IMAGE COURTESY OF ARTIST

“Four Salmon Heads” by Maynard Johnny, Jr. is an acrylic on canvas painting made in 2008.

SAM examines Coast Salish art and culture

By John Larson

The art and culture of Coast Salish people is celebrated in a new exhibit at Seattle Art Museum. “S’abadeb – The Gifts: Pacific Coast Salish Art and Artists” brings together works in numerous art forms from people representing 70 tribes and Native groups.

Works range from pieces made this year to a carved bone figure from the Burke Museum that dates to 1200 A.D.

The first gallery has a theme of “Gifts Of Our Earth.” It contains baskets, woven hats and other objects.

A Quinalt oil dish made of alder and glass beads is in the form of a supernatural creature. A descriptive label explains that it refers to an encounter an ancestor had with a mythical animal long ago.

A house post rests along one wall. In the corner a video is projected showing a longhouse, so the visitor sees how the object would look in its natural setting.

Contrast is a reoccurring theme in the exhibit.

Baskets from the 19th century are displayed along with ones made by current craftsmen and women, who use traditional methods to create new forms.

Matika Wilbur, a young woman of Swinomish/Tulalip heritage, photographed elders.

Displayed near her photographs are ones from the early 20th century by Edward Curtis, who sometimes had his Native subjects pose in costumes or with props. Some have criticized his works for being too staged.

We see this as a contrast of the white outsider and the Native insider, two photographers separated by a century.

Matika Wilbur captures the images of elders with silver gelatin prints. They are accompanied by labels with a few sentences from the elder. Gus Stone discusses being wounded in the Korean War, and empathizes with the men he was fighting on the other side.

Harlan Sam, Sr. mentions risking his life for his country in the Korean War, then returning home to be shot at three times for fishing in the tumultuous period before the Boldt decision.

The most visibly gripping piece is “The Impending Nisga’a’ Deal. Last Stand. Chump Change,” by Lawrence Paul. This acrylic on canvas painting, full of vivid colors, was made during the Nisga Treaty negotiations in Canada. The artist delves into environmental damage and land rights. A sacred mask spews degraded water. A First Nation man sticks out his tongue, taunting a bureaucrat carrying a briefcase. The latter appears to be white, based on his pink skin tone and blue eyes.

Shaun Peterson, a member of Puyallup Tribe, has several pieces reflecting his Puyallup/Tulalip heritage.

“Song For The Moon” has a moon with facial features. Below, under the mountain and trees, an animal holds a drum.

His other work, “Salmon #1,” is an etched glass piece made in 2008 that displays his ample skill in this medium.

The Coast Salish people, as do most cultures, pass artistic knowledge from one generation to the next. An example of this is seen in a cedar mat from 2003 that is a collaboration between Bruce subiyay Miller, a noted Skokomish artist who died in 2005, and Karen Skuki Reed, Puyallup/Chinook.

A fragment from a hat found at Wapato Creek in 1976 is in one display case. Next to it is a hat made by Karen Skuki Reed, a replica she made by studying the fragment.

“New Spirit Journey” by Roger Fernandes examines the impact money has on traditional Native life. The face of an Indian man appears at left in this pencil and collage piece. Next to him are playing cards, dice, Keno boards, cigarettes and fireworks.

Native consultants advised museum staff on what to include in the exhibit, and how to address what was left out. Seven white, empty pedestals have labels and recorded sound to convey a sense of objects that would not be suitable for an art exhibit. For example, one refers to repatriating human remains unearthed at construction sites.

“S’abadeb – The Gifts” runs through Jan. 11, 2009.

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