Response By
Dan & Mary Lou Smoke
Norval Morrisseau Untitled, about 1965
varnish, nails, and thead on birch bark Gift of Nancy Geddes Poole, London, 2010Response
We were thrilled to see this giigoonh, painted on the birch bark scroll over 55 years ago by Norval Morrisseau. We met Norval in 2007. We were pleased to see the original birch bark scroll, the way Historical Treaties and Prophecies were recorded by the “Three Fires People.” This painting depicts the Fish Clan, still following their ‘Sacred Instructions’ to take care of the water. Nothing would survive without the water. The Fish are vital to the Natural World.
Dan and Mary Lou Smoke have been tireless advocates for racial justice and harmony in London for decades. Mary Lou is Ojibway, from Batchawana on Lake Superior, and Dan is Seneca from the Six Nations Grand River Territory, were married in the Onondaga Longhouse in a Haudenosaunee wedding ceremony in 1977. Their campus radio program, Smoke Signals, has highlighted the work of Indigenous cultural workers and activists from across Turtle Island since 1990. Recognized Elders, they taught a course on Indigenous spirituality at Western University from 2009 to 2016.