Faces in the Forest: First Nations Art Created on Living Trees

257 Pages·2001·22.3 MB·English

by  Michael D. Blackstock

Faces in the Forest
First Nations Art Created on Living Trees
In Faces in the Forest Michael Blackstock, a forester and artist, takes us
into the sacred forest, revealing the mysteries of carvings, paintings, arid
writings done on living trees by First Nations people. Blackstock details
this rare art form through oral histories related by the Elders, blending
spiritual and academic perspectives on Native art, cultural geography, and
traditional ecological knowledge.
Faces in the Forest begins with a review of First Nations cosmology and
the historical references to tree art. Blackstock then takes us on a meta-
phorical journey along the remnants of trading and trapping trails to tree
art sites in the Gitxsan, Nisga'a, Tlingit, Carrier, and Dene traditional ter-
ritories, before concluding with reflections on the function and meaning
of tree art, its role within First Nations cosmology, and the need for
greater respect for all of our natural resources. This fascinating study of
a haunting and little-known cultural phenomenon helps us to see our
forests with new eyes.
MICHAEL D. BLACKSTOCK is Aboriginal affairs manager in the Ministry
of Forests, British Columbia.
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F A C ES
IN T HE F O R E ST
FIRST NATIONS ART CREATED ON LIVING TREES
MICHAEL D. BLACKSTOCK
McGill-Queen's University Press
Montreal 8c Kingston • London • Ithaca
© McGill-Queen's University Press zoor
ISBN 0-7735-1156-5
Legal deposit fourth quarter 2.001
Bibliotheque nationale du Quebec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free (TOO%
post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free, and printed with vegetable-
based, low voc inks.
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Humanities
and Social Sciences Federation of Canada, using funds provided by the Social
Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
McGill-Queen's University Press acknowledges the financial support of the
Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development
Program (BPIDP) for its activities. It also acknowledges the support of the
Canada Council for the Arts for its publishing program.
National Library of Canada Cataloguing in Publication Data
Blackstock, Michael D., 1961-
Faccs in the forest: First Nations art created on living trees
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-7735-2156-5
i. Indian art-British Columbia. ^. Indian art-Yukon Territory. 3. Indians of
North America-British Columbia-Religion. 4. Indians of North America-Yukon
Territory-Religion. I. Title.
E98.A7B53 zooi 704.03*970711 01001-901060-5
This book was designed by David LeBlanc and typeset in 10/11 Sabon
To David and Matthew
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Contents
Figures ix
Map of British Columbia and the Yukon Territory xiii
Prologue / Doreen Jensen (Hahl Yee) xv
Foreword / Antonia Mills xvii
Preface xxi
Acknowledgments xxxi
ONE The Long Way Around Is Closer to Home 3
TWO Preparing for the Journey n
THREE The Journey 71
FOUR Campfire Reflections on the Journey 143
Appendix: Comparison of Art History
and Anthropological Research Methods 191
Notes 195
References 205
Index 2.19
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Figures
1 The first Gyetim Gan discovered by the author on the
Anspayax-Kuldo trail 5
2 Chief Geel, Walter Harris, holding an example of a Gitxsan
arborograph 6
3 Australian Aboriginal taphoglyph trees and tumulus gravesite, two miles
from Dubb railway station 20
4 Samples of Australian Aboriginal teleteglyph tree art designs 21
5 Ojibway figures drawn on jack pine trees 23
6 Micmac map drawn on a tree 23
7 Frog or man carved on tree near Fort Rupert 25
8 Teit's fig. 98 of a Lilloet carving of a human on the bark of a tree 25
9 Teit's image of a Shuswap carving on a cottonwood tree 27
TO Teit's fig. 281 of Chilcotin carvings on trees in Anahem Lake
Left: height about 160 cm. Right: height about 60 cm. 27
11 Teit's fig. 25 showing Okanagan images incised in the bark of trees:
a) girl, b) man, c) perhaps ribs, d) woman, e) perhaps an animal,
f) perhaps a woman's cap 27
12 Morice's fig. 197 showing images drawn on trees with charcoal
or stone 29
13 Harland I. Smith's 1920 photograph of eyes and mouth carved in a tree,
south of Bella Coola, which has since been cut 30
14 Harland I. Smith's 1926 photograph of a human face carved
on the trunk of a tree about two miles south of the Skeena River
and Kitwanga 31