Ruminations on Art and Life

  November is Native American History Month and last week's blog was about the Haida Chief and Master Carver, Charles Edenshaw. His amazing art skills passed down through his family. One of the recipients was his great grandson, Jim Hart (1952-), Hereditary Chief and also a Master Carver. 

 

The Haidas' ancestral territory was known as "Haida Gawaii," more commonly found on maps as Queen Charlotte Islands. It's an archipelago off of BC, Canada. Since the Haida lived there for more than 12,500 years, their main sources of subsistence and mythology were derived from the sea and the sky. The Raven, the Eagle and the Orca are all featured prominently in their art - especially Raven and Eagle.

                                                                                                                                                                      These influences are part of the carvings of Hart. He has created spectacular carvings be they totems or screens. He's also the first of his nation to use bronze for his sculptures. An example of his bronze

 works is "The Three Watchmen," now in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another of Hart's highly regarded carvings is a massive 16' x 11' piece titled, "The Dance Screen." Hart spent 3 years salvaging red cedar from the wildfires on the islands, and with the assistance of 4 carvers, finished this monumental piece, which describes a mix of stories about the cycles of life.

For the last example of Hart's story concept, he worked with carvers from the Mohawk, Maliseet and Coastal Salish tribes to create the piece titled, "Reconciliation Pole."

 

 

 

 It is a 55 foot totem made from an 800 year old red cedar tree to tell the story of Native American life before, during and after their children were sent away to Indian Residential Schools. The art is beautifully rendered. Yet, speaks to a enormously poignant period that began in the 1800s and didn't end in Canada until 1966. (Here's a diagram you can enlarge to see the different periods of time on the totem.)

 

 

 

 

 

By now, the story of these children is well known. The answer to how many died is unknown. Only a few schools in Canada have been examined and that number is about 6,000. Hart decided that he would extrapolate from that number and came up with 60,000 in total. Hence, Native American families of the children and survivors pounded 60,000 copper nails into the pole. That's the reason for the title of Reconciliation. (Although the nails were pounded all along the pole, here you can see the ones outlining the school.)

 

 

If you're ever in the beautiful city of  Vancouver, BC, you can visit the pole at the UBC campus where the Native Americans controlled the ropes to raise the pole as has been their custom for all totems.(You can also watch the process on videos.)