Legends of the Mississaugas

Legends of the Mississaugas is an epic retelling in poetic form of the creation myth of the Mississaugas. The author of the poem, W. Gordon Mills, was a businessman with the T. Eaton Company in Toronto in 1923 when he wrote the poem. He was later to serve as Deputy Minister of National Defence for Naval Services in the Second World War. In recognition of his wartime work he was named a Companion of the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George (CMG). The poem is illustrated by eleven full-colour paintings, especially commissioned for this publication. The paintings are the work of Saul Mamakeesick, a young Cree/Ojibway artist from Sandy Lake in Northern Ontario. Mamakeesick's art shows the influence of the Woodland School of Native Art, which first began to depict Anishinabeg legendary heroes in its art in the early 1970s.