Spirit and Unity Postcard by Mark Anthony Jacobson

NATIVE NORTHWEST ART BY INDIGENOUS ARTISTS

Statement of Respect and Authenticity

We believe that Indigenous artists should be treated fairly and with respect. Authenticity of art, design, and culture is the foundation of our mission of building everyday connection to Indigenous cultures.

Native Northwest products are guided by the following five principles:

• 100% of the art featured on every Native Northwest product is designed by Indigenous artists

• All artists have provided consent and contractual permission for their art to be featured on Native Northwest products

• Artist names are acknowledged on all product packaging

• Cultural traditions are honoured by acknowledging cultural affiliation on product packaging

• Artists are paid in fees and royalties

Mark Anthony Jacobson is a Woodland artist from Sioux Lookout, Ontario, who currently works and lives in British Columbia. A self-taught Aboriginal artist, he discovered at a young age that the Creator blessed him with the artistic ability known as the Woodland Art Movement.

Drawing traditional symbolism from within the subject matter of his Aboriginal paintings, Mark Anthony Jacobson began to realize an energy of x-ray design was materializing in his native artwork. It was the visual language of life creation: the animals, the birds, the fish, the humanity and the energy of the spirit in all that there is in this beautiful universe.

Mark explained his artist talent is an ancestral right, given to the chosen ones by the Creator, and the old ones in the spirit world that seek to manifest their wisdom and experiences through the young apprentices, or disciples of the creative spirit. The ancestors see it all, what your heart is really driven by, Mark explained. Not all Native artists understand this language of the spirit, that there is a responsibility in what you are creating. Some are driven by money, self importance, ego and selfish desires. This is not the way of our native ancestors, the great Ojibway.

“We are about love, hope, faith and charity, that the principles of spirit are the real purpose of why we are all here. To live in harmony with all things is what we are intended to do. To see the oneness of the spirit in all things, in one another. That we all belong to the Creator, that we need to bring out the highest good in one another, this is why I am inspired to paint. We are medicine to each other, now you can be good medicine, or bad medicine, it depends on your motives and desires. The duality of creation is always striving to reveal the oneness in all things. It’s a beautiful process whether you agree or not, it is the way it is. Where there is conflict, there is resolution, it is the nature of creation to teach us at all times.”

Mark Anthony Jacobson has been creating Native art for nearly 40 years, and he says that he is a continuous willing student of the Creator’s ways.

“I love art, and I love being an instrument of creativity, channeling the medicine of my people, for the people. The history of my ancestors, and the message of taking care of our environment and the creation, are really important to me.”