The great Beau Dick has gone 2 b with our Ancestors. #Kwakwakawakw #Artist #FirstNations #MasterCarver #RIP (Bio: https://t.co/ev3ZDBlGOM") pic.twitter.com/f8Li6izssA— Haida Princess (@HaidaPrincess) March 28, 2017
The other week Shane Pointe asked a favor of us as we gathered in a circle. He asked if we would send loving positive healing thoughts to Beau Dick as he was sick in the hospital.
This morning I heard of his passing.
I didn't know the man. I had seen his carvings many times but didn't even know they were by him.
I knew of the breaking of the copper.
I love the things he says in here about material wealth and timing.
Sending out love, light and my deepest condolences to his family, friends, community and all who knew him and his art. May he rest in peace. May he Rest In Power
From Wikipedia
"Beau was born in Kingcome Inlet, BC, a remote Kwakwaka’wakw village north of Vancouver Island before moving to Vancouver, BC at age 6. From a young age he was heavily influenced by the traditional carving work of both his grandfather and father, with whom he assisted in carving one of the world’s tallest totem poles in Alert Bay, BC. At age 17 he was asked to apprentice under artist Tony Hunt in Victoria, BC. Eventually returning to Vancouver, he continued to hone his carving techniques under the influence of Doug Cranmer." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beau_Dick
On February 10, 2013, Beau performed a traditional copper-cutting ceremony on the steps of the BC Legislature in Victoria in conjunction with a variety of activists, including local members of Idle No More. Having embarked on a 10-day, 500 km walk from Alert Bay to Victoria, the gesture was intended to bring attention to the abuse of Native treaties by the federal government, as well as highlight the negative repercussions of commercial fish farms on Vancouver Island.[7][8]
The ceremony was noted as being the first time such a shaming practice had been used by the Kwakwaka’wakw in decades.[9]
"The copper is a symbol of justice, truth and balance, and to break one is a threat, a challenge and can be an insult. If you break copper on someone and shame them, there should be an apology.” — Beau Dick
Video that I took at the Raising of the Survivor's Totem Pole on the DTES
Film I took at the Raising of the Survivor's Totem Pole on the DTES
Beau Dick, a Kwakwaka’wakw carver, based in Alert Bay, B.C.
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| Beau Dick, a Kwakwaka’wakw carver, based in Alert Bay, B.C. |
Beau's Story
http://www.umista.ca/giftshop/item.php?item=441
"Beau’s story shifts then, to talk about the Haida of that time, and how up until the 1860s there were probably 14,000 of them. They would often travel in large flotillas of canoes to Fort Victoria to trade, passing through Kwakwaka’wakw waters. After one mass migration, “Dawson told my great-grandfather to stay away from them when they returned from Victoria and of course Kakab asked him why. Dawson said they would all be sick and embarrassedly told him that he knew first hand that the government he worked for—that James Douglas and the Hudson’s Bay Company were holding hands, as he described it—and they had a plan to distribute smallpox-infested blankets amongst the Haida in the hopes that they would spread this disease to all the other tribes on the coast on their way home."
Related Links:
https://canadianartjunkie.com/2012/08/15/beau-dick-masks-to-see-then-burn
http://www.straight.com/news/89071/first-nations-copper-cutting-ceremony-ottawa-will-be-challenge-all-canadians
Meet Beau Dick- Maker of Monsters! NEW VERSION https://t.co/9zGIWTAPle— George Hunt Jr (@GeorgehuntJr) March 28, 2017
