Heiltsuk Case: Museums^ Collectors, Inventories
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UMI Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 The Heiltsuk Case: Museums^ Collectors, Inventories by Martha Black B.A., University of Toronto, 1968 M.A., York University, 1988 A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in the Department of History in Art We accept this dissertation as conforming to the required standard Dr. Vic'tor'ia‘Wyatt, /Sùpéirvisor (Department of History in Art) Dr. Chrol Gibson-Wood^ Departmental Member (Department of History in Art) Dr. Kathlyfi Lisconibj Departmental Member (Department of History in. Art) Dr.WilliamT 1 1 i AT n TZukVtTV v Department of Arts in Education Dr. Andrea Laforet,\External Examiner (Director,Canadian Ethnology Service^/Canadian Museum of Civilization) Martha Black, 1998 University of Victoria All rights reserved. This dissertation may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopying or other means, without the permission of the author. XI Supervisor: Dr. Victoria Wyatt ABSTRACT The art of the Heiltsuk of the central coast of British Columbia is not well known to non-aboriginal people and has been frequently misrepresented in the literature on the Northwest Coast. Because the majority of historical art from Bella Bella and other Heiltsuk communities is now in museums, ideas about Heiltsuk art and culture have been shaped largely by the museum collections from this region. While it is recognized that museums impose new organizations and narratives on the objects they display and store, how this happens is often less clear. To elucidate the process, the current methodological study analyses in detail the Heiltsuk collections of four major museums : the National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institution), the American Museum of Natural History, the Royal British Columbia Museum, and the Canadian Museum of Civilization, and makes reference to Heiltsuk art and artifacts in other collections. Close examination of the composition and documentation of, and motivations for, these collections reveals both the diverse inventories used to create the museum-structured representation of Heiltsuk culture and the processes of their accumulation. The dissimilar agendas, knowledge. i n and opportunities of the artifact collectors influence museums* portrayals of Heiltsuk culture. The study deals only with Heiltsuk collections but its findings and methodologies are applicable to other Northwest Coast collections. Dr. Vicïori ÿatt, Supervisor (Department of History in Art) - Dr. Carol Gioson-Wood, Departmental Member (Department of History in Art) Dry Kathlyrv^Liscomb, Departmental Member (Department of History in Art) Dr. William Zuk, "Department of Arts in Education Dr. Andrea La External Examiner (Director, Canadian Ethnology Servie Canadian Museum of Civilization) IV TABLE OF CONTENTS A b stract................................................... ü Table of Contents......................................... iv List of Illustrations.................................... vii Acknowledgments........................................... xiv Preface.................................................... 1 N o t e s .................................................. 5 INTRODUCTION The Heiltsuk and Heiltsuk Style The Heiltsuk Nation.................................. 7 The Heiltsuk Record.................................. 14 Heiltsuk Art .......................................... 2 6 N o t e s .................................................. 41 CHAPTER I Heiltsuk Art in the Museum Context.......... 46 N o t e s .................................................. 55 CHAPTER II Heiltsuk Art in Museum Collections : Four Case Studies.................................... 58 Case 1: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution James G. Swan Collection....................... 62 Other Bella Bella Collections................. 97 N otes............................................ 99 Case 2: American Museum of Natural History........ 103 Bishop-Powell Collection....................... 104 George T. Emmons Collection................... 129 V Boas-Hunt Collections Franz Boas Purchases..................... 133 George Hunt Collections.................. 147 Junius W. MacMurray Collection................ 171 Notes............................................ 175 Case 3: Royal British Columbia Museum............. 188 B. Fillip Jacobsen Collection................ 188 Charles F. Newcombe Collection................ 243 Other Bella Bella Collections................. 257 H. A. Ormiston Gift....................... 257 Ronald L. Olson Collection............... 258 David Campbell Collection................ 261 Howard Roloff Collection................. 2 63 R. Geddes Large Gift..................... 266 Contemporary Heiltsuk Art ................ 268 Notes............................................ 270 Case 4. Canadian Museum of Civilization........... 283 A. A. Aaronson Collection..................... 284 Other Bella Bella Collections Harlan I. Smith Purchases................ 323 Frank K. Bennet Collection............... 325 Marius Barbeau Purchases................. 327 Lewis Clifton Collection................. 331 Contemporary Heiltsuk Art ................ 332 Notes............................................ 334 VI CHAPTER III Sorting the Inventory A Museum Picture of Heiltsuk A r t .................. 342 Comparative Analysis .......................... 343 Dates and Histories ..................... 344 Collectors................................. 350 Sources..................................... 3 54 Documentation.............................. 3 64 Toward a Heiltsuk Art History....................... 373 For Further Research .......................... 381 N o t e s .................................................. 386 Works Cited.......... 388 Appendix A: National Museum of Natural History, James G. Swan Collection....................................... 413 Appendix B: American Museum of Natural History, Heiltsuk Collections........................................... 422 Appendix C: Royal British Columbia Museum, Heiltsuk Collections........................................... 429 Appendix D: Canadian Museum of Civilization, Heiltsuk Collections........................................... 449 Appendix E: Illustrations................................ 454 v i l ILLUSTRATIONS Map 1 Approximate ancestral territories of the Heiltsuk groups. From Black 1997. Courtesy Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) , Toronto.......................... 454 Map 2 Bella Bella and the Northwest Coast. From Black 1997. Courtesy ROM, Toronto.................... 455 Map 3 Bella Bella and vicinity. From Black 1997 Courtesy ROM, Toronto.......................... 456 Fig. 1 Ceremonial cradle with moveable figure, a Heiltsuk prerogative collected at Village Island, in Kwakwaka'wakw territory. University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology (UBCMOA), Vancouver. A7877................................ 457 Fig. 2 Bella Bella ('Qelc), McLoughlin Bay. R. Maynard photograph, 1873. Royal British Columbia Museum (RBCM) , Victoria. PN 2131 (detail)............ 458 Fig. 3 Bella Bella ('Qelc). R. Maynard photograph, 1884. RBCM PN 10184-A.......................... 459 Fig. 4 Bella Bella (Waglisla). McKenna McBride Land Commission photograph, 1913. RBCM PN 12390... 460 Fig. 5 Bella Bella (Waglisla). P. Hobler photograph, 1969. RBCM PN 16088...................... 461 Fig. 6 Mask purchased by Franz Boas in Victoria, 1894. American Museum of Natural History (AMNH), New York. 16/692 .................................... 462 V l l l Fig. 7 a (top) : Settee collected by C. F. Newcombe, Bella Bella, 1911. RBCM CPN 1856. b (bottom): Mask collected by F. Jacobsen, 1893. RBCM CPN 7 2 ................................................ 463 Fig. 8 a (top): Dance fan, J. G. Swan collection, 1875. National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution (NMNH), Washington. 20636. b (bottom): Mask with painted parchment train, J. G. Swan collection, 1875. NMNH 20571......... 464 Fig. 9 Rattle, J. G. Swan collection, 1875. NMNH 20585............................................ 465 Fig. 10 a (top): Mask, J. G.