Family Stories

Albert Ferris: Ojibwe/Metis Artist

4/2/2018

Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians

The Metis, Albert Ferris

Albert Lee Ferris was born in 1939 on the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation in north-central North Dakota. The oldest of 4 sons born to Samuel Ferris and Dora Charette, he spent his formative years living in a multi-cultural family environment, with strong American Indian and Lebanese cultural influences from his family.

The Signal, Albert Ferris

Pen and Ink, Albert Ferris

While growing up, Albert was able to learn history from his elders and to listen to their stories of how life was before people were marginalized and divided by borders and reservation boundaries.

He attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the University of North Dakota prior to entering the US Army during the late 1950s. Following his service in the military, he worked for the Department of Defense at Fort Sam Houston (Texas) where he honed his artistic talents illustrating combat medical training manuals.

After spending much of his career as an artist working in the commercial genre, Albert Lee began to expand into fine arts during the late 1970s and early 1980s. His works were featured at the Southern Plains Indian Art Museum and Crafts Center in Anadarko, Oklahoma in 1982. Following a solid showing, he was asked to participate in the Night of First Americans art expo in Washington, DC, by President Ronald Reagan. His works were also shown widely in such venues as the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, the Kennedy Fine Arts Center, and other shows across the United States. He was successful in painting (acrylic and oil), sculpture, bronze, and multimedia.

An enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians, Albert enjoyed hunting and fishing in the woods and lakes of the Reservation. Albert Lee died suddenly of illness in 1986 - cutting short what was a rapidly rising artistic star. His works are highly prized among members of the Little Shell Tribe and among others who experienced his realistic quality and style of his work. One of his many benefactors was former U.S. Senator Quentin Burdick.