Artist: Betty Albert – Cree

Cultural Background: Cree

Betty Albert aka Wabimeguil belongs to the Chapleau Cree First Nation in Northern Ontario. She began her career in 1991. As a professional artist she concentrated her art in representing native women and spirituality. Her artwork has a special connection to the land and culture of the James Bay Cree. Both have served as the backdrop against which she has spent over thirty years evolving and developing her own distinct style of Indigenous artwork.

Through her art Betty attempts to represent the strength and beauty of the feminine when it its grounded in the Great Spirit, women’s sacred dignified, and self-defining spiritual beings. She is most productive in solitude, alone with her tools. Her artwork gives expression to the peace that she experiences when she enters this sacred space of creation. While she has had success throughout North America and beyond, her artwork has been especially well received by her people, the James Bay Cree. She often shares that if her artwork is beautiful, it is only because she has spent her life trying to capture and reflect the beauty of the James Bay Cree people, the beauty of their culture and the beauty of the land. She divides her time between the province of Ontario and Manitoba where she spends time with her sons, their partners, her grandchildren and her ceremonial family.

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Betty Albert, aka Wabimeguil, is from the Chapleau Cree First Nation in Northern Ontario. She began her career in 1991. As a professional artist, she has focused her art on the representation of Indigenous women and spirituality. Her work has a special connection to the land and culture of the James Bay Cree. These two elements have provided the backdrop for Betty’s work, which has evolved over the past thirty years and has developed her own style of Indigenous art.

Through her art, Betty seeks to represent the strength and beauty of the feminine when anchored in the Great Spirit, the sacred dignity of women, and the spiritual beings who define themselves. She is most productive in solitude, alone with her tools. Her artwork expresses the peace she feels when she enters this sacred space of creation. Her work has been successful throughout North America and beyond, but has been particularly appreciated by her people, the James Bay Cree. She likes to say that her work is beautiful because she has spent her life trying to capture and reflect the beauty of the James Bay Cree people, their culture, and her region. She divides her time between Ontario and Manitoba, where her sons, their partners, her grandchildren, and her ceremonial family live.

Artwork by Indigenous Artist Betty Albert