Sacred Hoop Trading

Unique in the world of so-called “primitive art,” the full, rich range of the art of North America’s Northwest Coast Indians has only recently begun to take a prominent place in the museum exhibitions and art galleries of the world. In the market place, original works by native artists and craftspeople have become highly prized collectors’ items commanding substantial sums of money. Considered six ethnographically distinct peoples, the Coast Salish, the West Coast people (or “Nootka”), the Kwagiutl, the Tsimshian, the Haida and the Tlingit shared cultural, economic and environmental backgrounds. They were all hunters and gatherers who lived along the river valleys and coastal waters of the Pacific Northwest, skillfully using the abundant resources of river, sea and forest. Lightning snakes, whale-eating thunderbirds, two-headed sea serpents and animals that transform themselves into people are among the many colorful creatures that have adorned the household as well as ceremonial possessions of the Northwest Coast Indians. The dynamic imagery of these peoples, expressed in a style as rhythmic and flowing as it is complex, has created one of the world’s most remarkable art traditions. It is an art with vitality and profound meaning for those of its culture. In the past, the social and spiritual order of the Indians was visually confirmed through their art. It was seen in totem poles and house posts which bore the crests of their owners; in elaborate masks and intricately carved goat horn spoons; in tobacco mortars wrought from stone, and delicate pendants made from bone or antler; in magnificent ermine-trimmed headdresses, and spindle whorls enriched with symbolic carving on both sides. Excelling in three-dimensional sculpture, Indian artists also worked in flat design, using brush and pigment to enhance many possessions. Most of these paintings portrayed the crests of their owners, often declaring the owner’s lineage, wealth and status. Some had mythical or spiritual meanings. Probably very few had ornamental value alone, although a great love of decoration is shown by its abundant use. Painting embellished canoes, paddles, finely woven hats and baskets, dishes, spoons, boxes, drums, rattles, chiefs’ seats, ceremonial garments, dance screens and shamans’ charms. Some of the finest examples of graphic art are to be seen on the painted bentwood boxes and chests used for storing chiefs’ regalia and for important burials. The smooth, rectangular shape of the box sides, vertical or horizontal, once provided the “canvas” for the artist’s brush. —from “Looking at Indian Art of the Northwest Coast” by Hilary Stewart