19 September 2016, Monday
After finding a small local bakery for breakfast, O and I drive to the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology. It is a fascinating place with an extensive collection of northwest First Nations artifacts.
We learn there are more different cultures and languages amongst the First Nations of British Columbia than in all of Europe. The styles and methods of carving house posts vary widely from one nation to the next. The various symbols on the posts are more of a family heraldry, akin to family crests in Great Britain, than anything else. First Nations artists such as Bill Reid and Susan Point, among others, worked hard to revive their peoples’ art forms. Susan Point was inspired to create one of her works of art, a re-creation of Musqueam house posts, after visiting the Museum of Natural History in NYC and seeing works of her ancestors displayed there.
There are more works of native art on display in New York and Berlin than in all of British Columbia. Point’s house posts can be interpreted as showing the Fraser River of BC and the East River of NYC in the motif along the bottom. The rays on each post may depict the sun rising in the east and setting in the west, but together they also evoke the crown of the Statue of Liberty.
Bill Reid’s mother was Haida, and his father was of European descent. He began his art career making western style gold jewelry. Only later did he learn of his heritage. His mother had been a victim of Canada’s native school system meant to force assimilation of First Nations children. She was taught to be ashamed of her heritage.
When Bill Reid discovered some of an ancestor’s art work on Haida Gwai, his life changed. He began to incorporate his people’s motifs into his art work. He, himself, came to be recognized as a national treasure. His depiction of Raven and the Creation of Mankind is one of his most famous works. He also, almost singlehandedly, revived the art of making cedar log canoes. One of the outdoor posts at the museum is also his creation. It shows his playful nature with its depiction of a distinctly non-traditional mosquito in the middle of the post. Another post in the outdoor exhibition is a work done to honor Bill Reid after his death.
Following our visit to the museum we set off through the campus to find a whale skeleton in another museum. One of the museum guides had suggested to O that we see the skeleton before leaving. The museum is closed when we get to the door, but the gentleman cleaning the floor lets us in to photograph the whale when he finds we will not be able to return.
After our museum visit we travel into another part of the city to find the Steam Works Brew Pub. They are located in the Gas Town section of the city. Here, steam is used in the brewing process. As we walk down the street after dinner, we also pass a cluster of people, cameras at the ready, staring at a tall clock… a steam-powered clock. It is about to strike 7. We join the watching crowd. At 7 pm the clock plays its steam powered “chimes” in steam whistle tones. Our evening now complete, we wend our way through city streets back to our B & B.