Yuxweluptun, Nicolson and Assu: Land, Environment and Activist Art in British Columbia By Jasmine Inglis A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts In Art History Carleton University Ottawa, Ontario © 2016, Jasmine Inglis Abstract Land rights and environmental issues have long been the cause of fiercely intense and heated disputes between the Canadian government and Aboriginal communities in British Columbia. As a province rich in natural resources and with much unceded Aboriginal territory, the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have been times of intense discussion and debate as to how to address and resolve these issues. Contemporary Aboriginal Northwest Coast artists have become powerful voices for facing issues that affect their communities and Canadians at large. This thesis focuses on the representation of land loss and environmental concerns in British Columbia through the work of contemporary Cowichan Coast Salish and Okanagan artist Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun and Kwakwaka’wakw artists Marianne Nicolson and Sonny Assu. The objective is to bring a fresh perspective to understanding the politicized artistic practice of these three artists by considering their work as a form of environmental activism. I examine the relationships between the three artists while contextualizing their work within twentieth- century developments in Northwest Coast art. This research is informed by in-person interviews with the artists conducted in January 2016, as well as the work of scholars Gerald Vizenor, Philip J. Deloria and James Clifford among others. ii Acknowledgements I would like to express my deepest gratitude to those who helped me throughout this project. First and foremost, to Dr. Ruth Phillips, whose patient guidance, thoughtful encouragement, unwavering positivity and insightful critiques have been a constant throughout this project. I am particularly grateful to Dr. Carol Payne for always making time to offer her valuable advice and encouragement and for helping me in developing the proposal for this thesis. I would also like to offer my special thanks to Dr. Allan J. Ryan, who generously shared his own research with me, a resource that has proved to be invaluable throughout this project. I would like to express my very great appreciation to Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Marianne Nicolson and Sonny Assu, the artists interviewed for this thesis. Without them sharing their stories with me, this project would not have been possible. I am deeply grateful for their inspirational bodies of work and for the openness with which they welcomed me. The last two years would not have been the same without the intelligent and dedicated students, faculty, and staff at Carleton University. I feel privileged to have been part of an amazing cohort of bright and motivated women, whose inspirational scholarship and meaningful friendships have enriched this experience. I would especially like to thank Danielle Siemens and Brittany Watson, whose support and friendship throughout this project have been unwavering. My most heartfelt thanks go to my parents Stephen Inglis and Erica Claus, and my sister, Maya Inglis, whose love and encouragement have gotten me to where I am iii today. Finally, I would like to acknowledge my grandmother Joy Inglis, whose sage wisdom and guidance have been constant throughout this project. iv Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………....ii Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………iii Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………….v List of Illustrations………………………………………………………………………..vi Introduction……………………………………………………………………………….1 Chapter One Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun – Land is Power, and Power is Land…………………......24 Chapter Two Marianne Nicolson – Art to Advocate for an Indigenous Worldview…………………...48 Chapter Three Sonny Assu – There is Hope if We Rise…………………………………………………66 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….85 Appendices One – Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun Transcribed Interview……………………………..90 Two – Marianne Nicolson Transcribed Interview……………………………………...104 Three – Sonny Assu Transcribed Interview..…………………………………………...114 Illustrations……………………………………………………………………………..121 References………………………………………………………………………………134 v List of Illustrations Figure Intro.1 Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Scorched Earth, Clear-cut Logging on Native Sovereign Land. Shaman Coming to Fix, 1991, acrylic on canvas, collection of the National Gallery of Canada. Figure Intro.2 Marianne Nicolson, Foolmakers in the Setting Sun, 2014, carved glass and moving light installation, collection of the artist. Figure Intro.3 Sonny Assu, There is Hope if We Rise, 2013, posters, collection of the Burnaby Art Gallery. Figure 1.1 Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, The Universe is so Big, the Whiteman Keeps Me on My Reservation, 1987, acrylic on canvas, collection of the Canadian Museum of History. Figure 1.2 Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Outstanding Business, Reservation Cut-Off Lands, 1984, acrylic on canvas, private collection. Figure 1.3 Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Haida Hot Dog, 1984, acrylic on canvas, collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Figure 1.4 Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Red Man Watching White Man Trying to Fix Hole in Sky, 1990, acrylic on canvas, collection of the National Gallery of Canada. Figure 1.5 Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, An Indian Act, Shooting the Indian Act, 1997- 2003, performance piece, collection of the National Gallery of Canada. Figure 1.6 Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Indian World My Home and Native Land, 2012, acrylic on canvas, Macaulay & Co. Fine Art. Figure 1.7 Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Fucking Creeps They’re Environmental Terrorists, 2013, acrylic on canvas, Maculay & Co. Fine Art. Figure 1.8 Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Clear Cut to the Last Tree, 1993, acrylic on canvas, collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Figure 1.9 Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, The Impending Nisga’a Deal. Last Stand. Chump Change, 1996, acrylic on canvas, collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Figure 2.1 Marianne Nicolson, Cliff Painting, 1998, rock painting in Kingcome Inlet, British Columbia. Figure 2.2 Marianne Nicolson, A Precarious State, 2013, carved and lit site-specific glass installation, Canadian Embassy, Amman, Jordan. vi Figure 2.3 Marianne Nicolson, Even though I am the Last One. I Still Count, 2000, installation combining photography, painting and masks, collection of the Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia. Figure 2.4 Marianne Nicolson, The Rivers Monument, 2015, lit glass and cedar installation at the Vancouver International Airport. Figure 3.1 Sonny Assu, 1884/1951, 2009, copper and Hudson’s Bay Point blanket installation. Figure 3.2 Sonny Assu, Breakfast Series, 2006, 5 boxes made of digitally printed photographic paper over foam-core, collection of the National Gallery of Canada. Figure 3.3 Sonny Assu, Ellipsis, 2012, 137 copper LP’s mounted on a wall. Figure 3.4 Sonny Assu, Coke Salish, 2006, duratrans and light box mounted on a wall. Figure 3.5 Sonny Assu, #shamelessselfie, 2013, acrylic on Elk-hide drum. Figure 3.6 Sonny Assu, Do You Want to See My Status Card? #selfie, 2013, acrylic on Elk-hide drum. Figure 3.7 Sonny Assu, Longing Series, 2011, found cedar and brass. Figure 3.8 Sonny Assu, It Was, Like, A Super Long Time Ago That Ppl Were Here, Right?, part of the Interventions on the Imaginary Series, 2014, digital intervention on an Emily Carr painting, collection of the artist. Figure 3.9 Sonny Assu, What a Great Spot for a Wal-Mart, part of the Interventions on the Imaginary Series, 2015, digital intervention on an Emily Carr painting, collection of the artist vii Introduction The history is quite clear; everybody knows what was done so my work was going back and recording land…We’ve gone from a complete control to an apartheid despotism system for a usufructuary right of land. – Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun1 I see my art as being my voice in this environmental debate. That land is my father, my mother. – Marianne Nicolson2 Through my work as a whole I want to challenge people to think outside that box of how we are treating ourselves in relation to one another and how we are treating our environment. – Sonny Assu3 Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun’s Scorched Earth, Clear-cut Logging on Native Sovereign Land. Shaman Coming to Fix (1991) explores the destruction of nature in the artist’s home province of British Columbia [Figure Intro.1]. The painting depicts a shaman looking over a devastated landscape, while elements of the landscape weep due to their destruction, thereby personifying nature’s grief. This work relies on traditional Northwest Coast design mixed with bright colors and surrealist imagery to address land claims and the threat that the logging industry presents to the environment. Marianne Nicolson’s Foolmakers in the Setting Sun (2014) is a comment on how the modern economic approach of massive resource extraction in a short period of time for monetary gain is foolish, and not consistent with traditional Indigenous worldviews [Figure Intro.2]. The installation was on display at Gallery 2 in Grand Forks B.C. in 1 Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, interview by author, Vancouver, British Columbia, January 11, 2016, 1. 2 Marianne Nicolson, interview by author, Victoria, British Columbia, January 14, 2016, 8. 3 Sonny Assu, interview by author, Surrey, British Columbia, January 17, 2016, 5. 1 2014, consisting of a backlit glass casting of ceremonial power boards, picturing supernatural beings and a