DOCSLIB.ORG

Constructing a Collection's Object Biography

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Constructing a Collection's Object Biography The Kwakwaka’wakw Potlatch Collection and its Many Social Contexts: Constructing a Collection’s Object Biography by Emma Louise Knight A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Masters of Museum Studies Faculty of Information University of Toronto © Copyright by Emma Louise Knight 2013 The Kwakwaka’wakw Potlatch Collection and its Many Social Contexts: Constructing a Collection’s Object Biography Emma Louise Knight Master of Museum Studies Faculty of Information University of Toronto 2013 Abstract In 1921, the Canadian government confiscated over 400 pieces of Kwakwaka’wakw potlatch regalia and placed it in three large museums. In 1967 the Kwakwaka'wakw initiated a long process of repatriation resulting in the majority of the collection returning to two Kwakwaka’wakw cultural centres over the last four decades. Through the theoretical framework of object biography and using the museum register as a tool to reconstruct the lives of the potlatch regalia, this thesis explores the multiple paths, diversions and oscillations between objecthood and subjecthood that the collection has undergone. This thesis constructs an exhibition history for the regalia, examines processes of institutional forgetting, and adds multiple layers of meaning to the collection's biography by attending to the post-repatriation life of the objects. By revisiting this pivotal Canadian case, diversions are emphasized as important moments in the creation of subjecthood and objecthood for museum objects. ii Acknowledgments First and foremost I would like to thank Sarah Holland, who introduced me to this collection in her UVIC museum studies class in 2010, continued to encourage me over the years, and who invited me into her home in Alert Bay for what would be a life-changing experience. To Juanita Johnston for her archival research and patience in answering my never-ending questions. To Trevor Isaac whose passion for practicing and sharing his art and culture is truly inspirational. This thesis would not have been possible without the continued support of my supervisor Dr. Cara Krmpotich who has helped me navigate this complex history and always been a constant source of advice, encouragement, and inspiration. I would also like to thank Dr. Lena Mortensen for her thought-provoking comments, and Dr. Aldona Jonaitis for her invaluable contributions. My many thanks go to the archivists and museum staff members at the following institutions for their help with finding archival information used in this thesis: Jonathan Wise, Reference Archivist, Library, Archives and Documentation Services, Canadian Museum of Civilization Sandra Parrish, Associate Director/ Collections Manager, Museum at Campbell River Tricia Walker, Manager, Registration Department, Royal Ontario Museum Angela Raljic, Database Technician, World Cultures, Royal Ontario Museum Nadja Roby, Head, Liaison and Research, Ethnology Collection, Canadian Museum of Civilization Kelly Cameron, Senior Collections Analyst, Ethnology, Canadian Museum of Civilization Kelly-Ann Turkington, Permissions/Licensing Officer, Royal British Columbia Museum Stephanie Alder, Archives and Records Manager, Central Archive, The British Museum Jennifer Longon, Archives and Research Library, New Brunswick Museum Kenlyn Collins, Librarian, Winnipeg Art Gallery Becky Boughner, Curatorial Assistant, Museum London Erica Douglas, Intern, Art Gallery of Windsor Wendy Gomoll, Acting Archives Technician, Art Gallery of Ontario Sean Weaver, Photographer, Art Gallery of Ontario Jessica Stewart, Library Assistant, National Gallery of Canada Michael William, Library, National Gallery of Canada Betty Murphy, Assistant Librarian, Billie Jane Baguley Library and Archives, Heard Museum, Phoenix, Arizona Debbie Lindsay, CBC Digital Archives Linda Cobon, Manager, Records and Archives, Exhibition Place, Toronto. Christine Schindler, Archives Coordinator, Stratford Festival iii Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 1 The Kwakwaka’wakw: Those who speak Kwak’wala ............................................................................... 1 Methodology ........................................................................................................................................... 6 Kwak’wala and Kwakwaka’wakw Voice ................................................................................................... 8 Analysis .................................................................................................................................................... 8 Organization of the Thesis ....................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter One: A Published History of the Potlatch Collection, Literature Review, and Analytical Framework ................................................................................................................................................ 13 The Potlatch Collection Repatriation: A Published History .................................................................... 13 Object Biography- A Literature Review ................................................................................................. 19 Applying the Framework: Object Biography Theory, Subjecthood and the Potlatch Collection ............ 23 Chapter Two: Diversion from Regalia to Museum Collection .................................................................... 29 The Potlatch and Potlatch Prohibition ................................................................................................... 29 Dan Cranmer’s Potlatch ......................................................................................................................... 32 Confiscation as Crisis: The Diversion from Regalia to Museum Objects ................................................ 33 Becoming Museum Objects ................................................................................................................... 41 Chapter Three: Objects in Action, an Exhibition History 1927- 1979 ......................................................... 44 Chapter Four: Recognition, Negotiation, Repatriation and the National Museum of Canada ................... 73 Division of the Collection and the Establishment of Two Cultural Centres ............................................ 84 Kwakwakaʼwakw: The Righting of a Wrong ........................................................................................... 90 Chapter Five: The Royal Ontario Museum and the National Museum of the American Indian ................. 92 The Royal Ontario Museum ................................................................................................................... 92 National Museum of the American Indian............................................................................................. 99 Chapter Six: Repatriations from Institutions and Individuals .................................................................. 102 Yaxwiwe’ Headdress in the Breton Estate ........................................................................................... 102 University of British Columbia, Museum of Anthropology .................................................................. 103 The British Museum ............................................................................................................................ 104 The Horniman Museum ....................................................................................................................... 106 Chapter Seven: The Collection Today ...................................................................................................... 112 Chapter Eight: Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 127 References ............................................................................................................................................... 130 iv List of Figures Figure 1. The Subjecthood and Objecthood of the Potlatch Collection…………………………….………27 Figure 2. The confiscated regalia on display in the parish hall, Alert Bay. Image H-03978 courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives …………………………………………………………………………………………..37 Figure 3. The confiscated regalia on display in the parish hall, Alert Bay. Image AA-00176 courtesy of Royal BC Museum, BC Archives………………………………..……………………………………………38 Figure 4. Ed Meade, Curator of the Campbell River and District Historical Society, holding a Sea Eagle mask now in the collection of the Nuyumbalees Cultural Centre. Image 9100 courtesy of the Museum at Campbell River………………………………………………………………………………………………..58 v List of Appendices Appendix A: Exhibitions of pieces of the potlatch collection yet to be researched ………………….139 vi 1 The Kwakwakaʼwakw Potlatch Collection and its Many Social Contexts: Constructing a Collection’s Object Biography “A mask is history in object form.” - Trevor Isaac, Collections and Education Assistant, U’mista Cultural Centre Introduction This thesis examines the life history of what has become known as the potlatch collection, a collection of Kwakwakaʼwakw ceremonial regalia that was the subject of the first major repatriation of First Nations material heritage from Canadian museums. By using archival materials to explore the object biography of this collection, the life history developed
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Indigenous Experiences Guide to British Columbia
    Indigenous Experiences Guide to British Columbia Immerse yourself in the living Traditions Indigenous travel experiences have the power to move you. To help you feel connected to something bigger than yourself. To leave you changed forever, through cultural exploration and learning. Let your true nature run free and be forever transformed by the stories and songs from the world’s most diverse assembly of living Indigenous cultures. #IndigenousBC | IndigenousBC.com Places To Go CARIBOO CHILCOTIN COAST KOOTENAY ROCKIES NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA TRADITIONAL LANGUAGES: TRADITIONAL LANGUAGES: TRADITIONAL LANGUAGES: TŜILHQOT’IN | TSE’KHENE | DANE-ZAA | ST̓ÁT̓IMCETS KTUNAXA | SECWEPEMCSTIN | NSYILXCƏN SM̓ALGYA̱X | NISG̱A’A | GITSENIMX̱ | DALKEH | WITSUWIT’EN SECWEPEMCSTIN | NŁEʔKEPMXCÍN | NSYILXCƏN | NUXALK NEDUT’EN | DANEZĀGÉ’ | TĀŁTĀN | DENE K’E | X̱AAYDA KIL The Ktunaxa have inhabited the rugged area around X̱AAD KIL The fjordic coast town of Bella Coola, where the Pacific the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers on the west side of Ocean meets mighty rainforests and unmatched Canada’s Rockies for more than 10 000 years. Visitors Many distinct Indigenous people, including the Nisga’a, wildlife viewing opportunities, is home to the Nuxalk to the snowy mountains of Creston and Cranbrook Haida and the Tahltan, occupy the unique landscapes of people and the region’s easternmost point. The continue to seek the adventure this dramatic landscape Northern BC. Indigenous people co-manage and protect Cariboo Chilcotin Coast spans the lower middle of offers. Experience traditional rejuvenation: soak in hot this untamed expanse–more than half of the size of the BC and continues toward mountainous Tsilhqot’in mineral waters, view Bighorn Sheep, and traverse five province–with a world-class system of parks and reserves Territory, where wild horses run.
    [Show full text]
  • Klahoose First Nation Community Wildfire Protection Plan
    Klahoose First Nation Community Wildfire Protection Plan Submitted to: Tina Wesley Emergency Program Coordinator Klahoose First Nation Ph: 250 935-6536 Submitted by: Email: [email protected] B.A. Blackwell & Associates Ltd. Shaun Koopman 270 – 18 Gostick Place Protective Services Coordinator North Vancouver, BC, V7M 3G3 Strathcona Regional District Ph: 604-986-8346 990 Cedar Street Email: [email protected] Campbell River, BC, V9W 7Z8 Ph: 250-830-6702 Email: [email protected] B.A. Blackwell & Associates Ltd. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to thank the following Klahoose First Nation and Strathcona Regional District staff: Tina Wesley, Klahoose First Nation Fisheries Officer and Emergency Program Coordinator, and Shaun Koopman, Strathcona Regional District Protective Services Coordinator. These individuals invested substantial time in meetings, answering questions, reviewing and commenting on the contents of this document, or providing information. In addition, the authors would like to thank staff from the BC Wildfire Service, including: Paul Bondoc (Wildfire Technician, Powell River Centre), Tony Botica (Fuel Management Specialist, Powell River Centre), and Dana Hicks (Fuel Management Specialist); staff from the Cortes Forest General Partnership (CFGP): Mark Lombard (Operations Manager), as well as staff from the Cortes Island Firefighting Association (CIFFA): Mac Diver (Fire Chief) and Eli McKenty (Fire Captain). This report would not be possible without the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) Community Resiliency Investment (CRI) Program, First Nations’ Emergency Services Society (FNESS), and funding from the Province of British Columbia. ˚Cover photo Merrick Architecture- Klahoose First Nation Multipurpose Building. Accessed from http://merrickarch.com/work/klahoose-multi-centre May 17, 2021 Klahoose First Nation Wildfire Protection Plan 2020 ii B.A.
    [Show full text]
  • Download The
    COPPER ONTOLOGY: BEING, BEINGS, AND BELONGINGS by Katherine Damon B.A. (Hons), University of Oregon, 2012 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Art History and Theory) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) September 2017 © Katherine Damon, 2017 Abstract Striking stone against metal, Kwakwaka’wakw hereditary chief and carver Beau Dick (1955-2017) and his companions broke the Haida copper, Taaw on the steps of the Canadian Parliament buildings in 2014. This act was a call to action in dialogue with the Indigenous grassroots movement, Idle No More, and a revival of a shaming rite prohibited for over 60 years under the Indian Act. Following their journey to Ottawa, Taaw and the other coppers were displayed in the University of British Columbia Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery's 2016 exhibition, Lalakenis/All Directions: A Journey of Truth and Unity, described as both cultural belongings and living beings. The categories of belonging and being communicate ongoing and active relationships between the coppers and First Nations communities, as well as their statuses as sentient entities. Endowed with supernatural power, or ’nawalakw in Kwak’wala, coppers occupy a central position within potlatch ceremonies. While the term ‘belonging’ could be said to have imposed Western property language and objecthood on the coppers, the term ‘being’ introduced the coppers as active subjects in the copper-breaking ceremony. Since the nineteenth century, anthropologists have studied coppers as both economic property and animate objects in the potlatch system. A discussion of coppers as living beings can also be situated within a recent return to animism in anthropology and a wider rethinking of human/nonhuman categories in new materialism and posthumanist theories.
    [Show full text]
  • Rural Economic Development
    NARA | GOAL THREE August 2011 - March 2013 Cumulative Report RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Northwest Advance Renewables Alliance NARA is led by Washington State University and supported by the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grant no. 2011-68005-30416 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Goal Three: Rural Economic Development: Enhance and sustain rural economic development Summary Sustainability is the crucial attribute necessary for the emerging biofuels industry to develop our rural economy. The NARA project is assessing sustainability of this emerging industry using a triple bottom line approach of assessing economic viability (techno-economic analysis – TEA), environmental impact (life cycle analysis – LCA), and social impact (community impact analysis – CIA). In addition to developing these three primary analytical tools, additional primary data is being collected. These data include social and market data through the Environmentally Preferred Products (EPP) team and environmental data through the Sustainable Production Team. The following efforts within the Systems Metrics program are integrated to provide a sustainability analysis of the project: The Techno-Economic Analysis (TEA) Team assesses the overall economics of the biofuels production process from feedstock delivered to the mill gate through to biojet sale. This analysis includes the overall production mass and energy balance as well as the value needs for co-products. The TEA models the capital requirement plus the variable and fixed operating costs for producing biojet from forest residuals using our chosen pathways. The Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) and Community Impact Team assesses the environmental impact of producing aviation biofuels with our chosen pathway and compares it to the petroleum products for which it will substitute.
    [Show full text]
  • Res Extra Commercium and the Barriers Faced When Seeking the Repatriation and Return of Potent Cultural Objects
    American Indian Law Journal Volume 4 Issue 2 Article 5 May 2017 Res Extra Commercium and the Barriers Faced When Seeking the Repatriation and Return of Potent Cultural Objects Sara Gwendolyn Ross Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/ailj Part of the Cultural Heritage Law Commons, Indian and Aboriginal Law Commons, and the International Law Commons Recommended Citation Ross, Sara Gwendolyn (2017) "Res Extra Commercium and the Barriers Faced When Seeking the Repatriation and Return of Potent Cultural Objects," American Indian Law Journal: Vol. 4 : Iss. 2 , Article 5. Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.seattleu.edu/ailj/vol4/iss2/5 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Publications and Programs at Seattle University School of Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in American Indian Law Journal by an authorized editor of Seattle University School of Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Res Extra Commercium and the Barriers Faced When Seeking the Repatriation and Return of Potent Cultural Objects Cover Page Footnote Sara Ross is a Ph.D. Candidate and Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS Doctoral Scholar at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, Canada. Sara holds five previous degrees, including a B.A. in French Language and Literature from the University of Alberta; B.A. Honours in Anthropology from McGill; both a civil law degree (B.C.L.) and common law degree (L.L.B.) from the McGill Faculty of Law; and an L.L.M, from the University of Ottawa.
    [Show full text]
  • Media Images
    MEDIA IMAGES High-res images of 81 works in the Royal BC Museum Google Art Project available on request. All images and content at: http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/project/art-project Media contact: Royal BC Museum Media Inquiries, 250-387-3207 or [email protected] Raven and Whale Photograph © Royal BC Museum, BC Archives. Chief Nakaṕankam, Mungo Martin, Raven and Whale, 1960. Watercolour on paper. RBCM14429 Chief Nakaṕankam, Mungo Martin, was born about 1881 in the Kwagu’ł village of Tsaxis (Fort Rupert) on the east coast of Vancouver Island. He was raised in the traditional culture of his people and was an expert carver and singer. In 1947, he was hired by the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver to restore and replicate totem poles in their collection. In 1952, when he was about 72 years old, he moved to Victoria on Vancouver Island to be Chief Carver on staff at the British Columbia Provincial Museum (now the Royal BC Museum), where he created more than two dozen poles and built Wawadiťła, a version of a traditional Kwakwaka’wakw bighouse, in Thunderbird Park. For the opening of Wawadiťła in 1953, Martin gave the first legal potlatch after the law against potlatching was dropped from the Indian Act in 1951. Wawadiťła continues to be used for First Nations events with the permission of Martin’s grandson. Poles carved by Mungo Martin at the Royal BC Museum are now in Athens, Mexico City, London and many other world cities. Martin died on August 16, 1962. Hundreds of people came to pay their respects when the Chief lay in state in Wawadiťła.
    [Show full text]
  • February 2020
    FEBRUARY 2020 DIAM ND 115VOL. DISTRICT MONTHLY A NEW BOX FULL OF GOOD NEWS The same way you can’t judge a book by its cover, you shouldn’t judge a monthly publication by its newsbox. Alas, most people in the Diamond District are very familiar with the dirty, scruffy blue newsboxes the Diamond District Monthly has long been distributed from. Like most other things on the street, they’ve been covered with stickers and graffiti. And, now, like most things on the street, they been replaced with sparkling new models. Continued on page 10 SAY HELLO TO THE “PURPOSE-DRIVEN SHOPPER” Everyone needs a purpose. According to a new study of 19,000 consumers in 28 countries, ages 18 to 73, many are willing to pay for it. Nearly one-third of the consumers polled said they would stop buying a brand that is inconsistent with their purpose, such as those associated with negative social or environmental impacts, or lack sustainability—in other words, products produced in ways that may damage long term natural resources to satisfy short term needs. But nearly two thirds also said they would be willing to pay up to 35% more for brands consistent with their purpose. What does this crucial insight mean to diamond and jewelry retailers? Continued on page 17 WHAT’S INSIDE In the News, pg. 4; Industry Spotlight, pg. 6; Market Trends pg. 9; Diamond District Partnership News, pg. 10; Urgent Crime Alert pg. 13; diamonddistrict.org Small Business pg. 17; Crime Report, pg 18 LETTER FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Dear Friends, Details matter.
    [Show full text]
  • JACK DAVY Worked for the British and Horniman Museums Before
    DOI BIO: JACK DAVY worked for the British and Horniman museums before earning a PhD from University College London, where he studied miniature artifacts from the Northwest Coast of the United States and Canada. He is currently a senior research assistant at the University of East Anglia for Beyond the Spectacle: Native North American Presence in Britain, a three- year project funded by the United Kingdom Arts and Humanities Research Council. The “Idiot Sticks”: Kwakwaka’wakw Carving and Cultural Resistance in Commercial Art Production on the Northwest Coast Jack Davy Between 1884 and 1951 a ban on potlatching prohibited Indigenous communities of British Columbia from practicing traditional economic, ceremonial, and political activities, restricting them to state-sanctioned gatherings and celebrations. Unable to perform traditional dances and wear the associated regalia, Native artistic practices, in particular carving, began to fall into disuse as demand dried up. Restricted to only a few artistic forms permitted by local authorities, carvers turned to the growing tourist market, a field dominated by non- Native dealers but also disdained by government as inauthentic and thus, ostensibly non- threatening. Among art forms most popular with the Kwakwaka’wakw people of Vancouver Island and the corresponding British Columbia coast were model totem poles, which have often been overlooked as facile souvenir art and even sometimes derided as “idiot sticks.” In reality, however, drawing from both historical accounts and contemporary interviews with Kwakwaka’wakw carvers, this article demonstrates that these model totem poles were a subversive method of Indigenous defiance of Canadian authority. Carvers satirically enacted resistance through these model poles, not only mocking those who would presume to judge without knowledge, but in preserving information for future generations, could ensure the survival of traditional designs and techniques and register protest at their treatment by non-Native government and society.
    [Show full text]
  • 31.2 FORGING a FUTURE 2.CB.3.JD FIN 12/12/07 6:26 PM Page 48
    31.2_FORGING A FUTURE 2.CB.3.JD FIN 12/12/07 6:26 PM Page 48 DYLAN POBLANO JARED CHAVEZ ELIZABETH WALLACE WAYNE NEZ GAUSSOIN Photographs by Miguel Gandert. Photographs by CODY SANDERSON KERI ATAUMBI MARIA SAMORA DAVID GAUSSOIN A NEW ERA IN JEWELRY FORGING A FUTURE Diana Pardue everal young American Indian jewelers are developing and staff member of the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) distinctive contemporary styles while acknowledging in New York City to attend school there. His application was S traditional ones. Like the generation before them, they successful, and his studies included jewelry classes as well as are exploring materials and techniques new to American drawing, painting and fashion design classes. Poblano spent Indian jewelrymaking. Many of these young artists have unique two years at the Fashion Institute learning new techniques, experiences, including formal training in art or design at including lost wax casting, which were influential and useful as competitive universities and select art schools. Others have he continued to develop his sense of design. been influenced by global travels and hands-on opportunities His lost-wax cast designs can be whimsical yet applicable with jewelers from other countries. The result is diverse and to contemporary lifestyles and include small cast earrings distinctive work that is engaging and intriguing. The jewelry in the shapes of couture shoes or charm bracelets that hold of eight of this new generation of young artists is currently a variety of his cast silver shoe charms. Much of Poblano’s being featured at the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona.
    [Show full text]
  • Proquest Dissertations
    LingitX Haa Sateeyi, We Who Are Tlingit: Contemporary Tlingit Identity And The Ancestral Relationship To The Landscape Item Type Thesis Authors Martindale, Vivian F. Download date 11/10/2021 05:50:12 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/11122/8961 NOTE TO USERS Page(s) missing in number only; text follows. Page(s) were scanned as received. 217 This reproduction is the best copy available. UIY1I LINGITX HAA SATEEYI, WE WHO ARE TLINGIT: CONTEMPORARY TLINGIT IDENTITY AND THE ANCESTRAL RELATIONSHIP TO THE LANDSCAPE A Dissertation Present to the Faculty of the University of Alaska Fairbanks in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY By Vivian F. Martindale, M.A. Fairbanks, Alaska May 2008 UMI Number: 3337644 Copyright 2009 by Martindale, Vivian F. All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 3337644 Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 E. Eisenhower Parkway PO Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Abstract Divergent views on the Tlingit ancestral relationship to the landscape of Southeast Alaska often leads to conflicts between Western-orientated government agencies, public entities, and the Tlingit people themselves.
    [Show full text]
  • Arts and the Southeast Economy
    S OUTHEAST CONFERENCE The Arts Economy of Southeast . Alaska Photo by Clark Mischler Tree carving on Mount Roberts by master carver Richard Beasley September 2014 Our Arts Economy Southeast Alaska Arts Data KEY FINDINGS Artists and arts organizations are a key part ! The arts are an important component of the of the Southeast Alaska economy. They regional economy. Altogether artist, arts $57.8 Million: Dollars create products and perform services. They organization, and audience spending in spent by artists, arts generate spending and attract audiences, Southeast Alaska totaled an estimated $57.8 organizations and who in turn spend money at restaurants, million in 2013. audiences in 2013 hotels, and other local businesses. Artists impact education, and by positively Based on an analysis of our survey data, self- ! contributing to the quality of life, they attract employment tax returns, and wage and labor 2,340: Number of young people to the region, and help retain data, there are an estimated 2,340 Southeast artists with earnings Alaska artists who earned revenue from their those who are here. from arts in 2013 art in 2013. Altogether, these artists earned The purpose of this publication is to consider an estimated $29.9 million last year. In terms (full & part time) the role of arts in the Southeast Alaska of workforce earnings, the arts sector is ! economy. nearly twice the size of the regional timber $29.9 Million: industry. Revenue earned by METHODOLOGY Calculating the economic impact of art and Unlike employees in other industries, most regional artists in 2013 artists is notoriously difficult.
    [Show full text]
  • Form in Northwest Coast Art BILL HOLM
    CHAPTER2 Form in Northwest Coast Art BILL HOLM y subject is form in Northwest Coast Indian art, sculptural styles of the Northwest Coast can be seen to and of course it is much too big a subject to deal be at least partially derived from a two dimensional space Mwith at all adequately in one paper. Without division through a continual process of refining positive­ form there is no Northwest Coast Indian art. Its form, the negative form. Early silhouette figures with incised fea­ two and three dimensional shapes and their characteristics, tures and detail are perhaps the immediate forerunners of their relationship to one another, their relationship to the fully sculptural work on the Northwest Coast. At the same whole composition, and the fmal composition itself, time that the two dimensional art tradition was developing, enable us to recognize Northwest Coast art as an entity. I propose that it diverged into a number of different styles, The Northwest Coast is a long coast with many sub­ each retaining some of the basic conceptual features, styles, and the art extends over a long time period; there such as the raised positive-recessed negative concept, and are many variations and it is difficult to discuss them all some formal features such as crescent and T-shaped reliefs at one time. Some of these statements I shall make are (or cuneiform reliefs as Suttles prefers to call them), the not fully thought out. I know I don't have all the answers so-called Northwest Coast eye of varying forms, and yet.
    [Show full text]