'Namgis art reaches around the world - Museum Volkenkunde

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Apprentice carvers Cole Speek and Thomas Bruce stand at the head of a 25-foot totem pole in progress in front of the
U'mista Cuitural Centre in Alert Boy. The pole will be displayed at the Museum Volkenkunde in Leiden, The Netherlands,
beginning this fall. Photo by J.R. Rardon
'Namgis art reaches around the world
J.R. Rardon
Black Press
ALERT BAY—
An ambitious
international totem
pole project is
providing a pair of
aspiring apprentice
carvers a unique
opportunity to
showcase their work
half a world away.
Cole Speek and
Thomas Bruce are part
of a team of carvers,
led by 'Namgis master
carver Rande Cook,
working on a 25-
foot totem pole that
will be shipped later
this month to the
Museum Volkenkunde
in Leiden, The
Netherlands.
"It's kind of neat
I get to do this pole
and go over there,"
said Bruce, who
will join the rest of
the carving team in
The Netherlands to
perfortn two weeks of
finishing work on the
pole. "It's helping us
to be better known
around the world."
The pole will be
part of the museum's
exhibit on the First
Nations of the
Northwest Coast. The
exhibit will open in
early October, and a
delegation of 'Namgis
dancers and singers
will bepart of the
opening ceremonies,
said Sarah Holland,
executive director of
the U'mista Cuitural
Centre, which
facilitated the project.
"It will be the
only pole in the
Netherlands," said
Holland, who has
been working the past
couple of weeks in
Alert Bay with Dutch
videographer Herman
de Boer on a video
that will be shown as
part of the exhibit.
After carving
by the combined
'Namgis-Kwakiutl
team began in Fort
Rupert, the pole
was moved and has
been on display just
outside the U'mista
Cuitural Centre
entrance during finish
Cont. on Page 5

International exhibit
From Page 4
carving. The centre,
which includes a
museum that housed
the renown Potlatch
Collection of masks,
carvings and other
art, is tasked with
preservation of the
cultural heritage of
the Kwakwaka'wakw
peoples. This will be
the second year in a
row that U'mista has
been involved in a
major international
partnership. Last
spring, the centre
hosted centuries-old
artifacts from the
Saxon Sovereign
Court which lent
some of its Potlatch
Collection items for
display in Dresden,
Germany.
Speek, 23, and
Bruce, 32, recognize
the unique chance
they've been provided
while working with
master carvers Cook,
Calvin Hunt and
Jonathon Livingston.
"It's unreal, the
odd chance that I
lucked out and got
this opportunity,"
said Speek, who has
been carving for little
more than five years.
"The best part of it
is carrying on our
tradition of carving."
Bruce described
the new totem pole
as a craft pole, the
elements of which
represent the 'Namgis
carvers' families.
The carvers noted
that tribes and bands
throughout the coastal
Northwest, from
Washington through
B.C. and into Alaska,
were invited to submit
proposal and sketches
for poles for the Dutch
exhibit. Hunt's design
prevailed, they believe,
because it is a full,
360-degree carving of
the pole.
"In some places,
they cut the log
(lengthwise) and it's
just a half-pole," said
Bruce, who has been
carving for nearly 15
years. "Other ones use
the whole log, but they
only carve one side.
This will be carved
all the way around; I
think that's why this
design was picked."
Kwakwaka'wakw
carving is also
distinctive for its deep
cuts, sparing use of
paint and for its use of
protruding elements,
including beaks, wings
and fins.
Cook's design will
feature a killer whale
at its base, a human
figure in the middle
and a thunderbird
on top, with wings
added to the bird
and a large fin to the
whale. Cook described
the thunderbird as an
origin story related
to his family, while
the whale represents
the family of his
grandmother, from
Village Island.
"I wanted to
connect the elements
of water, air and earth,
which unify all of us,"
Cook told de Boer in
a video shot after the
arrival of the raw log
in Fort Rupert, where
carving began.
Thunderbird
a 'Namgis origin
story, Killer Whale
grandmother from
Village Island.
Large pole-carving
is nothing new for
Bruce, who has
previously worked
with his uncle, master
carver Don Swanvik,
Beau Dick, Marcus
Alfred and others.
"It takes a lot of
years to learn carving,
so you've got to really
want to do it," said
Bruce. "I've gotten
to be around a lot
of masters, and it's
amazing how much
you learn just being
with them."
Speek and Bruce
are both looking
forward to travel to
The Netherlands
this summer, the first
trip for either away
from North America.
On the other hand,
they're already getting
a bit of practice
being international
celebrities.
"There was a group
from England that
came and videotaped
us working on the
pole," Bruce said with
a laugh. "And another
video crew from
France is coming."