Spirits of the Water: Native Art Collected on Expeditions to Alaska and British Columbia, 1772-1910

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University and an avid outdoor recreationist. She is the
author of several books, including The Mountain Is Moving: Japanese
Women’s Lives, Kurlek and Margaret Laurence: T

The stunning masks and artifacts that this book features in full-color
illustrations were collected largely in the late 18th and 19th
centuries. They reveal the linguistic, cultural, and geographical
diversity of the region’s Native inhabitants. Spirits of the Water
also examines the history of Northwest Coast expeditions by Russians,
Spanish, English, and American explorers, and includes drawings and
engravings made by Spanish, English, and Russian artists who witnessed
and recorded their earliest encounters with local inhabitants and
terrain.

The book’s relatively brief text and introductory essays provide a
historical and cultural context for the masks and ceremonial objects,
and welcome background information on the traditions, social customs,
and ceremonies that inspired the artists. Photographs include tools,
clothing, and baskets, but the majority are of masks. The masks served
as functional art or artifacts that conveyed social hierarchies and
spiritual beliefs. They were part of daily life in early Northwest Coast
societies and today stand as a vibrant record of the imagination and
convictions of their creators.

Editor Steven C. Brown is the author of Native Visions (1998) and Sun
Dogs and Eagle Down (2000). Spirits of the Water is an impressive book.