The First Nations of the Northwest Coast have a way of life which is oriented toward the sea. These peoples lived in permanent villages with complex social organizations. Northwest Coast art, like art throughout the world, is integrated into other aspects of culture. An important part of the social organization of many of the First Nations in this culture area are lineages who are descended from a mythological ancestor who had received special powers and privileges from a supernatural being.
In her book Kwakiutl Art, Audrey Hawthorn reports:
“Such powers and privileges—including songs, dance, and the right to wear certain crests—were perpetuated from generation to generation. These crest forms are the main subject of carving, painting, and decoration, and much of Kwakiutl ceremony is based on these legendary inherences.”
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 exhibit of Killer Whale Crests. The crests are a way of connecting the past and the present: they connect present descendants with their ancestors.
According to the Museum:
“Some Northwest Coast peoples recognize each other by their crests. Crest beings (or figures), like Killer Whale, tell families and communities about their origins and their connections. These figures appear on all manner of belongings. Killer Whale crests can appear on totem poles, dance screens, masks and regalia, boxes, dishes, and even tattoos.”
Concerning the many different ways in which the crests can be shown or utilized, anthropologist Edward Sapir, in his chapter in Indians of the North Pacific Coast: Studies in Selected Topics, reports:
“They may be painted on movable boards used as screens or otherwise, painted on the outside of the house or along the bed platform, carved on the house-posts or beams, or on memorial columns, or on the outside house-posts popularly known as totem poles, tattooed on the body, painted on the face during feasts, represented in dance-hats, masks, staffs, or other ceremonial paraphernalia, woven into ceremonial robes, referred to in clan legends, dramatically represented at potlatches in performances based on such legends, referred to in songs owned by the clan or clan-chiefs, and in individual or house names.”
With regard to form, Bill Holm, in his chapter in Indian Art Traditions of the Northwest Coast, writes:
“The resulting compositions may be geometric, straight line designs, or curvilinear; they may be representational or not.”
In her chapter on Northwest Coast art in A Wealth of Thought: Franz Boas on Native American Art, Aldona Jonaitis writes:
“The primary formline, usually black, outlines the major elements of the image, while secondary formlines, often in red, denote other elements. Other components of these designs include ovoids, eyelids, U-forms, and split U-forms, all of which work in harmony with the formlines to create the distinctive Northwest Coast two-dimensional image.”
Willie Seaweed (1873-1967) was a hereditary chief and is remembered as one of the greatest Kwakwaka'wakw carvers.
With regard to Thunderbird, Audrey Hawthorn writes:
“Thunderbird was huge and powerful, able to catch and lift the Killer Whale.”
According to the Museum:
“To wear a robe like this is to be wrapped in your family history. Elizabeth Hunt fashioned this robe with raw trade materials of wool blankets and mother-of-pearl buttons. Northwest Coast robe makers include a person’s crest to represent family lineages.”
This design includes both the house crest, Killer Whale, and the clan crest, Fireweed.
More about the Northwest Coast
Indians 101: Kwakiutl supernatural beings
Indians 101: Tlingit clan hats (photo diary)
Indians 101: Some repatriated Tlingit artifacts (photo diary)
Indians 101: Chilkat Dancing Blankets (photo diary)
Indians 101: Killer Whale Potlatch Feast Bowl (museum exhibit)
Indians 101: Coastal canoes (museum exhibit)
Indians 101: The Northwest Coast plank longhouse (museum diary)
Indians 101: Northwest Coast House Panels (Photo Diary)