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Indepth Arts News:
"HuupuKwanum - Tupaat, Out of the Mist: Treasures of the Nuu-chah-nulth Chiefs"
2001-02-25 until 2001-06-10
Autry Museum of Western Heritage
Los Angeles, CA,
USA United States of America
Close your eyes and picture yourself on the
west coast of Vancouver Island, Canada, and the U.S.
Olympic Peninsula. You're among the giant cedar trees
early in the morning with the sea mist rising and the sun
streaking though the trees. You hear the faint cry of birds
and children laughing in the distance. You have just
entered the special exhibition Out of the Mist: Treasures
of the Nuu-chah-nulth Chiefs.
Out of the Mist explores the rich and vibrant culture of
the Nuu-chah-nulth people of British Columbia and
northwestern Washington State by examining their
history and art. This exhibition, the first of its kind, was
developed jointly through the efforts of the Royal British
Columbia Museum in Victoria, B.C. and the Nuu-chah-nulth
Tribal Council. Born out of a three-year collaboration, this
unique exhibition is presented through native voices and
delivers a powerful experience to those who visit.
Out of the Mist introduces the visitor to the culture and
beliefs of the Nuu-chah-nulth people. The exhibition
features both ancient and contemporary art, and
ceremonial and everyday objects. Central to the exhibition
is the concept of Huupukwanum, the storage box that
contains a chief's physical and cultural inheritance: his
rights, names, dances, masks, and privileges, as well as
the carvings and paintings associated with ceremonial
rights. (Tupaat is the equivalent word in the language of
the southern Nuu-chah-nulth nations.) The exhibition
includes many examples of carved masks and
headdresses; ceremonial rattles and whistles; intricately
designed, hand- woven cedar bark baskets; and
magnificently painted ceremonial curtains depicting
Nuu-chah-nulth family stories. The exhibition will also
introduce visitors to NULLUusimch, or the practice of spiritual
preparation. A significant aspect of Nuu-chah-nulth life,
spiritual preparation is performed by members of the
band before setting out to gather food, collect bark for
clothing and baskets, or find the perfect tree for the
perfect canoe, or prior to fishing or hunting. Most complex
and sacred to the Nuu-chah-nulth is the spiritual
preparation before whale hunting.
Wolf headdress - Pacheedaht.
One of a pair
of headdresses that
Chief Queesto uses in
ceremonies.
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