Donald Chretien

Donald Chretien is Ojibwe from Nippissing First Nation with French Canadian roots. He began his career in 1985 when he graduated from the Ontario College of Art and then worked in commercial illustration for movies such as "Care Bears”, various TV series, magazines, and books.

In 2004, Donald became interested in learning about his Ojibwe heritage meeting. When he met Elder Basil Johnston in 2008, Donald was fortunate to collaborate with him on a few projects, such as the Grey Roots Museum exhibit, "Know our story know us”, and illustrating Basil's last book, "Walking in Balance”. All of Donald's paintings come from the stories of folklore mythology that Basil has passed down to him.

Donald also created a massive 80-foot installation piece for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics entitled “Mother, Friend, Small Bird”, which is on permanent display in Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum.

Indigenous Marketplace is pleased to showcase a series of Donald’s doodem (clan) paintings, available as art cards.