Potlach People
Years ago I began to paint Indians of western Canada. They provided romantic and colourful material for my brush and, at the same time, I had a favourable opportunity to study them as fellow human beings. Their legends, their art, their history, their way of life and spiritual concepts first commanded my attention and then my enduring respect."
Mildred Valley Thornton, FRSA (1890-1967)
Prominent Canadian artist Mildred Valley Thornton had an abiding passion which she pursued throughout her life - the preservation of Canada's First Nation's culture. For over fifty years she dedicated herself to that purpose through the medium of her paintings, writing and lectures. During her career she painted the portraits of many prominent and historically important First Nations peoples, as well as assembling a catalogue of anecdotes, folklore and legends. This publication, first published in 1966 as Indian Lives and Legends, and now republished with expanded text and illustrations, is a priceless collection of both Thornton's colourful West Coast portraits and the the fascinating story behind each one.