Understanding Northwest Coast Art: A Guide to Crests, Beings, and Symbols

M. Wayne Cunningham is a past executive director of the Saskatchewan
Arts Board and the former director of Academic and Career Programs at
East Kootenay Community College.

It is unfortunate that none of this book’s 65 reproductions of
artworks, archival photographs, and design elements is in color. That
minor flaw, however, does not detract from the book’s value to
professionals or amateurs concerned with the art and artifacts of the
First Nations peoples along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Oregon.

The guide begins with a succinct introduction to the art and culture of
the Northwest Coast area, referencing among other things the importance
of art in the daily life of the First Nations peoples and the power of
their dances and potlatches—ceremonies that were banned by the
Canadian government in 1855. Part 1 follows with more than 100 pages of
dictionary entries—from A (abalone shell) to Y (Yagis)—describing
the crests, beings, and symbols incorporated into the region’s art
forms and artifacts. The descriptions are of common items such as the
feather, as well as less well-known items such as Huxwhuker (“the
fearsome monster who uses his long bill to crack open human skulls and
eat the brains”); each provides a fascinating record of the aesthetic
understanding of an indigenous art form or fashion.

Part 2 contains three sections. The first section describes the design
conventions used for art making (e.g., “devouring and biting
figures,” “skeletal motifs,” and “tongue thrusting and
linking”). The second section covers design elements such as the
“formline,” “the ovoid,” and “the salmon-trout’s head,”
among others. The third section deals briefly with the cultural groups
and art styles of the peoples of the Coast Salish, the Nuu-chah-nulth,
and the Northern Cultures. A selected bibliography of more than 50
entries rounds out the volume.

This comprehensive and lucidly written book is recommended for
libraries, galleries, museums, universities, colleges, and the private
collections of those interested in North American First Nations and
their arts and culture.