The Origins of an Indigenous Ontario Arts Tradition: Ontario Art from the Late Archaic through the Woodland Periods, 1500 B.C.–A.D. 600

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The art traditions of the Middle Woodland period (200 BC–AD 400) established many of the underlying iconographic concepts that informed much of the native arts of central and eastern North America thereafter. Although the ancient Indians of Ontario participated only marginally in the far-flung exchange networks and complex ceremonialism that characterized this period, their artwork indicates conceptual and stylistic relationships with the stronger art traditions of the North American midwest and southeast. With the increasing scope of Ontario native arts during the late prehistoric and historic periods, this link with the ancient foundations established during the Middle Woodland period becomes clearer. This paper examines the artistic historical relationships between the native arts of Ontario and the first great fluorescence of artistic activity in North America during the Middle Woodland period.