The Arts
In the film excerpts under this theme, an Inuit stone carver, a Wendat artist and a Maliseet painter reflect on the role of art; a wood carver descended from the Haida and a Mi’kmaq painter talk about their sources of inspiration.
Excerpts
Bill Reid
1
Kwa'nu'te': Micmac and Maliseet Artists
2
1
Description
Bill Reid explains that cedar, the ideal material for making totem poles, plays a central role in Haida culture. He says that he is torn between the traditional approach to totem sculpting, whereby the artist reveals a shape already hidden in the wood, and a modern approach where the artist creates the shape.
Questions
1. What 3,000-year-old tradition is Bill Reid building on through his art? What is the importance of continuing such a tradition?
2. The Haida people depend upon their close relationship with nature. In light of this, what do you think Bill Reid means when he states: “The whole culture of these people [the Haida] was built around the cedar tree and the salmon”?
2. The Haida people depend upon their close relationship with nature. In light of this, what do you think Bill Reid means when he states: “The whole culture of these people [the Haida] was built around the cedar tree and the salmon”?
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Short Description
Haida wood carver Bill Reid goes to the Queen Charlotte Islands to work on a totem pole, a gift to the people of the Skidegate community. The film shows the steps in production from bare cedar trunk to richly carved pole.