Another pole under our belt

[Chujybear]

Maybe not engraving.
Certainly not power assist, but I'm happy to have finally finnished another pole.
This one was my little brothers. But I went up to help him finish it.
First totem pole to be raised in the area in 130 years. At least.
http://globalnews.ca/video/783802/legacy-pole-raised-on-haida-gwaii

Proud to be a part of it

 

[Dulltool]

Chujybear,
Very nice pole, you should be proud.... We have a few here on our Island.

 

[Marrinan]

Wonderful!

 

[Chujybear]

Thank you Marrinan.

Dennis, Must be quite an island. Are you down by Blaine?

 

[Dulltool]

Orcas Island

 

[mdengraver]

Enjoyed the video! Thankyou very much. I'm fascinated by this type of artform.

 

[rod]

This was an inspiring video to watch, Chujybear,

As is all of your posted album of artwork!

Having kayaked hundreds of miles up the BC Coast, when I lived and worked there, I have had time to ponder the deep well of Native history in your parts, and when I ran the space photography department in Victoria for a while, I had plenty of chances to examine the landscape, and often to fly ground truth missions and photography in BC. Correct me if I am wrong, did not the totem carving traditions reach a golden age with the introduction of steel carving tools coming to the Haida people in the early 1800's, long before the lands were exploited for logging?

I have often wondered how the history of the North American continent would have progressed if the invading nations had met on equal terms with the Native peoples. Seems to me that trading would have produced a different result. I could well imagine the personal steel knife and axe would be a huge leap forward in managing day to day life, compared to the stone and bone tools, importantly being more of a match for the environment, without being a threat to it? However that was not to be. Most of history is deeply embarrassing, and I include the history of us Scots, but that is a topic for another website. Back to art. When I worked in Victoria, my daily walk was past the museum there, with its active totem carving at work daily, and wonderful to behold, also the fine memorial totem park at UBC, Vancouver. The surviving early films of the West Coast peoples in their long canoes, bowman bedecked in raven dress, are very compelling. In more enlightened times, it is heartening to know that the Haida peoples and the provincial government worked out the protection agreement mentioned in the video. Well done all!

Personally, I very much appreciate all the allied crafts and arts posts that expand our appreciation, so thank you for posting this!

best

Rod

 

[monk]

it aint engraving. but i pitty the fool that resents this great work being posted on the forum. just beautiful work, and like much of what andrew does, it's not just art. such goes beyond mere art in my mind. it's art with a message & purpose beyond just something to take a look at and forget.

 

[Chujybear]

I won't quibble over the term 'invasion'....

But I can only imagine what it must have felt like to get hands on proper tool steel for the first time.
Tho there was some steel at contact, and I know an old story about a guy who got rich of the nails he pulled from a ship wreck on the west coast.
Contact would have brought with it a real pleasure with good tools. It has been theorized that it heralded a rennaisance .. And perhaps it did. If we look at power assist tools some would say that they have created their own rennaisance in the engraving world. But there is all that engraving that predates power. And before the arrival of yaats' xaadee (iron man) the coasts were already lined with poles. And the canoe technology already fully developed.
One thing I do not doubt is that metal, and smithing tech would definately lead to a refinement of the end product (on poles). But it is interesting to observe on the surviving ancient pieces- though more crude, planes are still true across the broken surface. And the rules of flow, rhythmn and tension that govern the art are always present.