Indian Graves, Echo Bay, 1950

B.T. Richardson, Toronto Masters Gallery, Calgary Private Collection, Calgary

A.Y. Jackson, A Painter's Country: The Autobiography of A.Y. Jackson, Toronto, 1959, pages 28, 89-90 and 154 Naomi Jackson Groves, A.Y.'s Canada, Toronto/Vancouver, 1968, pages 154 and 212

An avid outdoorsman, A.Y. Jackson explored some of Canada's most remote areas. Frequenting the Algonquin Park area and surrounding towns, travelling by boat or canoe through the hundreds of lakes and rivers, provided the artist with fresh landscapes to both sketch and investigate while camping with companions. While first travelling to the Echo Bay area in the late 1920s with Dr. James MacKintosh Bell, Jackson returned to this area throughout his career. In fact, he and Bell contributed to the discovery of silver in the area and were credited with their findings upon the opening of various earth metal mines in the surrounding areas. In this composition, the viewer bears witness to the vibrant and varied streaked hues of green, cobalt and copper in the rocky shoreline indebted to the once rich area of natural minerals. The location and choice of composition is unique as the artist merged both his love of the untouched land but also his respect for Native culture. The burial structure remains the central focus of the artwork, adorned with Christian crosses as visual tokens of Catholic missionaries and priests acting as the most recent custodians of the area. Jackson built off of his experiences in Hazelton, British Columbia, working with Native Peoples through a national program to highlight the need for preservation of Native arts. Sketching the remnants of Native culture, the artist respected and appreciated the histories and artwork disappearing as a cause of European settlement. Often sketching totem poles, settlements, burials and the daily life, the artist recognized the fragility of these visual symbols of culture and the importance of their remnants to keep the memory and history alive. Like Emily Carr in British Columbia, Jackson also created poetic and rhythmic intersections of the landscape tradition in Canada while maintaining a respect and inclusion of Native histories. The very inclusion of these visual narratives speaks to the artist's active appreciation and acknowledgement of these histories. This work symbolizes past narratives, the resiliency of these cultural representations and their place within the greater Canadian landscape.