Daphne Odjig (Beavon), was born on the Wikwemikong Reserve, Manitoulin Island, Ontario, Canada where both her father and grandfather lived and worked as artists. She moved to British Columbia in 1968, but returned to the reserve to teach at the Manitou Arts summer workshops in the early 1970's. In the late 1960's, she founded a Native artists group that included Norval Morrisseau, who has been influential on all the Woodland painters. She received the Order of Canada in 1987, an award conferred by the governor-general on a small number of Canadians to recognize exemplary merit and achievement.

Daphne has developed a distinct style based on the beautifully abstracted human form. The visual motif central to her work is the circle, which to the Ojibwa signifies completion and perfection and is symbolic of women. The motif is characterized by undulating, rhythmic lines, often heavily outlined, enclosing local colour in soft harmonious shades.

Her subject matter deals with human relationships in the context of Indian culture, the importance of grandparents, the function of the family unit, and the universal theme of mother and child. Today the continuing tradition of the Woodland Indian seems to be assured in contemporary Canadian art.

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