- Grand Shaman of the Anishnaabe (the original people)
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"A Great Spirit" - The Sleeping Giant of Thunder Bay Returns (Part II)- Norval and I come from Thunder Bay, Ontario. The "Bay" is actually formed by a natural rock peninsula in the shape of a giant sleeping person that juts out into Lake Superior. To the Anishnaabe the Sleeping Giant is Nanabijou, the legendary "Spirit of the Deep Sea Water" who out of love for the Ojibway gifted them with the location of the North's richest silver mine. Using their silver the Ojibway created beautiful ornaments and tools that made the people wealthy. Nanabijou told them to never reveal the location of the mine or Nanabijou himself would be turned to stone. As the story goes one night the secret was disclosed and the intruders along with those who revealed the secret were drowned in a fierce storm. When the storm finally ended Nanabijou had turned to stone and the "Sleeping Giant" we see today was left behind. >> The "Sleeping Giant" that sparked my imagination as a youth became the central image in this mural, depicting the physical body of Copper Thunderbird.
Hiding 15 miles behind the Sleeping Giant is the second largest island archipelago on the Great Lakes. Now it is called "Isle Royale". Before that it was known as "Copper Island". To the Ojibway it is "Minong" meaning, "a good place to live". Scientists have been exploring multiple, massive "native (pure) copper" mines on Ojibway land there. They have dated wood foundations in the mines to six thousand years ago. According to Morrisseau the Ojibway have been there for at least 12,000 years. In this place where trout, whitefish, sturgeon, herring, suckers, pike, woodland caribou, beaver and loons were plentiful was the world's richest treasury of pure copper. It was also the Island paradise of a shamanic brotherhood called the Midewiwin or Grand Medicine Society who organized to share and protect the medicinal and magical knowledge of the Anishnaabe.
I believe that the Nanabijou legend of the Sleeping Giant tells an insignificant story of secret silver mines in order to better hide the greater secrets of Copper Island.
Morrisseau, Grand Shaman of the Mide, loved to wear copper ornaments and bracelets and would often speak of copper's special healing properties. He understood its significance as he was one of a long line of guardians who have succeeded in preserving 60,000 years of human pre-history. Once every seven generations a Grand Shaman is born to reinvigorate the lineage, regenerate the people, renew the environment and record the sacred scrolls. The last Grand Shaman was Badasan who in 1825 passed on his scrolls stretched out on 17 feet of birchbark.
In 2007 Norval Morrisseau passed on a legacy of thousands of shamanistic images. To all of us he left the task of understanding his visions as magical blueprints and tools provided to guide and assist humanity in completing the circle and finding our way home.
>>>>>> Stardreamer "A Great Spirit" - The Sleeping Giant of Thunder Bay Returns (Part I)- - A mural that tells the tale of the Legend of Copper Thunderbird -  - - "A Great Spirit" - The Sleeping Giant of Thunder Bay Returns 5'x17', © 2008 Ritchie "Stardreamer" Sinclair This six panel, 5 ft x 17 ft acrylic & copper on canvass painting was envisioned in the winter of 2008 and finished at 4 a.m. on the morning of September 6, 2008; the opening day of the "Spirit" art exhibition. This painting came about as a visual (or visionary) response to complex feelings about events related to Morrisseau's translation (or death). The greater vision of the Grand Shaman transported in a majestic canoe with all he would need for the afterlife was my original "inspiration". There were to be delightful creatures and soft meadows in the foreground with all manner of creatures watching him pass by. There was also the lesser vision that was useful for "impetus". That of the forces in darkness transforming into hungry sharks and devious demons disguised as associates and relatives along with the curious multitudes. And in this vision lay my comrade frozen on a slab of coldness, waiting for the pyre to light. An "impetus" and "inspiration" fueled this piece however I wasn't constrained by the raw vision. Refining the vision over the course of completing a painting is one of the great pleasures of trusting yourself to the creative process. Over the coming days I would like to share my process, discovery and interpretation of this painting because I believe that its message has a significant value. Norval often said, "I let the paintings speak for themselves" - and he is right, they do. Yet in silence they speak differently to different people. Legends tell particular stories for specific reasons. They are meant to be commonly understood. "A Great Spirit" is a mural that tells the tale of the Legend of Copper Thunderbird... >>>>> Stardreamer 
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