Thom Courcelle, USA

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Comment by Guido Vermeulen on January 4, 2012 at 7:40pm

A visit to Seattle and Vancouver, BC is essential when you are interested in these topics and reading some great books (Looking at Totem Poles for instance)

Comment by Valentine Mark Herman on January 4, 2012 at 3:34pm

Thanks, Tom, for all of this info. I'll follow up the sources you listed, 'cos I'm really interested in this;

Val

Comment by Thom Courcelle on January 4, 2012 at 8:09am

Hiya, Val... These are all sketches of masks from the native tribes of the coastal Pacific Northwest of North America.  The tribes extend all the way from Alaska to northern California.  White settlers are relatively new to the west coast.  Seattle, for example is a city that is really less than 150 years old; whereas the indigenous peoples have been there for thousands of years.  I've been trying to learn more about the native art from the area, much of which tells stories, history, and designates tribal affiliation. A lot of native Pacific Northwest tribal art includes very distinctive ovoid, tertiary, and unique formline designs.  Here is a historical photo of dancers from the Chilcat tribe posing with their dance headdresses and masks...

Although the different historical tribes were numerous, they are now often grouped by general areas from along the western North American coast.  An abbreviated list of tribal areas is listed at this Wikepedia site:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_peoples_of_the_Pacific_Nort...

There are some local museums that have some very good collections of native Pacific Northwest art (although the politics of providence and the holding of historical artifacts can cause some bitterness from the tribes who may feel deprived of them...).  The Burke Museum of the University of Washington is one; the Royal BC Museum in Victoria, Canada is another.  

Hope that satisfies some!!

Comment by Valentine Mark Herman on January 4, 2012 at 5:30am

Come on Thom C...tell us something, please, about the (ethnic) origin of these intriguing masks.

Val