Sureway Cultural Services

In one of Morrisseau’s few political paintings, he emphasizes that the treaties between the first nations and the euro-canadians have not been honoured, He connects this disregard by the dominant culture to the treatment of the land.

The Land (Land Rights), 1976
by Armand Garnet Ruffo

This painting he doesn’t whip up for money:
It’s the furthest thing from his mind.
Something else
is going on here.

He begins by separating the canvas
into two spaces. Two paths
much like a wampum belt.

One side blue for ocean.
One side red for sunset.
One side for Indian.
One side for Whiteman.

On the Indian side, a man, the older generation,
sits with a howling baby on his lap.
A talking beaver balanced on his head like a totem.
Below his feet birds and fish support him.
The whole natural world inside him.
Behind him, the faces of the ancestors
facing backwards to the treaties.

Look at them, the man is saying, Look at this,
but his words do not cross the divide
and go unheard.

The child strikes out toward two white-faced Canadians
startled by the cries curling from his mouth,
by his fist nearly the size of his head
punching through to their side.

The animals too protest the destruction
the settlers have brought with them.
Together they are saying when the earth dies
we all die. It is something
the artist wants you to see. Clearly,
like a glass of drinking water.

在莫里索为数不多的政治画作中，他强调原住民和欧裔加拿大人之间的条约没有得到遵守。他把主导文化的这种漠视与土地的处理联系起来。

土地（土地权），1976年
by Armand Garnet Ruffo， trans by Anna Yin

这幅画他不是为钱而画。
他脑海里最不关心的是钱。
其他事情
在这里发生。

一开始他就把画布分开
成两个空间。两条路径
很像一条旺普姆束带。

一边是蓝色的海洋。
一边是红色的夕阳。
一边是印第安人。
一边是白种人。

在印第安人这边，一个男性，长者，
一个嚎哭的婴儿坐在他腿上，
一只会说话的海狸像图腾样平衡在他头上，
鸟和鱼支撑在他脚下。
他体内包容一个自然界。
他身后，祖先们的面孔
背面朝向条约。

看看他们，这个人在说，看看这个，
但他的话未能越过鸿沟
因而无人听到。

小孩向两个白脸的加拿大人出击
他们被他嘴里的叫喊声吓住了，
被他几乎和头一样大的
击穿到了他们这边的拳头吓住了。

动物们也抗议着这些定居者
带来的破坏。
他们一起说，地球亡时
我们都会死。这是
作为艺术家的他需要你看到的—很明显，
就像一杯透明的饮用水。