George Clutesi

Last updated

George Clutesi
Born1905
Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada
Died27 February 1988 (aged 82 or 83)
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation(s)Artist, actor, writer

George Clutesi, CM (1905 – 27 February 1988), was a Tseshaht artist, actor and writer, as well as an expert on and ambassador for all Canadian First Nations culture. [1]

Contents

Biography

Clutesi was born in Port Alberni, British Columbia in 1905. He was raised in his mother's home village in the Broken Group after her death when he was four. His father and aunts recognized his abilities at an early age and encouraged him to develop his talents. He sought refuge in his art from the pressures brought to bear on him at the Alberni Residential School. At the school, Indigenous children were driven to forget their heritage and culture in an effort to force them to assimilate into white settler culture. [1]

As an adult, Clutesi worked as a fisherman and as a pile driver to support his wife and five children. With the encouragement of friends, he began to paint in oils and to exhibit his work during the 1940s and 1950s. Emily Carr was so impressed with his work that in her will she left him her brushes, oils and unused canvases. In 1947, Clutesi began to contribute essays to the first Aboriginal newspaper in Canada, The Native Voice. While recovering from an on-the-job injury, he met the chief of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in the Vancouver area, Ira Dilworth. With Dilworth's encouragement, he told stories from his heritage on CBC radio. He then wrote a play about the culture of First Nations' peoples, They were a Happy Singing People. [2] In 1961, he addressed the British Columbia Historical Association on Northwest Coast art urging the preservation of Indigenous cultures. [3]

In 1959, he received the British Columbia Centennial Award and the Canadian Centennial Medal in 1967. [4] Clutesi was commissioned to paint a mural for Expo 67. The University of Victoria granted him an Honorary Doctorate in Law in 1971. [1] He was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1973. [5]

Clutesi became one of the first Indigenous writers in British Columbia to gain recognition. His Son of Raven, Son of Deer (1967) was one of the first books written about the Tseshaht First Nation culture, by a Nuu-chah-nulth author.[ citation needed ] It was followed by Potlatch (1969), which portrayed elements of the Potlatch. In the late 1970s, Clutesi appeared in four movies: Prophecy , Dreamspeaker , Nightwing , and Spirit of the Wind. [6] He won a Canadian Film Award for his portrayal of a Native shaman in Dreamspeaker. [7] Clutesi also appeared in a number of television programs. [1]

He died in Victoria in 1988, not long after his final television appearance on the CBC's First Nations TV series Spirit Bay , in which he played an elder who helps the local children deal with questions about their Indigenous culture. [8]

Filmography

TV series

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potlatch</span> Gift-giving festival and economic system

A potlatch is a gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States, among whom it is traditionally the primary governmental institution, legislative body, and economic system. This includes the Heiltsuk, Haida, Nuxalk, Tlingit, Makah, Tsimshian, Nuu-chah-nulth, Kwakwaka'wakw, and Coast Salish cultures. Potlatches are also a common feature of the peoples of the Interior and of the Subarctic adjoining the Northwest Coast, although mostly without the elaborate ritual and gift-giving economy of the coastal peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kwakwakaʼwakw</span> Indigenous ethnic group of the Pacific Northwest Coast

The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw, also known as the Kwakiutl, are one of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their current population, according to a 2016 census, is 3,665. Most live in their traditional territory on northern Vancouver Island, nearby smaller islands including the Discovery Islands, and the adjacent British Columbia mainland. Some also live outside their homelands in urban areas such as Victoria and Vancouver. They are politically organized into 13 band governments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nuu-chah-nulth</span> North American ethnic group

The Nuu-chah-nulth, also formerly referred to as the Nootka, Nutka, Aht, Nuuchahnulth or Tahkaht, are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast in Canada. The term Nuu-chah-nulth is used to describe fifteen related tribes whose traditional home is on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

First Nations is a term used to identify Indigenous Canadian peoples who are neither Inuit nor Métis. Traditionally, First Nations in Canada were peoples who lived south of the tree line, and mainly south of the Arctic Circle. There are 634 recognized First Nations governments or bands across Canada. Roughly half are located in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Alberni</span> City in British Columbia, Canada

Port Alberni is a city located on Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The city lies within the Alberni Valley at the head of the Alberni Inlet, Vancouver Island's longest inlet. It is the location of the head offices of the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District. Port Alberni currently has a total population of 18,259.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chief Dan George</span> Chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, actor

Chief Dan George was a chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, a Coast Salish band whose Indian reserve is located on Burrard Inlet in the southeast area of the District of North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He also was an actor, musician, poet and an author. The Chief's best-known written work is "My Heart Soars". As an actor, he is best remembered for portraying Old Lodge Skins opposite Dustin Hoffman in Little Big Man (1970), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and for his role in The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976), as Lone Watie, opposite Clint Eastwood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haisla people</span>

The Haisla are an amalgamation of two bands, the Kitamaat people of upper Douglas Channel and Devastation Channel and the Kitlope People of upper Princess Royal Channel and Gardner Canal in British Columbia, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tseshaht First Nation</span>

Tseshaht First Nation is an amalgamation of many tribes up and down Alberni Inlet and in the Alberni Valley of central Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. They are a member of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council which includes all other Nuu-chah-nulth-aht peoples except the Pacheedaht First Nation.

The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council is a First Nations Tribal Council in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located on the west coast of Vancouver Island. The organization is based in Port Alberni, British Columbia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas Cole (historian)</span> American-Canadian historian

Douglas Lowell Cole was an American-Canadian historian. Cole specialized in the art and culture of the Northwest Pacific Coast, and from 1966 until 1997 served as a professor in the history department at Simon Fraser University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast</span>

The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are composed of many nations and tribal affiliations, each with distinctive cultural and political identities. They share certain beliefs, traditions and practices, such as the centrality of salmon as a resource and spiritual symbol, and many cultivation and subsistence practices. The term Northwest Coast or North West Coast is used in anthropology to refer to the groups of Indigenous people residing along the coast of what is now called British Columbia, Washington State, parts of Alaska, Oregon, and Northern California. The term Pacific Northwest is largely used in the American context.

(Barbara) Anne Cameron was a Canadian novelist, poet, screenwriter, short story and children's book writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alberni Valley</span>

Alberni Valley is a broad valley located at the head of Alberni Inlet on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It is home to Port Alberni, Sproat Lake and other outlining areas. The term is largely used as a synonym for Greater Port Alberni and adjoining communities but is used in a larger regional sense as well. Various local organizations and companies use the term "Alberni Valley" in their name, e.g. the Alberni Valley Times and Alberni Valley News newspapers the Alberni Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Alberni Valley Bulldogs minor hockey team. The Canadian pioneer, Joe Drinkwater lived in Alberni Valley during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Alec Thomas was born around 1894 near Alberni, British Columbia, Canada. He was a fisherman, trapper, longshoreman, interpreter, self-taught anthropologist, and Tseshaht politician. Alec had a wife named Eva and also had a son named Bob. With him being a trapper he would lay traps for 14 miles between 2 bodies of water, the Somass River and Sprout Lake. At the end of the day, he would check each one with his wife and son, walking through his miles of traps. This is what he did for a living, hunting different animals such as fish and beavers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somass River</span>

Somass River is a river on Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Its drainage basin is 1,412 square kilometres (545 sq mi) in size.

Over the course of centuries, many Indigenous Canadians have played a critical role in shaping the history of Canada. From art and music, to law and government, to sports and war; Indigenous customs and culture have had a strong influences on defining Canadian culture. The Indspire Awards are the annual awards presented by Indspire, formerly the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. The awards were first established in 1993 in conjunction with the United Nations declaring the 1990s "International Decade of the World's Indigenous peoples". June 21 is Canada's National Aboriginal Day, in recognition of the cultural contributions made by Canada's indigenous population. The day was first celebrated in 1996 following Governor General of Canada Roméo LeBlanc's proclamation.

The following is an alphabetical list of topics related to Indigenous peoples in Canada, comprising the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potlatch ban</span>

The potlatch ban was legislation forbidding the practice of the potlatch passed by the Government of Canada, begun in 1885 and lasting until 1951.

Andy Everson is a contemporary Indigenous Artist born in Comox, British Columbia. He was named Nagedzi after Chief Andy Frank, who was his grandfather. His artworks are greatly influenced by his Comox and Kwakwaka'wakw ancestries. His artwork is said to be "magnificent, beautiful and bountiful and presents strong imagery, tells a tale, sings a song, passes on a legend, dispels myth and in general fills the spirit and the body with a renewed respect".

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Clutesi, George. "Tseshaht First Nation: history-culture/influential figures". tsehaht.com. Tseshaht First Nation. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  2. ↑ "- First Nation's Art IN B.C.- BC Archives Time Machine. Online. 10 October 2007". Archived from the original on 30 April 2007. Retrieved 10 October 2007.
  3. ↑ Rollin Art Center: Robert Aller Exhibit, George Clutesi. Online. 13 October 2007.
  4. ↑ Native American Authors: . Online 9 October 2007
  5. ↑ IMDB. Biography for George Clutesi. Online. 13 October 2007.
  6. ↑ George Clutesi at Internet Movie Database
  7. ↑ "The Film Reference Library. Dreamspeaker. Online. 13 October 2007". Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
  8. ↑ ABCBookWorld, Clutesi, George. Online. 10 October 2007
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.