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UBC Museum of Anthropology
Jack'll do
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About eight years ago, while attending a conference at the University of British Columbia at Vancouver, I had the opportunity to visit the UBC Museum of Anthropology.
According to the museum's mission statement, "The Museum strives:
To provide information about and access to cultural objects from around the world, with emphasis on the achievements and concerns of the First Peoples and British Columbia's cultural communities"
This impressive sculpture,created by Haida artist Bill Reid out of a huge block of laminated yellow cedar, graces the main rotunda. Entitled "The Raven and the First Men, it depicts a mythological raven discovering the first humans in a clamshell on the beach. In Haida folklore, the Raven is a wise and powerful creature with a mischievous bent.
The museum has gathered, and seeks to preserve, numerous totems and other artifacts created by the indigenous inhabitants of coastal British Columbia. The figure below depicts a mythological animal feeding on salmon.
Thousands of other objects used by these First Nations people are also on display.
In addition to carvings of animals, some of the works depict ancestral figures.
"The Haida House complex, located outside the Museum (and visible from the Great Hall), includes structures that would have been present in a nineteenth century Haida village. Constructed in 1962, this complex includes a large family dwelling and a smaller mortuary house similar to those used traditionally to hold the dead. In front of the houses are examples of memorial and mortuary poles dating from 1951 to the present." (See here for additional info.)
According to the museum's mission statement, "The Museum strives:
To provide information about and access to cultural objects from around the world, with emphasis on the achievements and concerns of the First Peoples and British Columbia's cultural communities"
This impressive sculpture,created by Haida artist Bill Reid out of a huge block of laminated yellow cedar, graces the main rotunda. Entitled "The Raven and the First Men, it depicts a mythological raven discovering the first humans in a clamshell on the beach. In Haida folklore, the Raven is a wise and powerful creature with a mischievous bent.
The museum has gathered, and seeks to preserve, numerous totems and other artifacts created by the indigenous inhabitants of coastal British Columbia. The figure below depicts a mythological animal feeding on salmon.
Thousands of other objects used by these First Nations people are also on display.
In addition to carvings of animals, some of the works depict ancestral figures.
"The Haida House complex, located outside the Museum (and visible from the Great Hall), includes structures that would have been present in a nineteenth century Haida village. Constructed in 1962, this complex includes a large family dwelling and a smaller mortuary house similar to those used traditionally to hold the dead. In front of the houses are examples of memorial and mortuary poles dating from 1951 to the present." (See here for additional info.)
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we returned home, my Uncle started the process of carving one--albeit smaller
than the real thing.
Nice to see the reminder of that trip here. Thanks for posting.