Museum of Aboriginal Peoples’ Art and Artifacts

Portage College Museum of Aboriginal Peoples’ Art and Artifacts (MOAPAA) began in 1978 as a teaching collection for the college’s Native Arts and Culture programs. In the 1970s, it was difficult to find Indigenous works of art as they were not viewed as art and were unavailable in art galleries. Frequently, works that were collected were housed in anthropologic collections. This was the impetus for the formation of the Professional Native Indian Artists Inc. – Daphne Odjig, Alex Janvier, Joseph Sánchez, Norval Morrisseau, Eddy Cobiness, Carl Ray, and Jackson Beardy – a collective of Indigenous artists who formed in 1973 to advocate for Indigenous art as fine art to be included in art galleries across the nation.