Native Picasso dies

Norval Morrisseau, 75:  Famed native painterCopper Thunderbird has taken flight.

Norval Morrisseau's death yesterday at Toronto General Hospital, at age 75 after a long and feisty battle with Parkinson's disease, won't end of the gritty story of the great Anishinabe painter once called "the Picasso of the north" who signed his canvases "Miskwaabik Animiki" or Copper Thunderbird.

"I've always wanted to be role model," he told the Star several years back, his words slurred and barely audible even then. "I've always wanted to stay an Indian. I wanted the little kids to know that."