davidson potlatch, massettbc, 2016 · davidson potlatch, massettbc, 2016 importance of song, dance...

Davidson Potlatch, Massett BC, 2016Importance of song, dance to NWC culture

Today

Next Tuesday’s visit to the Canadian Museum of History

Haida ArtThe Great Box Project

Haida Gwaii: Graham Island & Moresby IslandGwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, Skidegate, Masset, Rose Point (NE corner)

Formline elements in Northern NWC art

Taken from Hilary Stewart’s book, Looking at Northwest Coast Indian Art, 1979

Thunderbird

OvoidsTension – top edge is sprung upwards as though from pressure, lower edge bulges up caused by downward & inward pull of 2 lower corners. Shape varies. Used as head of creature or human, eye socket, major joints, wing shape, tail, fluke or fin. Small ovoids: for faces, ears, to fill empty spaces & corners.

U-forms & S-formsLarge U-forms used as: body of bird or animal and feathersSmall: fill in open spaces. Kwakwaka’wakw use for small feathersS-forms: part of leg or arm or outline or ribcage

Split U-forms

Bill Reid, Haida DogfishSee: Strong form line, U forms, split U forms, ovoids compressed into circlesAlso crescents, teeth, tri-negs…

Diverse eyes with eyelidsBoth eyeball and eyelid are usually placed within an ovoid representing the socket

From top to bottom: nose variations, animal ears, eyebrows, tongues, protruding tongues

Frontal and profile faces, handsNose – usually broad & flaring. Ears – U form on top sides of head (humans – no ears).Hands – graceful, stemming from ovoid. Also a symbol for hand-crafted.

Claws, legs, feet, armsHands, flippers & claws usually substantial but arms & legs are often minimal and difficult to locate. Frequently red.

Bird feathers, Tails and WingsDiverse styles. Large feathers = elongated U forms with split U forms inside. Breast feathers = series of small U forms. Bird wings often have an ovoid. Bird tails = feathers extending from an ovoid (& face).

Robert Davidson, Killer WhaleHead and blowhole, with dorsal fin above & pectoral fin below.

Tony Hunt, Bear with WhaleKwakwaka’akw. Family crest figure. Note ears, nose and teeth.

Jerry Marks, WolfHaida. Important family crest. If it has fins, it’s a Sea Wolf or “Wasgo”Good hunter

BeaverImportant Haida crest for ceremonial regalia, bracelets and button blankets. Often a human face, rounded nostrils & ears, teeth not pointed, paws like hands

BeaverNote crosshatched tail

FrogCharacteristic claws

Humming bird

Moons by: Tony Hunt (Kwak), Frank Charlie (NUU), Robtert Davidson (Haida)Davidson’s crescent moon with profile of man’s face, his hand forming his mouth

EagleOne of two main Haida crests inherited by many Haida. (Other = Raven)Beak – shorter than Raven, top edge is straight, tongue evident. Ears U form. Eagle down symbol of peace, friendship. Feathers=rituals, masks.

ThunderbirdCrest owned by only the most powerful & prestigious of chiefs. Many legends of this supernatural whale-eating bird.

Thunderbird

Ton Hunt, RavenMost important of all creatures to NWC people: The Transformer, Trickster, the Big Man who created the world, put the sun & moon in the sky, fish in the sea, food onto the land and maneuvred the tides, gave fire & water, and peopled the earth.

Raven

Chief’s Raven Rattle

Renown Haida Artists

Charles EdenshawBill Reid

Robert DavidsonJames Hart

Charles Edenshaw (1839-1920)

• Haida name – Daxhiigang• Eagle clan, lived in Skidegate, baptised 1884• Survived smallpox, missionaries, Res. schools• Married Isabella Yahgulanaas of Klukwan AK

Edenshaw con’t

• Teacher – Uncle Albert Edward Edenshaw

• Wood, argillite, jewelry & painting

• Consultant to Boas & Swanton (anthropologists)

• His crests: Sculpin (fish), Beaver and Frog

• Bought by collectors, museums

• 2014 solo exhibit, VAG & NGC

Charles Edenshaw, Haida

Isabella Edenshaw

Hat woven by Isabella, painted by Charles EdenshawSee texture of weaving with diagonal linesOwl design. Top has 4 pointed star, his signatureNGC

Chief’s SeatDogfish & Grizzlie crests. Charles made this for Isabella114 x 188 x 72 cm. NMAI, NY

Edenshaw, Bentwood BoxLate 19C. 15.5x142x58 cm. CMH. “The style of the beaver design, the proportions of the ovoids, and the treatment of the claws, resemble the frog on the Chief's Settee, suggesting a similar date for both.” Catalogue.

Edenshaw (attr.), Frog Braceletc. 1899. gold. McMichael Canadian Art coll. On loan to NGC

Bill Reid (1920-1998)Sculptor, activist, environmentalist

• b. Victoria

• Mother Haida, father American, Scottish/German

• Edenshaw his great great uncle

• CBC Radio announcer Toronto; jewelry making at Ryerson

• Haida teacher – maternal grandfather

Reid con’t

• 1951 Granville Island studio, Vancouver• 1954 he saw Edenshaw works in Haida Gwaii• His most famous works: 3 large sculptures– Chief of Undersea World (Killer Whale)– Mythic Messengers– Spirit of Haida Gwaii (Black Canoe)

Bill Reid, Chief of the Undersea World, 1983Breaching killer whale at Vancouver aquarium15 X 5 x 5 ft.CMH

Bill Reid, Mythic Messengers, 19885DuplicateCMH

Bill Reid, Mythic Messengers 1985 Canadian Museum of History

Over entrance to cafeteria

Bill Reid, Raven and the First Men, 1983MOA 1.9 x 1.9 mRaven spotted the creatures crawling out of a clam shell when he was flying along the beach at Rose Point in HG

Bill Reid, Spirit of Haida Gwaii, 1991Bronze - Entrance to the Canadian Embassy, Washington DCJade – Vancouver International AirportWhite model in the Grand Hall, CMH 3.89 x 3.48 x 6 meters

Bill Reid, Mouse Woman (Spirit of Haida Gwaii)Raven’s grandmother, crouched under Raven’s tailShe’s also Tlingit, Tsimshian and Kwakwa’akw & related to Spiderwoman of the Hopi

Bill Reid, Killer Whale broochGold & abalone

Robert Davidson b. 1946

"IT HAS BEEN THE ART THAT HAS BROUGHT US BACK TO OUR ROOTS. I AM PROUD TO BE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE CHOSEN TO PUT THE PUZZLE BACK TOGETHER AGAIN AND MOVE ON."- Robert Davidson, Guud sans glans - "Eagle Of The Dawn"

Robert Davidson carving first totem pole in Haida Gwaiisince 1884

1969

1969 Davidson Pole, Masset

Davidson, Every Year the Salmon Come Back, 1983

Robert Davidson, Ravenous, 2011

Robert Davidson

Davidson, Canoe Breaker, 2010

Eagle Transforming Itself

Robert Davidson, Reflections, 1977Originally a card, exploring positive and negative space. Preparation for later series in aluminum sculpture

Davidson, Supernatural Eye, 2007Approx. 8’ Carved aluminumNational Gallery of Canada

Davidson-Williams Wedding

Davidson Potlatch, Massett BC, 2016Importance of song, dance to creating NWC art

Robert Davidson in his Chief’s regalia

Raven Bringing Light to the World1 metre diameter. Gilded bronze.Commissioned for the opening of the Grand Hall, CMH

Hereditary Haida Chief James Hart

• b. Massett 1952, 7idansuu

• Great grandson of Charles Edenshaw

• No residential school (European father)

• Grew up with grandparents, fisher

• Apprenticed with Davidson

• Assisted Bill Reid with Raven & First Men and Spirit of Haida Gwaii

James Hart Raven’s tail Regalia 2017National Gallery of Canada, Canadian & Indigenous ArtRavenstail weaving is ancient and only recently revivedBy Lisa Yahgulanaas, Haida decendant of Isobelle Edenshaw

James Hart with Three Watchmen, 2010Watching the National Gallery, Parliament & the U.S. EmbassyGift of Michael Audain15 x 5 x 5 ft. 360 degrees

James Hart, Three Watchmen, 2010

James Hart, Reconciliation Pole, 2017UBC campusBefore, during and after Residential Schools(The last school closed in 1996)

James Hart with Reconciliation Pole at UBC, 2017

Jaalen Edenshaw carving Reconciliation Pole in Massett, Haida Gwaii, 2016

Reconciliation Pole at the MOA, 2016

James Hart, Residential School detail of Reconciliation Pole

Exactly 6,800 copper nails commemorating the children who died at residential schools

Reconciliation Pole top sectionShowing children (carved by Indigenous artists from across Canada), Eagle, chilkat detail, 2 boats – European and NWC, Thunderbird

Reconciliation Pole chilkat detail

James Hart, Reconciliation Pole, UBC, 201655’ red cedar 360 degrees

James Hart dancing the Reconciliation Pole, 2017Raven’s Tail weave regalia on display at the National GalleryHolding his carving chisel (may have been Charles Edenshaw’s)Headdress: beaver frontlet, ermine, walrus whiskers

James Hart, Reconciliation Pole Raising, April 2017Voice of the caller giving instructions to teams of people pulling the pole up with ropesUBC Campus, Mall near Forestry Building

Brothers Jaalen & Gwaai Edenshaw

Jaalen EndenshawHaida carver

• Born Masset 1980, father Guujaaw• Ts’aahl Eagle clan• Left at 16 for high school• 2003 BA Political Science,

University of Victoria• Honored as Laureate artist, Hnatyshyn Fdn. • Prints and monumental artworks

Gwaai Edenshaw

• Born 1977 Eagle clan Hluugiitgaa• Trained by Bill Reid• Creates with gold, silver, wood, bone• First totem pole at 18, 40 ft. with father,

Guujaaw (drummer, carver & political leader)• 2002 assisted with graphic novel by M. Nicolls,

Tale of Two Shamans

Gwaai & Jaalen Edenshaw both

• 2011 Two Brothers Pole, Jasper 50’

• 2013 Legacy Pole, Windy Bay, HG

• 2014 The Great Box Project (see video)

• 2017 Reconciliation Pole with James Hart

• 2018 Film at TIFF & VFF: Edge of the KnifeA Haida story with Haida actors in Haidalanguage, filmed at historic site near Massett

Jaalen & Gwaai Edenshaw, Two Brothers PoleJasper AB

The Great Box ProjectPitt Rivers Museum, Oxford

Museum opened in 1844 with 22,000 objects collected from around the world by Augustus Pitt Rivers, an officer in the British army, an ethnographer and an archeologist.

Augustus Pitt Rivers (1827-1900)Ethnographer and Archeologist

Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford

• In 2009 the PRM invited 23 Haida (including Jaalen and Gwaai) to see its complete collection of Haida objects

• J & G identified a Haida masterpiece carved box and proposed that they create a copy of it for learning and teaching purposes

The Great Box, 19C Haida

• Back in Masset, they had an enormous plank from an old growth red cedar. They used it to create a blank bent box which they sent to Oxford

The Great Box Project

• In the first video (from the Pitt Rivers website),

Jaalen & Gwaai are working with their father

Guujaaw

• We see them with a large plank which they’ve

scored in 3 places where the corners of the box

will be. They steam the box and bend it into

shape, adding the base and lid.

• In the last video, we see J & G using their copy of

the Great Box as a learning tool for Haida

students

Jame Hart, Dance Screen (The Dance Scream Too)2012-2018

Mr. Audain of the Audain Art Museum in Whistler stands in frontApprox. 12’ x 15 ‘ Wood, abelone, paintFirst shown VAG 2012; Danced by Hart September, 2018

James Hart and Assistants carving the Dance Screen

James Hart dancing the Dance Screen at Audain Art Museum, Whistler, September 2018

Ravenstail regalia by Lisa Yahgulanaas