Mouse Woman drawing by Luke J. Parnell



The Beat


A monthly newsletter about the art of

First Nations on Canada’s West Coast


This is the fortieth issue of The Beat, a free, independent newsletter that brings you up-to-date on the art, artists and events of the First Nations on Canada’s Pacific Coast.

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We respectfully acknowledge the Coast Salish Peoples, on whose traditional territories we live and work, and all the First Nations of the Pacific coast.

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Kingcome Inlet Big House after September Flood


The village of Kingcome Inlet, home of the Dzawada’enuxw people was severely damaged by flooding in the fall of 2010. The remote location, accessible only by water or air, makes reconstruction slow and very difficult. For more see http://www.kingcome.ca/

A Gala Fundraiser will be held on Saturday, March 12 2011 at the River Rock Casino in Richmond. The evening starts with a reception from 6 to 7 pm, a silent auction from 6 to 10 pm, and a live auction at 8:30 pm. Many First Nations artists are donating works to the auctions. The entertainment (besides the excitement of the auctions) includes a fashion show, music and dancing. Tickets are $175 per person. Tickets can be purchased at http://www.kingcomefundraiser.eventbrite.com



The Power of Giving: The Potlatch in the Kwakwaka’wakw Big House from the Canadian Northwest Coast

Exhibition in Dresden Germany

Opening May 7 to August 21 2011

See The Beat February 2011


Work is continuing on the exchange of exhibitions between the Dresden museums and the U’mista Cultural Centre to take place this summer. The Power of Giving: Gifts in the Saxon Rulers’ Court in Dresden and the Kwakwaka’wakw Big House will open April 22 in Alert Bay BC.

For further information, see http://www.skd.museum/en/special-exhibitions/preview/the-power-of-giving/index.html


Wolf Hat 1989

Coll. James Sherman

Photo: Russell Johnson


The survey exhibition of 52 works by Tlingit artist Preston Singletary, shown at the Museum of Glass in Tacoma Washington last summer, will open at the Museum of the American Indian George Gustav Heye Center in New York on March 19 2011.
Preston Singletary: Echoes, Fire, and Shadows includes the Clan House, a monumental glass sculpture of the interior of a Tlingit longhouse, and a large wall mural created by the artist especially for this installation of the show.

Singletary is exhibiting his newest pieces at the Traver Gallery in Tacoma in Contents of a Dream to April 17 2011. See http://www.travergallery.com

His work can also be seen in Cultural Confluence: Urban People of Asian and Native American Heritages, a group show at the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Cultural Experience in Seattle until September 18 2011. See http://www.wingluke.org


The Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art is presenting an exhibition of photographs of photographs by Adelaide de Menil, curated by artist Peter Morin. De Menil journeyed along the Northwest coast in the 1960’s, often accompanied by Bill Reid, who wrote the text in her book Out of the Silence.

Revisiting the Silence will be at the gallery from Thursday March 3 to Sunday June 5 2011. For more information see http://www.billreidgallery.ca


Totem Heritage Center, Ketchikan Alaska


In Ketchikan Alaska, the Totem Heritage Center is offering a Ravenstail Weaving Class with instructor Haida artist Evelyn Vanderhoop, on March 23 to 31, 2011.

For more information call 907 225 5900.


Bill Reid’s Grizzly Beat Mantlepiece and donor Michael Audain

Photo: Doug Denton, Oak Bay News


A sculpture by Haida artist Bill Reid has been purchased for the Royal British Columbia Museum, thanks to a $750,000 donation by the Audain Foundation. The Grizzly Bear Mantlepiece, carved in cedar in 1954, was commissioned by the late Anne and Douglas Stevenson for their home in Williams Lake BC.


Discussions began in February in Prince Rupert BC about a Tsimshian Cultural Pavilion to be built on the waterfront as a welcome centre for tourists and cruise passengers. A 2007 Prince Rupert Tourism study found that cultural experiences are a top priority for visitors to the city. Consultant Te Taru White from New Zealand suggested that elements such as truthful exhibits, varied content and the presence of weavers, carvers and dance groups would be part of a successful balance between culture and commerce.


Tlingit artist Nicholas Galanin’s show New Culture, conceptual work from the last five years, is at the Trench Gallery in Vancouver until April 9 2011. The gallery is at #102-148 Alexander Street. See http://www.trenchgallery.com



Haida Mask, 1800-1850

Photo: McCord Museum



The Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton is exhibiting Haida Art: Mapping an Ancient Language, 80 historic objects from the collection of the McCord Museum in Montreal, and more recent work by Robert Davidson, who curated the show. It continues until June 5 2011. Davidson will give a talk on Wednesday March 16 at 6 pm.

Brian Jungen’s exhibition at the Art Gallery of Alberta continues until May 8 2011. See http://www.youraga.ca/


A survey of Robert Davidson’s serigraph prints in the exhibition Eagle Transforming will be exhibited at the Two Rivers Gallery in Prince George until April 3 2011. For more information, see http://www.tworiversartgallery.com


The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver and the Dancers of Damelahamid present the 2011 Coastal First Nations Dance Festival, “a celebration of First Nations dance set among the totem poles of the Museum’s Great Hall.”

On March 11 at 7:30, the Signature Presentation will include Bob Baker and the Eagle Song Dancers, Robert Davidson and the Rainbow Creek Dancers, David Boxley and the Git Hoan Dancers, and the Dancers of Damelahamid. Festival Stage on Saturday March 12 and Sunday March 13 “showcases the diverse and rich cultural traditions” of groups from coastal BC, the Yukon and Alaska. This program includes the Git Hayetsk Dancers.

For more information, see http://www.damelahamid.ca/festival/2011/2011festival.htm

A guest lecturer Dr. Amareswar Galla will speak at MOA on Tuesday, March 8 at 7 pm. Dr. Galla, a professor of Museum Studies in Queensland, Australia, is one of the leading experts in the world on museums, sustainable heritage development, and poverty alleviation through culture. See http://www.moa.ubc.ca



Shining Through, 2009

Drum design by Michael Dangeli

The 10th annual New Sun Conference on Aboriginal Arts on March 5 2011 in Ottawa is called Shining Through, inspired by a drum created for Buffy Sainte-Marie. The conference at Carleton University will include presentations by architect Douglas Cardinal, multi-media artist Nadia Myer, poet and film-maker Armand Garnet Ruffo (who is writing a book about artist Norval Morrisseau), and Mike Dangeli and Mique’l Askren, leaders of the Git Hayetsk Dancers.


An auction will be held on March 25 at Cowan’s Auctions in Cincinnati where several Northwest coast items will be offered for sale: a child’s Chilkat blanket, estimated at $10,000, and a carved Haida bowl ca 1900, 12” inches long, estimated at $1000. For more information, see

http://www.cowanauctions.com/auctions/catalog.aspx?SaleId=194

In Vancouver, Maynard’s Fine Art & Antiques will hold an auction of Northwest Coast and Inuit art on April 20, 2011 at 6pm


Mayberry Fine Art and the Pegasus Gallery are co-sponsoring an exhibition Unmasked: Treasures of the Pacific Northwest from March 5 to 26 2011 at 110 Yorkville Avenue in Toronto. Historic works, from the 1840’s to the 1950’s, and contemporary work by Tony Hunt, Robert Davidson, Rande Cook and Richard Hunt, will be shown. Fifteen components of Chief Tony Hunt’s ceremonial regalia will be included in the show. For more information see

http://www.mayberryfineart.com/unmasked/


Continuing Shows

Close Encounters: the Next 500 Years at Winnipeg’s Urban Shaman and other galleries, innovative and engaging work by indigenous artists from Canada and across the globe.

Entwined Histories: Gifts from the Maisie Hurley Collection at the North Vancouver Museum, until November 6, 2011.

At the Seattle Art Museum, Behind the Scenes: The Real Story of the Quileute Wolves, until August 14, 2011.


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NEW! We have just launched a Twitter website for The Beat at

http://www.twitter.com/coastalartbeat


Comments, story suggestions and new subscribers to this free newsletter are welcomed. Please write to: editor@coastalartbeat.ca

Past issues are available at our website http://www.coastalartbeat.ca


Thank you to David Dumaresq, Peter Morin, Marianne Nicolson, Paula Fairweather, Mike Dangeli, Martine Reid and many others, for your assistance. The Beat is an independent, not-for-profit project written and published in Vancouver Canada by Ann Cameron.

Copyright 2011 Ann Cameron.