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The Canadian North By Ted Harrison Essay

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The Canadian North, a rugged landscape often glamorized as a land of adventure and promise, hides a dark history. From the early day’s of the gold rush, when the land was first colonised, to the attempted cultural assimilation of the indigenous peoples through residential schools, the people native to the area are still in a struggle of identity and culture, and the resulting effects such as high suicide rates, poverty and drug abuse,. It is through this lens that I will examine the work of Ted Harrison, a prolific English artist who spent the majority of his life living in the Yukon and painting the contemporary society that he saw around him. There is no doubt that his work was highly intertwined with the indigenous culture, and as such his identity brings up questions regarding the appropriation of native american culture. To that end, this essay will look at the context of his biography, the subject matter of his work, and compare it to contemporary Native American artists in order to clarify the nature of his art.

Ted Harrison was born in England in 1926, into a dreary coal mining town. He took an early interest in art, and after high-school entered the West Hartlepool School of Art for a degree in design. Partially through his degree, Harrison found himself conscripted for the army, and began a lifelong fascination with other cultures as he spent 2 years stationed in India and various African countries. In 1950, Harrison completed his art degree, and moved on to the

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