As the only museum in Canada devoted exclusively to Canadian art, the McMichael collection offers a unique platform to explore the evolving story of Indigenous art in Canada today. Early Days invites reflection on our relationships to land, to ancestors, and to one another, while confronting the complex tensions between past and present.

The exhibition is accompanied by an award-winning catalogue co-edited by Anishinaabe artist and scholar Bonnie Devine, McMichael Executive Director and Chief Curator Sarah Milroy, and Associate Curator of Collections and Research, John Geoghegan. Gathering insights from myriad Indigenous cultural stakeholders, informing us on everything from goose hunting techniques to the history of Northwest Coast mask making to the emergence of the Woodland style of painting and printmaking to the challenges of art making in the Arctic, the publication offers a wide-ranging lens into Indigenous artistic practices. Collectively, these voices illuminate the enduring vibrancy of Indigenous art across Turtle Island, past and present.