The homelands of the Haida First Nation are the Queen Charlotte Islands off the coast of British Columbia. Like other First Nations living on the Pacific Northwest Coast, the Haida have a highly valued artistic tradition with includes elaborate, stylized wood carvings which reflect their mythology and worldview.
In an 1898 article reprinted in A Wealth of Thought: Franz Boas on Native American Art, Franz Boas writes about Northwest Coast art:
“While among most primitive people we find a tendency to the development of geometric designs, the Indians of northern British Columbia use for decorative purposes almost exclusively animal motives. The animal forms are highly conventionalized, and may be recognized by a number of symbols characteristic of the various animals that the artists try to represent. The Indians have adopted a peculiar method of adopting the animal form to the decorative field.”
Art is, of course, a part of culture and often express those things that are important in culture. In his book American Indian Art, Norman Feder writes:
“Ancestry was based on mythology about animals, and the art was therefore an expression of totemism. The people felt a direct and close relationship to mythological animals and used them as decorations on all of their clothing, houses, utensils, and of course the famous totem poles.”
As a part of a special exhibition, Orcas: Our Shared Future, in the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) in Portland, Oregon, there was an exhibition of a screen with Haida stories carved in 1967 by Haida artist Bill Reid (1920-1998). The screen is carved in laminated cedar.
According to OMSI:
“This masterful Bill Reid carving entwines humans, animals and supernatural beings to reflect the Haida worldview that we are all interconnected. Legendary figures share powers and knowledge, support each other, and move between lands, seas and skies.”
Note: These photographs were taken on November 5, 2023.
More about Northwest Coast First Nations
Indians 101: Northwest Coast Baskets in the Maryhill Museum (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Killer Whale Potlatch Feast Bowl (museum exhibit)
Indians 101: Honour for Killer Whales (museum exhibit)
Indians 101: Northwest Coast Killer Whale crests (museum exhibit)
Indians 101: Kwakwaka'wakw Dancers (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: The Northwest Coast plank longhouse (museum diary)
Indians 101: Northwest Coast Masks (Photo Diary)
Indians 101: Northwest Coast House Panels (Photo Diary)