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 thirty-fourth 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.


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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Photo: Martin Hutten. Courtesy of National Park Service, Olympic National Park.

The Seattle Art Museum has opened an exhibition of a First Nations art with an unusual background. Behind the Scenes: The Real Story of the Quileute Wolves presents the actual cultural history of the Quileute people who live in La Push, on the western coast of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.

The need to clarify the nature of the culture arose when a rather sensational series of teenage novels Twilight, now also in movie form, became enormously popular. Fans of the series are called “Twi-hards”. In this series the Quileute are depicted as werewolves, and a young Quileute wolfman is the principal love interest of the heroine, competing against vampires for the affections of the human Bella. The movies were shot partially in Vancouver Canada. Nevertheless, the connection has stimulated tourism in the small village of La Push, as well as an annoying misunderstanding of the Tribe’s culture. A comment from a Quileute elder quoted in a Seattle newspaper, made at the opening of the show in August was succinct: “No I am not [a werewolf]. The wolf in our tribe is a protective wolf.”



The opening was extremely well-attended, and news of the show has spread widely among the social media : “Very cool. I will definitley check that out.”

The "Behind the Scenes" exhibit tells the story of Kwati, the Transformer, who according to Quileute legend came to First Beach to change a pair of wolves into the people who became the ancestors of the Quileute tribe. The Quileutes partnered with the SAM curator Dr. Barbara Brotherton to present their culture accurately, and also made 40 new pieces of regalia for their spectacular performances at the opening, which was attended by 1600 people. The exhibition closes August 14 2011.


In Ottawa/Hull on October 8 2010, the Canadian Museum of Civilization will open an exhibition Haida: Life. Spirit. Art. of work selected from the large Haida collection of the McCord Museum in Montreal.

Most of these rare objects were collected by George Dawson in 1878.

For the show, Haida artist Robert Davidson “guided the section of the historic artworks”, and collaborated on the creation of accompanying text. Davidson’s own art is included to represent contemporary Haida culture. Davidson will speak on October 8 2010. The exhibition runs at the CMC to January 23 2011.

Note that another show relevant to the history of First Nations in Canada, Profit & Ambition: The Canadian Fur Trade, 1779-1821, continues at the Canadian Museum of Civilization until February 6 2011.

See the museum’s website at http://www.civilization.ca

Note that Robert Davidson’s popular lecture given at Celebration 2010 in Alaska, Being Successful is no Accident: The Business of Art, is available for viewing online at http://vimeo.com/13376176

A number of other videos on First Nations culture are offered on the right of the page as well.


A reburial of human remains brought home from the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, England took place in the Haida Gwaii in August. Ceremonies were held to welcome the ancestor’s return when he was re-buried at St. John’s Church in Old Massett. The Haida Repatriation Committee had visited the Pitt Rivers Museum last year as a preliminary to closer relations with the museum, and made arrangements for the return of a Haida man who had been taken away from his homeland more than a century ago. Eight curators and conservators from the Pitt River Museum and the British Museum returned with the Haida delegation which retrieved the remains. The British group also presented a slideshow of the Haida work in their collections to the community here.

The Haida Gwaii Museum at the Haida Heritage Centre near Skidegate is preparing a new gallery Haida Oral Histories and Science which will open later this fall. The gallery will present, for example, Haida origin stories and show how archaeological evidence from around the time of the Ice Age supports much of them. Work has been commissioned from artists Robert Davidson, Jim Hart, Guujaw and Reg Davidson. Already the masks depicting Creek Woman and Ice Woman are in place.



The exhibition Time Warp: Contemporary Textiles of the Northwest Coast at the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art in Vancouver has attracted many positive comments from visitors, and has raised the visitor numbers for the gallery significantly this summer. The exhibition continues to January 16 2011.

The Vancouver Sun’s appreciative review of the show can be found at:

http://www.vancouversun.com/Weaving+dismissed+women+work/3415098/story.html

See the Gallery’s website at http://www.billreidgallery.ca/

The Bill Reid Gallery is offering two free tickets to see the Time Warp exhibition of weaving to the first reader of The Beat who emails us at: list@coastalartbeat.ca

Please include your mailing address for the tickets.


The C. N. Gorman Museum at the University of California at Davis is featuring the art of Larry McNeil and and Da-ke-xeen Mehner, from September 28 to December 5 2010. The two artists are maternal uncle and nephew, a relationship of special significance in traditional cultures of the northwest coast. Their art media, including photography, sculpture, lithography and video explores their ancestral and personal histories as part of the Killerwhale Fin House in Klukwan Alaska, to global issues of climate change.

For more see http://gormanmuseum.ucdavis.edu/



Galleries


The Stonington Gallery in Seattle has announced the release of a new print, Ember, by Puyallup Coast Salish artist Shaun Peterson, a tribute to Northwest Coast artist and scholar Bill Holm. In honour of Holm's recent 85th birthday, Peterson has limited this edition of gicleé prints to just 85. 10% of each print sale will be donated to the Bill Holm Center for the Study of Northwest Coast Art at the University of Washington’s Burke Museum.

The current exhibition at the Stonington Gallery is Thomas Stream: Aleut Paintings. Stream’s paintings are a tribute to his Aleut ancestors and the striking beauty of natural wildlife.

For more see http://www.stoningtongallery.com


The Quintana Galleries’ in Portland Oregon exhibition Private Collections: Northwest Coast and Inuit Art runs to September 30 2010. Works offered for sale include: Thunderbird Mask, 2000 by Nuu-chah-nulth artist Tim Paul and print Raven Luring Salmon From Water, 1974, by Gitxsan artist Walter Harris.

See http://www.quintanagalleries.com


The Douglas Reynolds Gallery in Vancouver opens its Fifteenth Anniversary exhibition 15: Fifteen Artists from the First Opening, Fifteen Artists We Met Along the Way, on September 18 2010. Included are works by Bill Reid, Robert Davidson and others, and a number of anonymous historic works.

To see the works, check the special show page at http://www.douglasreynoldsgallery.com/Fifteen/


Steinbrueck Native Gallery in Seattle is exhibiting work by Tlingit painter Jean Taylor from September 4 to 30 2010. The themes of the paintings are landscapes of the Yukon and depictions of her people in ceremonial regalia.

For more information, see

http://www.steinbruecknativegallery.com




Karen Estrin Interim Manager of the U’Mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay British Columbia reports that the U’mista Cultural Centre (UCC) in Alert Bay, BC, the Dresden State Art Collections (SKD), and the State Ethnographic Collections of Saxony (SES), Germany are currently collaborating on a unique project with an exchange of exhibitions framed within the common concept of gift-giving customs. This exchange between a First Nations museum and cultural centre and a classic European museum will be the first of its kind in the world. (See The Beat March 2010.)
The UCC will lend and curate objects of its famous Potlatch collection to its German partner institutions to be shown in an exhibition titled The Great Potlatch: Gift-Giving Customs and Economies of Plenty in Dresden, Germany. Treasures from Dresden’s art and ethnographic collections will be sent to the UCC to be presented in Alert Bay under the title The Gift in the Centre of Society and Identity. Both exhibitions will take place at the same time, from March to August 2011.

For more about the UCC see http://www.umista.ca




The Reach Art Gallery Museum in Abbotsford British Columbia is planning an exhibition on the theme of the stone ancestor figure T'xwelatse, in collaboration with the local Sto:lo Nation. It will open on April 13 2011. (See The Beat March 2008.)


Spirits of Our Whaling Ancestors: Revitalizing Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth Traditions by Charlotte Cote will be presented by the author at the Burke Museum in Seattle on Thursday October 28 2010.

“As a member of the Nuu-chah-nulth Nation, Coté offers a valuable perspective on the issues surrounding indigenous whaling, past and present. She shows the implications for the physical, mental, and spiritual health of these Native communities today and describes how whaling "defines who we are as a people.” The book is published in Canada by the University of British Columbia Press.

Haida Made: New Collaborations in Design is an exhibition being held from September 25 to November 7 2010 at Harbourfront in Toronto. It will show how to “balance First Nations traditions and contemporary design solutions, developing new methods that respect and elevate local traditions. The exhibition explores traditional knowledge and practices (such as the harvest and weaving of cedar bark) to seek modern product applications (furniture, home accessories, etc.) for underutilized forest resources.” See http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/whatson/freshground/sharedresources.cfm


In Whistler British Columbia, a Salish Welcome Figure by Xwalacktun (Rick Harry) was blessed on September 2 2010 at its new site in front of the Peak2Peak Gondola. The figure is a project of the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler.

Chief Janice George is giving a workshop on Salish Wool Weaving on October 3 at 1 pm at the SlCC. Cost is $120 per participant. Students will design and make a small wall hanging that they can take home with them. More information about the Squamish Lil’wat Cultural Centre in Whistler is at http://www.slcc.ca


The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver is holding a World Art Market on September 18 and 19 2010 which will include artwork for sale by many outstanding artists including Calvin Bell, Corrine Hunt, Christian White, Marcie Baker, and April White.

Inspired by long-established events such as the Santa Fe Indian Market, The Cultural Survival Bazaar, and the Maori Market in Wellington, New Zealand, MOA’s first annual World Art Market will showcase the art, craft, music, dance, and cuisine of indigenous peoples from around the world.

The winners of a juried design competition, open to all
participating artists, will be awarded prizes in various categories at a
special MOA members-only event on September 17.

Performers from groups such as Aché Brasil, Coyes-Thompson Band,
Cris Derksen, Pepe Danza, Git Hayetsk First Nations Dancers, Kunaka Marimba, and Sister Says will entertain during the event.

Tickets are $7 per person at the door. See http://www.moa.ubc.ca/




The 2011 The Gathering Calendar has just been issued by Vancouver’s Garfinkel Publications. The calendar features colour illustrations of wonderful new work by selected First Nations west coast artists. The cover artist this year is Haida artist Corey Bulpitt. Artisits Mike Dangeli, Donnie Edenshaw, LesLIE and Hazel Simeon contributed.

A new line of children’s books has been introduced with designs commissioned from First Nations artists. Our readers are invited to colour the Frog by Haida artist Darrel Amos on the next page.






From Explore the Animals: Northwest Coast First Nations and Native Art Colouring and Learning Book

Native Northwest, Garfinkel Publications

See http://www.nativenorthwest.com/index.html






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Comments, news 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, Natalie MacFarlane, Karen Estrin, Larry Garfinkel, David Seymour 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 2010 Ann Cameron.