Frontrunners

Frontrunners

Maeengan Linklater

They took the Greyhound bus,

they painted

and they conquered

Just a bunch of Indians

who shared

a love

for acrylic

blending colours

on any surface

they could find

in 1967

Norval Morriseau

painted on birchbark

with paints bought

from the Hudson Bay

Jackson Beardy

painted a mural

in the North End

at the Winnipeg and Metis Friendship Centre

where they still play bingo

on a weekly basis

And I’m happy to know

tonight

we celebrate

their works

the lives

they experienced.

and for us

here today

we walk

the path

they created

for us to follow

knowing that

in the early 70’s

they took the Greyhound bus

they painted

and they conquered.

Megwetch