Daphne Odjig

Potawatomi painter Daphne Odjig moved to Winnipeg in the 1960s and became instrumental in establishing the Indigenous arts scene in Canada after witnessing hardship in northern Manitoba communities. She founded Odjig Indian Prints in 1971 and expanded it into the New Warehouse Gallery in 1974, becoming the first Canadian art gallery owned and operated by an Indigenous person dedicated exclusively to First Nations artists. Odjig co-founded the Indian Group of Seven with artists Alex Janvier and Norval Morrisseau, a movement that became one of the most influential in Canadian art history and continues to shape Indigenous artistic practice today.