Although we'd been to the Museum of Anthropology in 2008, Lucy was keen to head back there to see some of the First Nations' artwork and carvings. Much of the First Nations culture was suppressed for most of the 20th century, often being banned, and much knowledge was lost. The Museum of Anthropology tries to showcase some of the items recovered and is very much used as a learning and educational facility.
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| Some traditional totem poles. These were carved generally to honour someone or some event and were erected outdoors between the village and the sea, generally in front of the relevant person's house. |
First Nations people built large houses with a post-and-beam structure made from huge red cedar logs. One house would accommodate a number of closely related families and was used for sleeping, cooking and for celebrations. Many of the huge beams and posts were simply fluted like a Roman Column, but the wealthier or the higher the standing of the family, the more ornately the poles were carved. These internal carved House Posts generally depicted the figures linked to a family's lineage.
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| (standing) A section of a House Post with a Bear holding a human figure |
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| Another section of a House Post showing a Grizzly Bear with a frog in its mouth and a human wearing a woven hat between his paws. |
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| One of a pair of Thunderbirds that adorned the inside of a house. |
One object of the First Nations culture that fascinated Lucy was the Bentwood Box. Such boxes were used for storing items in them in houses, for dry storing items during travel by sea, as cooking boxes and as mortuary boxes (storing the body of an important person until it had degraded) and were generally tied up with rope made from twisted Red Cedar bark. As a cooking box these water tight boxes were placed near to a fire and filled with water before having red hot stones dropped into them to bring the water to a boil to cook food placed in baskets in the water.
With a typical volume of 100 litres they are made from a single plank of red or yellow cedar which had 3 grooves made on the one side of it. The plank is then softened by steaming and bent to form 3 right angles. The forth side is fastened with wooden pegs or smore commonly sewn up with red cedar twine or Western Hemlock roots. A base is attached and a lid carved to fit. Absolutely incredible!
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| An undecorated Bentwood Box |
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| A large painted Bentwood storage box |
Canoe construction was equally fascinating. Much of the First Nations' culture revolved around the sea and canoes played a vital role both for fishing and for travel and trade. These canoes were typically made from a single log and could be as small as a single person craft or up to 100 foot long!
Haida canoe making had waned during the early 1900's as clinker boats and other fishing vessels become more common and craftsmen transferred their skills to other industries. Canoes were generally built out of a single Red Cedar log and the best logs for large canoes were fine grained, had few knots in them, no twists and were 400 - 800 years old.
The construction process is as follows: The cedar log is shaped and hollowed. Carefully the sides are adzed to an even thickness and the graceful lines of the canoe begin to emerge. Carvers used large elbow adzes for roughing out the basic shape. Now-a-days axes and chainsaws are used for removing excess wood and to prepare the log for carving. Finishing work is done with smaller bladed adzes. The carved canoe is then prepared for steaming while rocks are heated in a nearby fire pit. The canoe is partially filled with water and white-hot rocks are placed inside. The hull is covered with a tarp to retain the steam. Gradually the cedar hull softens. Spreaders are inserted to stretch the canoe to its necessary width. As the sides of the canoe flare outward, its ends rise. The process adds strength and stability to the finished vessel.
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| An unadorned canoe with graceful lines. |
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| In 1985, Haida artist Bill Ried set out with a team of carvers to create this 7,5m inland canoe. |
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| The flared inside of the canoe. |
No visit to the Museum of Anthropology is complete without some quiet time contemplating Bill Reid's magnificent carving of The Raven and the First Men.
"The great flood, which covered the earth for so long, had at last receded and the sand of Rose Spit, Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands), lay dry. Raven walked along the sand, eyes and ears alert for any unusual sight or sound to break the monotony. A flash of white caught his eye and there, right at his feet, half buried in the sand, was a gigantic clamshell. He looked more closely and saw that the shell was full of little creatures cowering in terror at his enormous shadow. He leaned his great head close and, with his smooth trickster's tongue, coaxed, cajoled and coerced them to come out and play in his wonderful new shiny world. These little dwellers were the original Haidas, the first humans." - Bill Reid
This fantastic sculpture was carved from a single piece of cedar.
Pictures barely do justice to this large and very emotive sculpture. Possibly it is just the size of this single piece of wood that first takes ones breath away!
The raven and the first men
Our original game plan had been for Geoff to look after Christopher while Lucy visited the Museum of Anthropology and then at a set time we would swop roles. However Geoff managed to find Liz Kleynhans and her partner Bill and they proceeded to the Biodiversity Museum. This museum is the amalgamation of smaller museums from five different departments including zoology, botany, forestry, fisheries and something else.
Christopher with the enormous Blue Whale skeleton in the background
Most entertaining for Liz, Bill and Geoff however was to see him walk around floor displays clearly not understanding that the perspex glass that was underfoot would hold his weight. At one point he spotted some petrified tree stumps under the floor glass and tried to drop off the "edge" of the floor to get close to him. He kept reversing, and reversing, until he was suspended above them and when he realised this he quickly scrambled to the solid ground again. It was hilarious and kept us in stiches!
Christopher making his first attempt to climb into the display
Later in disbelief that he is suspended above the display and cannot get inside!
Liz posing next to herself in one of the Museum displays. We didn't realise you could be in a museum unless you were really old!
It was a wonderful day out at UBC. Geoff returned a few days later to explore their remarkable "Book shop" which apart from a fairly extensive selection of academic texts also sells hiking backpacks, musical instruments and electronic goods - basically everything a well rounded student should have access to! Geoff was after a UBC text called "The Golden Spruce" which is a popular science commentary on the logging industry in BC and its impact not only on the environment but also the various people and cultures that have developed because if and despite it.
