Duke Redbird (2)
Duke Redbird
Ojibwe artist and scholar Duke Redbird has been a trailblazing figure in Canadian Indigenous culture. As a spoken-word performer on the sixties folk scene, he quickly emerged as a respected Indigenous advocate, serving on the Native Council of Canada and other Indigenous organizations. He’s an accomplished poet, actor, essayist and playwright, and his film work includes Charley Squash Goes to Town (1969), The Paradox of Norval Morrisseau (1974), and the feature drama Dance Me Outside, which he associate produced. He has an MA in interdisciplinary studies from York University and an Honorary Doctorate from OCAD, where he helped establish the Indigenous Visual Culture program. He was instrumental in getting Indigenous territorial acknowledgements introduced into Toronto schools.
-
Charley Squash Goes to TownDuke Redbird 1969 4 minReleased in 1969, this satirical short by Duke Redbird was the first animated film by an Indigenous director to be produced at the NFB. The film pokes gentle fun at Indigenous stereotypes and challenges the idea that Indigenous youth should seek to blend into mainstream society. Today, Duke Redbird is a prominent artist and scholar. -
The Paradox of Norval MorrisseauDuke Redbird & Henning Jacobsen 1974 28 minIn this revealing study of Norval Morrisseau, filmed as he works among the lakes and woodlands of his ancestors, we see a remarkable Indigenous artist who emerged from a life of obscurity in the North American bush to become one of Canada's most renowned painters. Morrisseau the man is much like his paintings: vital and passionate, torn between his Ojibway heritage and the influences of the white man's world. Jack Pollock, the Toronto art gallery owner who discovered Morrisseau's paintings in the early 1960s, comments on what makes them so unique.
