Curator & Collector

Bill Reid’s Mythic Messengers

This is the sixth post in my series–inspired by Hilary Stewart’s book Looking at Indian Art of the Northwest Coast–on the isolated forms of aboriginal northwest coast art. Each of the five previous posts has focused on the lines, shapes, or spaces used in the First Nations art of the Northwest coast. This post will look, rather schematically, at the portrayal of the animals. The principle source is again Stewart’s book, though it should be noted that Stewart’s treatment is much fuller than my summary of her–for one thing, her book includes notes on the historical usage, significance, and meaning of the animals–several of which were used as family crests–whereas this post does not. This is just one of many reasons why one should buy the book, rather than relying only on my summaries.

In the following chart, I have summarized the primary distinguishing features of each animal; additionally, where I have taken a picture myself, I have included a link to an image of the animals in question; this is primarily because my blog is a personal self-expression, though an added benefit is that the reader can have yet another good reason to buy Stewart’s book, which includes many different visual examples. Most of the examples are actually of three-dimensional forms, but the same characteristics exist in this form, also.

The primary animals of the First Nations’ art of the northwest coast include the bear, wolf, killer whale/orca, eagle, raven, frog, beaver, salmon, dogfish (shark), mosquito, sea monster, and thunderbird. Other animals–which this series will not cover–include the cormorant, mountain goat, otter, sea lion, seal, hawk, hummingbird, loon, owl, “sisiutl,” halibut, and other types of fish.

The distinguishing features of the animals are (with the more important animals listed first, and the two great mythical animals last):

• Bear: flared nostrils, short nose and ears, wide mouth, many teeth
• Wolf: long snout, larger ears, many teeth, curved tail
• Killer whale/orca: “round, snouted head with a large mouth and many teeth, a blow hole, a dorsal fin, a pectoral fin, and a tail with symmetrical flukes”; at least two of these are present in any artwork depicting a killer whale (Stewart, p. 42)
• Eagle: wings, beak ending in a “strong downward curve” (p. 54), tongue, and “ears”
• Raven: straight, long beak; often, the tongue, and a circle representing the sun are present
• A more typical raven (this is a later update to this list)
• Frog: large mouth, usually with thick lips, and a flexed body; there are no teeth, ears, or tail
• Beaver: large teeth, and a crosshatched tail
• Salmon: none given, though the halibut has distinguishing features
• Dogfish/shark: “domed” head, a mouth with teeth, with the ends coming down at the corners (the view of the shark from its underside!), and gill slits on both sides of the mouth
• Mosquito: a long proboscis
• Sea monster/wasgo: features belonging to whales & wolves; often depicted eating killer whales
• Thunderbird: large wings; a tail, a “curved appendage” on its head, a curved beak, and clawed feet

All the images linked to above were taken by me; all are posted on this blog, except the more typical raven, and the numismatic items, which will be posted in the near future; after viewing the images and the information, I would encourage readers to click on the image of Bill Reid’s Mythic Messengers, above, and try to identify all the animals. Bonus marks if you get them all correct!

The next three posts after this will look at three different artworks by my favorite artist, Roy Henry Vickers, examining them from a formal perspective, and thus we will have the chance to apply the knowledge gained from the Stewart book.
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Photograph Information & Answers

• Grizzly Bear serigraph in the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art; Bill Reid
• Killer Whale; sculpture in the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art; Bill Reid
• Eagle: Eagle Aerie Gallery front in Tofino; the gallery was made by Arthur Vickers; the print of the gallery was made by gallery owner Roy Henry Vickers
• Raven: sculpture The Raven and the First Men, giant yellow cedar version in the Museum of Anthropology; Bill Reid
• Frog: gold brooch in the Museum of Anthropology; Bill Reid
• Salmon: Royal Canadian Mint proof $3 silver coin; design by Jody Broomfield
• Dogfish: goldwork in the Museum of Anthropology; Bill Reid
• Sea Monster: wooden sculpture in the Museum of Anthropology; Bill Reid
• Thunderbird: Royal Canadian Mint silver bullion $5 coin; design by Xwa Lack Tun

In the large bronze frieze at the beginning of this post, the animals, from left to right, are: bear and cubs, killer whale, sea-monster with frog on top and two killer whales, dogfish, and eagle.