Native American Art of the Pacific Northwest

Today I am featuring a style of art that has always fascinated me; Native American art of the Pacific Northwest, specifically Haida Art; the work of Johnny Kit Elswa. The Haida people come from the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia near Alaska, which they have occupied for at least eight thousand years. Their highly developed designs and style arose partially from the fact that the islands lacked the more valuable resources of the mainland. They developed their sculptural and design skills which they used to make their art, to trade for what they needed.

Tekul or cirrus clouds, Johhny Kit Elswa 1883

Traditionally, the Haida art style or North Coast art style consisted of (among other things) sculptural works like totem poles, canoes, chests, masks, shields, and jewelry. Their drawings and paintings were made with porcupine quill brushes, and natural pigments found from minerals. Often depicting birds, super-natural beings, whales, fish, bears, and many other animal-forms. I think one reason that Haida art is still popular and still being made is that it reflects the spiritual culture of the people in a beatiful, highly expressive style. One of the first westerners to encounter the Haida noted that:

"Haida were so intertwined with the super-natural world before contact that we used to have to sing and dance hard to prove we were human."

Koot Sparrow Hawk on its Nest, Johnny Kit Elswa 1883

The highly stylized forms with natural colors reflecting spiritual, mythological and super-natural motifs is the reason that I like Haida art anyways. Those are two of the things that I try to bring to my art: an abstracted personalized style (their art was very direct and purposeful though obviously) that reflects the underlying spiritual reality of the world.

Johnny Kit Elswa 1883

"We do not inherit this land from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children." -Haida saying



Photo source: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Note: the above images are used in fair use; lo-resolution images used for critcal review. Also these images are in the public domain under U.S. and most if not all international copyright law; (life of the author + 70 years, and 120 years since the creation of item). Also note the case of Bridgeman vs Corel, which states that slavish or exact reproductions of an item in public domain does not contain a copyright.