The family purchased a farm at Columbia Valley to grow strawberries. After the tragic death of her husband, Odjig continued to run the farm while dedicating winters to painting. Eager to learn more, she studied books on loan from the library, and also visited the Vancouver Art Gallery so that she could see the works up close, copying them to better hone her craft. Odjig’s painting, Theatre Queue, was entered into a competition by her sister, and as a result, Odjig become a Member of the British Columbia Federation of Artists—marking her start as a professional artist.

“I would go to the galleries and I would see the work of other artists, in books, the great masters, and used to think, ‘I would love to be able to paint something like that.” – Daphne Odjig

Grand Rapids, Manitoba

Odjig remarried and moved to Manitoba. Her husband was assigned work in Easterville, where the Chemawawin Cree Nation had been displaced due to the development of the Grand Rapids dam. Odjig captured the community’s experiences through her detailed pen and ink drawings in Series of the North. It was here that Odjig made her first art sale to a visiting government worker, who began to sell her works out of his home in Winnipeg. She also learned collage and mixed media techniques from a Brandon University professor, adding new layers of expression to her art.

“Going with Chester to Easterville was one of the best things that could have happened to me because I was going back to my people.” – Daphne Odjig

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Winnipeg was the hub for Odjig’s Indigenous cultural revival. She established Odjig Indian Prints of Canada and opened a small craft store where she sold reproductions of her Series of the North ink drawings, as well as works by other Indigenous artists. Later, she converted her shop into one of the first Indigenous-owned art galleries in Canada: the New Warehouse Gallery. Here, she co-founded the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. (PNIAI). Known as the “Indian Group of Seven,” the group advocated for the equitable representation of contemporary Indigenous art in the fine art world.

Odjig also learned to create murals by scaling up her drawings. Notably, she created a commissioned mural, The Creation of the World, for the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature for the Manitoba Centennial.

“Winnipeg is one of my favourite cities. As a matter of fact, I think it’s my second home.” – Daphne Odjig

Anglemont, British Columbia

After moving back to BC, Odjig completed her masterpiece The Indian in Transition—a sweeping tale of Indigenous life in Canada. This work was commissioned by the Museum of Man (now the Canadian Museum of History) and was first installed at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Odjig’s final move was to Penticton, BC, where she continued to create art and connect with nature until her passing in Kelowna in 2016 at the age of 97.

“I just hope I’ve encouraged some child or someone to pursue their dreams and always try to do your best.” – Daphne Odjig