Del Ashkewe
(1947-2022) - Artist Biography
Born in 1947, Del Ashkewe was a member of the new generation of Cree Ojibway painters inspired by the Woodland school but didn't consider themselves part of it: "I was forced to be a fighter. It wasn’t what I wanted, that's not me. I'm a painter, an artist." Born on Ontario's Cape Croker and veteran of several years at Brantford's Residential Indian School (where he says his fluency in Algonkian was punished out of him), he lived a wanderer's life, out of range of telephones, his mailing address remained out-of-date for a long time. "In my world," he once told Macleans Magazine, "there are no legalities, no contracts, nothing like that. There is only honor and for honor you die." His painting, like Benjamin Chee Chee's, did not reflect the violence of his life; a sought-after illustrator, inspired somewhat by Pop-era sensiblites, he was well known for illustrating an Ojibway folk tale, How the Birds Got Their Color, published by Kids Can Press.
