Copper Thunderbird Survives with the Help of Water Spirits: Gift of the Sharon and Ken Whent Joint Partner Trust for the Kenny Alwyn Whent Family

Copper Thunderbird Survives with the Help of Water Spirits: Gift of the Sharon and Ken Whent Joint Partner Trust for the Kenny Alwyn Whent Family is a selection of works by artist Norval Morrisseau (b. 1932 – d. 2007) from a new and significant donation by Kenny Whent and Family. The title is drawn from words found on the back of a painting of an Animiki, or Thunderbird. While we cannot know if these words are from Morrisseau’s hand, this hint of a title creates space to contemplate cycles of creation and harmony and tension in Anishinaabe cosmology, including eternal relationships among Animikii (Thunderbirds), Mishupishu (the Water Panther), and other beings. In the gallery, these Woodland style works span various periods in the artist’s life.  

As an Indigenous artist working throughout Northwestern Ontario, many people in our community have anecdotes related to Morrisseau and his painting, belying an internationally significant artistic career that spanned from New York to Paris, and beyond. Prominent Thunder Bay lawyer and former city Councillor Kenny Whent (b. 1936 – d. 2024) had an ongoing relationship with Morrisseau characterized by generosity and resilience. Working closely with the Sharon and Ken Whent Joint Family Trust, this exhibition presents personal archival documents as well as works on view for the first time, including a monumental birchbark scroll now in the collection of the Thunder Bay Art Gallery thanks to the generosity of the Whent family.  

As a larger story that speaks to the past, present, and future of Morrisseau’s legacy, Copper Thunderbird Survives with the Help of Water Spirits invites new historical insight into the artist’s life and work here in Northern Ontario. The donation of the Sharon and Ken Whent Joint Family Trust ensures these cultural treasures of outstanding significance and national importance, remain in Northern Ontario for permanent enrichment of our community—a deeply fitting legacy for a man who loved and served this community for many years.   

Image: Norval Morrisseau, Untitled (Copper Thunderbird survival with help from fish spirits), nd, acrylic on canvas. Gift of the Sharon and Ken Whent Joint Partner Trust for the Kenny Alwyn Whent Family, 2025.