I awakened this morning thinking about what I had forgotten to include in my blog about First Nations. Perhaps you know this already. Canada treated the natives as badly as did the U.S. Their kids were yanked away to boarding school; the populations decimated by disease. The celebratory feasts around which community life was organized, potlatches, were actually outlawed for the first half of the 20th century. It became legal to hold potlatches again in the 1950s, and the things I have read here suggest that about that time there was a strong move toward reclaiming their heritage. Lots and lots of new artwork, most of it staying pretty true to the old ways of expression. I was drawn to the work of a man named Benjamin Chee Chee (a prairie Indian) who uses the old symbols but with an abstract style. I also found a lovely book by Bill Reid, whose mother was from the Haida tribe on the coast of British Columbia. He made beautiful sculptures and jewelry. His book, The Raven Steals the Light, is a book of Haida myths/stories that are colloquial, engaging and eloquent at the same time.
These photos ares of two the enormous "bowls" for the food that was served at a potlach.
The culture, art and spirit of the First Nations is the part of Vancouver that will stay with me.
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