Northwest Coast art

Northwest Coast art is the term commonly applied to a style of art created primarily by artists from

Although highly conventionalized decorative design occurs all along the coast, to the south and north of this center the representational motive becomes progressively stronger. Krickeberg (1925: 144) characterizes this as a fresh naturalism to the south among the Kwakiutl, Nootka, and Salish and a certain relationship to Eskimo engraving and painting among the Tlingit to the north. The shift in emphasis is gradual - Bella Bella art, for example, has a close affinity to its Coast Tsimshian counterpart. Two-dimensional art of all these groups, however, is much more closely related than is their sculpture, especially among the northern tribes of Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and Bella Bella.^[2]

Textile arts from the Northwest Coast include Chilkat weaving, Raven's Tail Weavings, Button Blankets, and elaborate ceremonial regalia using a range of materials. Three dimension art was created from many materials, notably wood.

History

Prior to contact with Europeans, First Nations on the Northwest coast evolved complex social and ceremonial institutions, including the potlatch system, hereditary systems of rank and descent, ceremonial societies, and permanent villages. Social organization involved groups of kin, reckoned variously matrilineally, patrilineally or bi-lineally. These groups hold various tangible and intangible rights and properties. Among them are origin stories. Many instances of Northwest coast art are visual references to these stories.

After European contact, in the late 18th century, the peoples who produced Northwest Coast art suffered huge population losses due to diseases such as smallpox, and cultural losses due to colonization and assimilation into European-North American culture. The production of their art dropped drastically as well.

Toward the end of the 19th century, Northwest Coast artists began producing work for commercial sale, such as small argillite carvings. The end of the 19th century also saw large-scale export of totem poles, masks and other traditional art objects from the region to museums and private collectors around the world. Some of this export was accompanied by financial compensation to people who had a right to sell the art, and some was not.

In the early 20th century, very few First Nations artists in the Northwest Coast region were producing art. A tenuous link to older traditions remained in artists such as Charles Gladstone, Henry Speck, Ellen Neel, Stanley George, and Mungo Martin. The mid-20th century saw a revival of interest and production of Northwest Coast art, due to the influence of artists and academics such as Bill Reid (a grandson of Charles Gladstone) and Bill Holm. A revival of traditional ceremonial ways also drove the increased production of traditional arts. This time also saw an increasing demand for the return of art objects that were illegally or immorally taken from First Nations communities. This demand continues to the present day. Today, there are numerous art schools teaching formal Northwest Coast art of various styles, and there is a growing market for new art in this style.^[3]

The revival of ceremonial life, following the lifting of the potlatch ban, has also driven production of traditional clothing, painting and carving for use in ceremonies.

Cultural appropriateness

Although neighbouring peoples such as the

Traditionally, within a given community, some patterns and motifs could be used only by certain families and lineages, or with the agreement of those families and lineages. Today, in British Columbia, it is a point of contention whether only First Nations artists of the appropriate nation have the moral right to produce art of given types and using given motifs, or whether only the intent of the person and the respect given to the respective peoples are significant. Likewise, in Ontario, similar controversies have arisen over whether non-Native artists have the moral right to make use of Native motifs and visual art styles.^[7] Some non-Native artists, such as John Livingston, have been adopted into First Nations and have thus formally acquired the right to produce such art.^[1] In some nations, such as the Haida, adoptions are seen by some only as gestures, and production of work in their trademark style by outsiders may, in some contexts, be viewed as economic and cultural appropriation.^{[citation needed]}

Notable artists

Notable Northwest Coast artists of the 19th century include- Albert Edward Edenshaw^[8] (Haida), Captain Carpenter^[9] (Heiltsuk), Willie Seaweed (Kwakwak'wakw), Charles Edenshaw, who is widely acknowledged as a master whose art is in all the great collections around the world.

Also

Notable academics and publishers of northwest Northwest Coast include Hilary Stewart,^[11] Bill Holm, Bill Reid, Bill McLennan, Martha Black, and George F. MacDonald. Doreen Jensen and Polly Sargent's book Robes of Power (1986) deals with ceremonial robes - called Button blanket - and their history and forms. Cheryl Samuel and her book The Raven's Tail (1987) describes northern weaving style known as Raven's Tail - used to make ceremonial robes and other regalia.

Emily Carr, though she did not formally adopt the techniques, commonly used native art as the motif of many of her early paintings.

See also

Notes

References

• Halpin, Marjorie M. (1981). Totem Poles: An Illustrated Guide. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press.
• Jensen, Doreen; Sargent, Polly. Robes of Power: Totem Poles on Cloth.
  ISBN 0-7748-0264-2
  .
• Jonaitis, Aldona; Boas, Franz. A Wealth of Thought: Franz Boas on Native American Art.
  ISBN 0-295-97325-0
  .
• MacDonald, George F. (1996). Haida Art. Seattle: University of Washington Press. pp. 211–212.
  ISBN 1-550-54402-0
  .
• McLennan, Bill; Duffek, Karen (2000). The Transforming Image: Painted Arts of the Northwest Coast First Nations. UBC Press.
  ISBN 0-7748-0427-0
  .
• Ostrowitz, Judith. Privileging the Past. University of Washington Press.
  ISBN 0-295-97814-7
  .

Further reading

• Malin, Edward (1999). Northwest Coast Indian Painting: House Fronts and Interior Screens. Timber Press.
  ISBN 978-0-88192-471-8
  .
• Duff, Wilson (1964). The Indian History of British Columbia: Volume 1 The Impact of the White Man. Province of British Columbia Department of Recreation and Conservation.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Northwest Coast art.

• Bill Holm Center for the Study of Northwest Coast Art at the Burke Museum
• Reciprocal Research Network