And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Thursday, September 14, 2017
NORTHWEST COAST, ALASKA, Kaigani Haida or Tlingit Crest Helmet, Late 19th c. Wood, copper, nails, cotton, deerskin, pigment
NORTHWEST COAST, ALASKA Kaigani Haida or Tlingit Crest Helmet Late 19th c. Wood, copper, nails, cotton, deerskin, pigment 25 x 23.8 x 55.5 cm Purchase, gift of F. Cleveland Morgan, inv. 1946.Ab.3 The First Nations of the Northwest Coast – the Kaigani Haida, the Tlingit, the Tsimshian – are known as the “people of the totem,” a reference to the large carved poles seen in their villages. Their totems symbolize the secret power of the legendary ancestor and protector of the family or clan. They are also a visual representation of this power, which is usually associated with an animal like a bear, wolf, whale, raven or fish, or even a plant.
The raven – humankind’s creator and benefactor – is one of the most important of these figures. Here, a raven sits astride a fish. Highlighted with colour and copper cutouts, the fish’s hollowed-out wooden form is a helmet meant to be worn by a dancer during a ceremony such as a potlatch. Signs of the power and wealth of an individual or group, gifts were central to this tradition, sometimes prompting rival clans to attempt to surpass each other in offering objects of value.
Wonder what the symbolism behind the different elements on it are...
ReplyDeleteDunno, but I love the art of the Tlingit.
DeleteNORTHWEST COAST, ALASKA
ReplyDeleteKaigani Haida or Tlingit
Crest Helmet
Late 19th c.
Wood, copper, nails, cotton, deerskin, pigment
25 x 23.8 x 55.5 cm
Purchase, gift of F. Cleveland Morgan, inv. 1946.Ab.3
The First Nations of the Northwest Coast – the Kaigani Haida, the Tlingit, the Tsimshian – are known as the “people of the totem,” a reference to the large carved poles seen in their villages. Their totems symbolize the secret power of the legendary ancestor and protector of the family or clan. They are also a visual representation of this power, which is usually associated with an animal like a bear, wolf, whale, raven or fish, or even a plant.
The raven – humankind’s creator and benefactor – is one of the most important of these figures. Here, a raven sits astride a fish. Highlighted with colour and copper cutouts, the fish’s hollowed-out wooden form is a helmet meant to be worn by a dancer during a ceremony such as a potlatch. Signs of the power and wealth of an individual or group, gifts were central to this tradition, sometimes prompting rival clans to attempt to surpass each other in offering objects of value.
Someone wearing that on his head wouldn't be noticed in Lost Angeles. Just sayin'.
ReplyDelete