North West Coast Flashcards
Wildlife
Animals decided the family names. Main animals included;
-The Bear: They demonstrate how to fish and collect berries, common practices among the indigenous people of the northwest coast. They were also perceived to have a great self awareness and are able to deliberate on decisions and actions. They represent strength and learned humility through motherhood and teaching
-The Salmon: A symbol of abundance, wealth and prosperity as it was a primary food source for the people of the Northwest coast
-The Wolf: Known for his intelligence, leadership and strong sense of family, as well as being a great team player. It symbolizes perseverance, intuition and success
-The Eagle: Ruler of the sky with the ability to transform itself. It symbolizes grace, power and has a great intelligence. It is sacred, wise and noble. Used to portray prestige and chiefmanship
-The Whale: The guardian of the sea and travel, as week as unity and goodness, because they often travel in family groups (or pods), hunt together and mate for life
-The Raven: teaches about life and justice. It is involved among in many creation myths for bring the light and releasing the sun and moon. It also gets bored and looks for amusement easily, making it the catalyst for change
-The Frog: Messenger and communicator between species because it freely travels between two worlds, water and land, inhabiting both natural and supernatural realms. They hold power and knowledge and symbolise springtime and new life.
-The Beaver: Has a great understanding of nature and working harmoniously with its surroundings. The beaver symbolises strong will and good work ethics.
Transformation Masks
-Were used in ceremonies (dances/pow wows), opening with a complex systems of strings. The holes in the masks express continuity
-People from the northwest coast often used natural tools (wood or stone) and natural paints (cedar oil, salmon eggs, spit)
-Transformation masks represent animals being transformed into humans. This shows the relationship between the ancestors of the nature; they are manifestations of ancestral spirits and supernatural beings, due to the belief of animism
-Masks are highly valued by the Kwakiuti, serving as representations of supernatural beings and ancestral spirits and gave offerings to these entities through this temporary embodyment and communication through dance and other kinds of performance
-Masks also allow the wearer to undergo spiritual and social renewal, and serve as an outward manifestation of the inword transformations (Pollock 1995: 588-590)
Animism
the belief that everything in the natural world has a soul
Mortuary Pole
-These poles were only for chiefs and important figures. These people would be cremated and kept at home for a year, and then put in a cavity in the pole afterward as a form of honouring them
-They were aroind 10 meters, and originally not painted, having many different sections which represented animals to explain the story of the crest
-The carvings of the animals flowed into each other, rather than being clear cut, displaying the connection of the native americans society with nature. The stories were carved from top to bottom
-Potlach was the name of the ceremonies in which these poles were raised
-the community would gather together to raise the pole after the artist selected the tree and modeling the story of the crest which asked for it
-Every house had a pole raised by their ancestors. Removing this pole would cause anger for the ancestral spirits
The Kwakiuti
-Lived in BC
-Many of groups under this tribal umbrella believed that ancestors roamed the world, transforming themselves in the process (perhaps removing their animal skins or masks to reveal their human selves)
-They were arranged into 4 clans; Killer Whale, Eagle, Raven and Wolf
-The groups were seperated into numayn: groups that shared a common ancestor
-The numayn were responsible for safeguarding crests and conveying their specific rights
Form Line
-Basic colours of the Northwest Coast were red and black; black was used to strongly contour/outline the form and anatomy of the graphic, while red was often used for more secondary features
-Form lines always curve/flow/connect to avoid having clumsy/jagged lines. often a y or t shape was added at a junction to smooth over the lines
Ovoid
-top edge appears sprung upward, while the bottom bulges upward, seemingly pulled by the two ‘corners’; similar to the ovoid used in morth northern art, but more rounded instead
inner ovoid: an ovoid within the open, linear ovoid
three types of inner ovoid: the solid, the double-eye motif, the salmon-trout head motif
S Form
-two halves of a u form join, but turn in opposite directions: one is pointed upward, one is pointed downwards
U Form
-
