The Raven and the First Men | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Artist | Bill Reid |
Year | 1978 |
Type | Laminated yellow cedar |
Dimensions | 1.88 m× 1.92 m(6 ft 2 in× 6 ft 4 in) |
Location | Museum of Anthropology at UBC, Vancouver |
49°16′10″N123°15′35″W / 49.269366°N 123.259596°W |
The Raven and the First Men is a sculpture by Haida artist Bill Reid. It depicts the Haida creation myth. It was carved from a single block of laminated yellow cedar, beginning in the fall of 1978, and took two years to complete, with work completing on April 1, 1980. [1] [2] Raven and the First Men is depicted on the reverse of the former Canadian twenty dollar bill of the Canadian Journey series.
Raven and the First Men depicts the creation myth of the Haida people. According to the myth, the Raven, the Haida Trickster, [3] wound up on Haida Gwaii's Rose Spit Beach. He was alerted by some sounds to a large clamshell that had little creatures dwelling inside, reluctant to emerge from their shell. With some coaxing from Raven using his beak, and their curiosity about the outside world, the beings emerged from the clamshell to become the first Haida people. [4] [5]
Raven came to realize that the beings that emerged were only men. He grew bored of seeing them play and exploring the world. Raven attempted to find women for the men within the clam. Finding a chiton, he opened one up and found little women living within them. He brought the women to the men, and enjoyed watching them and their behavior. They began to elope and move across to the other parts of the island. Raven never grew bored again with the humans and their families around. [6] [7]
While living in Montreal, Reid began the sculpture with a miniature carving made of boxwood. [8] The piece was inspired by the works of Haida artist Charles Edenshaw. The piece was entitled The Raven Discovering Mankind in a Clamshell, and was carved in 1970. [9] Businessman Walter Koerner noticed the miniature and commissioned Reid to create a larger version for the Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia. [10] Reid travelled from Montreal to Vancouver in 1972 to start the commission. [8] Another scale version of the sculpture made in onyx exists and both carvings are held in the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art. [2] A miniature cast in gold was later auctioned off in 2005 for over $100,000. [11]
Work proved difficult, as a singular block of red cedar log was difficult to find without imperfection. 2.1 meter blocks were difficult to find because of the presence of rot and defects. A donation by Rayonier Canada of multiple yellow cedar beams which were laminated together with the assistance of Koppers International became the final medium for the sculpture.
Carving began in the fall of 1978, the initial roughing of the shape was done with the assistance of Gidansda Guujaaw and George A. Norris. The men within the clamshell were carved by George Rammell and the final tool finishing being done by Reg Davidson and Jim Hart. [10] [2]
Charles, Prince of Wales unveiled the Raven and the First Men on April 1, 1980. [12] The sculpture was celebrated by the Haida people and their guests on June 5, 1980.
It has since become a popular attraction to the visitors of the museum. [13] Raven and the First Men was featured on the Canadian twenty-dollar bill in the Canadian Journey series of bills from 2004 to 2011. [14] Reception has been positive, with one critic remarking that Reid combines European sculpture tradition with native Haida art. [15]
Many experience delight while others are awed by the hovering supernatural Raven. Their responses affirm the power of Northwest Coast art to touch the emotions of people from different cultures.
— Karen Duffek, Bill Reid: Beyond the Essential Form (1986) [16]
William Ronald Reid Jr. was a Haida artist whose works include jewelry, sculpture, screen-printing, and paintings. Producing over one thousand original works during his fifty-year career, Reid is regarded as one of the most significant Northwest Coast artists of the late twentieth century.
The Haida are an Indigenous group who have traditionally occupied Haida Gwaii, an archipelago just off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, for at least 12,500 years.
Totem poles are monumental carvings found in western Canada and the northwestern United States. They are a type of Northwest Coast art, consisting of poles, posts or pillars, carved with symbols or figures. They are usually made from large trees, mostly western red cedar, by First Nations and Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast including northern Northwest Coast Haida, Tlingit, and Tsimshian communities in Southeast Alaska and British Columbia, Kwakwaka'wakw and Nuu-chah-nulth communities in southern British Columbia, and the Coast Salish communities in Washington and British Columbia.
The Museum of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) campus in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada displays world arts and cultures, in particular works by First Nations of the Pacific Northwest. As well as being a major tourist destination, MOA is a research and teaching museum, where UBC courses in art, anthropology, archaeology, conservation, and museum studies are given. MOA houses close to 50,000 ethnographic objects, as well as 535,000 archaeological objects in its building alone.
Masterfully designed canoes of many sizes and forms were made on the Pacific Northwest coast of North America. They were the main form of transportation for the indigenous people of the area until long after European colonization. In recent years, the craft of canoe-making has been revived, and a few have been built by a number of the native nations, Like those made in traditional times, they have proved eminently seaworthy.
The Spirit of Haida Gwaii is a sculpture by British Columbia Haida artist Bill Reid (1920–1998). There are two versions of it: the black canoe and the jade canoe. The black canoe features on Canadian $20 bills of the Canadian Journey series issued between 2004 and 2012.
Robert Charles Davidson, is a Canadian artist of Haida heritage. Davidson's Haida name is G̲uud San Glans, which means "Eagle of the Dawn". He is a leading figure in the renaissance of Haida art and culture. He lives in White Rock, British Columbia.
Dempsey Bob, is a Northwest Coast woodcarver and sculptor from British Columbia, Canada, who is of Tahltan and Tlingit First Nations descent. He was born in the Tahltan village of Telegraph Creek on the Stikine River in northwestern B.C., and is of the Wolf clan.
Charles Edenshaw was a Haida artist from Haida Gwaii, British Columbia. He is known for his woodcarving, argillite carving, jewellery, and painting. His style was known for its originality and innovative narrative forms, created while adhering to the principles of formline art characteristic of Haida art. In 1902, the ethnographer and collector Charles F. Newcombe called Edenshaw “the best carver in wood and stone now living.”
Northwest Coast art is the term commonly applied to a style of art created primarily by artists from Tlingit, Haida, Heiltsuk, Nuxalk, Tsimshian, Kwakwaka'wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth and other First Nations and Native American tribes of the Northwest Coast of North America, from pre-European-contact times up to the present.
Chief Mungo Martin or Nakapenkem, Datsa, was an important figure in Northwest Coast style art, specifically that of the Kwakwaka'wakw Aboriginal people who live in the area of British Columbia and Vancouver Island. He was a major contributor to Kwakwaka'wakw art, especially in the realm of wood sculpture and painting. He was also known as a singer and songwriter.
Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas is a visual artist, author, and public speaker. His work has been seen in public spaces, museums, galleries and private collections across globe. Institutional collections include the British Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Seattle Art Museum, Vancouver Art Gallery, and the Humboldt Forum.
Primrose Adams was a Canadian First Nations artist and member of the Raven Clan from the Haida nation. She wove hats and baskets in the Haida method and is most notable for her spruce root basketry, which involves working in the traditional manner of collecting and dyeing her own spruce root. Adams died in January 2020.
Formline art is a feature in the Indigenous art of the Northwest Coast of North America, distinguished by the use of characteristic shapes referred to as ovoids, U forms and S forms. Coined by Bill Holm in his 1965 book Northwest Coast Indian Art: An Analysis of Form, the "formline is the primary design element on which Northwest Coast art depends, and by the turn of the 20th century, its use spread to the southern regions as well. It is the positive delineating force of the painting, relief and engraving. Formlines are continuous, flowing, curvilinear lines that turn, swell and diminish in a prescribed manner. They are used for figure outlines, internal design elements, and abstract compositions."
Doug Cranmer (1927–2006), also known as Pal'nakwala Wakas and Kesu', was a Kwakwaka'wakw carver and artist as well as a 'Namgis chief. Cranmer was a significant figure in the Northwest Coast art movement, both in its traditional form and in a modern contemporary form that he created and developed.
The Nisga'a and Haida Crest Poles of the Royal Ontario Museum are a collection of four large totem poles, hand carved from western red cedar by the Nisga’a people and Haida people of British Columbia's coast. The poles are referred to as: Three Persons Along (Nisga'a); the Pole of Sag̱aw̓een (Nisga'a); the Shaking Pole of Kw’ax̱suu (Nisga'a); and House 16: Strong House Pole (Haida). Each of the crest poles tell a family story, as carved figures represent crests that commemorate family history by describing family origins, achievements and experiences. These memorial poles were typically placed in front of the owners' house along the beach.
The Haida Heritage Centre is the premier cultural centre and museum of the Haida people. It is located in Skidegate, a community on Graham Island in Haida Gwaii off the Pacific coast of British Columbia, Canada. The centre is situated just south of the site of a historical village in Kay Llnagaay. The Centre was built and is managed by Gwaalagaa Naay, an economic development branch of the Skidegate Band Council, the owners of the site. It is one of the major aboriginal cultural tourism attractions in Haida Gwaii and has been described as "a place for the Haida voice to be heard." Educational programs are offered in partnership with School District 50 Haida Gwaii, the University of Northern British Columbia, and with the Haida Gwaii Higher Education Society.
James Hart is a Canadian and Haida artist and a chief of the Haida Nation.
Tim Paul is a member of the Hesquiaht tribe from the Nuu-Chah-Nulth first nation. He is a master carver from Esperanza Inlet British Columbia. He was the senior carver at the Royal British Columbia Museum until 1992 when he left to oversee an indigenous education program for the Port Alberni school board on Vancouver Island.
Don Yeomans is a Haida artist from Prince Rupert, British Columbia best known for his silkscreen art. His art is in the collection of Museum of Anthropology at UBC and on permanent display at the Canadian Museum of History.