At the entrance to the Fraser Canyon where the Fraser River is met by the Coquihalla River lies Hope, a British Columbia town of 8000. In addition to offering scenic trails and pristine lakes it also offers around 30 chainsaw carvings located throughout the town. In fact, Hope is known as the ‘Chainsaw Carving Capital of Canada’! I had a chance to visit and tour some of the Hope Arts and Carving Walk recently and view some of these great works of chainsaw art.

The chainsaw carvings were created by local woodcarver Pete Ryan who came up with a proposal to carve a dead tree for the city back in 1991. A tree in Memorial Park had been pulled down due to root rot and a large stump was left. Pete carved this into a beautiful 12 foot eagle and it was an instant hit with both the tourists and town folk.

It wasn’t long after that he had made an agreement to carve another 27 carvings around town that were sponsored by local businesses. It has worked out very well with tourists coming every year by the bus load to view the carvings.

Here are some photos I took of the chainsaw carvings:

Continue reading 'The Chainsaw Carving Capital Of Canada'

My next visit was to the Museum Of Anthropology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Where a previous post was focused on contemporary First Peoples woodcarvings the MOA offers insight into the past with the history of these carvings told through artifacts.

The museum was started more than fifty years ago and now houses some 535,000 ethnographic and archaeological objects, many of which originate from the Northwest Coast of British Columbia. It is Canada’s largest teaching museum and its collections, exhibitions and programs are renowned for giving access and insight into the cultures of indigenous peoples around the world.

When I arrived at the information desk I was informed that there was a tour starting immediately so I quickly joined it and took advantage of an excellent presentation by a well informed staff member. I was treated to glimpse inside the rich history of Canada’s First Peoples as told through their woodcarvings. In addition to the long term exhibits I also got a chance to view the visiting ‘Treasures of the Tsimshian from the Dundas Collection’ which included 48 pieces collected by Rev. Robert J. Dundas at Metlakatla, BC, in 1863.

Continue reading 'The Museum Of Anthropology At UBC'

I got to spend an enjoyable day in Vancouver’s Stanley Park recently. The high point of the day was my visit to Totem Park where there is an excellent display of eight different Totem poles that represent a variety of woodcarving styles and artists. The Totems range in size from an estimated 12 to 25 feet and all but one is brightly painted. It is easy to see why this is one of the most photographed tourist attractions in British Columbia!

The Totems on display are the Oscar Maltipi Pole, the Beaver Crest Pole, the Chief Wakas Pole, the Sky Chief Pole, the Thunderbird House Post, Ga’akstalas, Kaka’solas, and the Chief Skedans Mortuary Pole. Unfortunately the Beaver Crest Pole is hidden in the above photo. It resides on the left-hand side of the display sort of behind the Oscar Maltipi Pole. (guess I’ll have to go back to get better photos )

Also on display at the park are three huge 15 foot tall ‘gateways’, entitled “People Amongst the People” which were designed and crafted by Coast Salish carver, Susan Point. This is a new addition to the park, in fact, the unveiling for it was within days of my visit. Since Totem Park is located in Coast Salish territory and the Totem poles were made by the Kwakwaka’wakw, Haida and Nisga’a it is nice to see that the Coast Salish are finally being represented here.

Continue reading 'The Totem Poles Of Totem Park'

While in Vancouver recently I had the chance to drop by Hill’s Native Art at their Gastown location. With five outlets in British Columbia, Hill’s is the largest Northwest Coast Native Art Gallery in North America, and has acquired the largest and most varied collection of First Nations and Inuit arts and crafts. They exhibit hundreds of works by emerging and internationally renowned artists that represents every Tribe and Nation of the Northwest Coast.

I was treated to three floors of some of the finest carvings and art that I have ever seen! There are masks, totems, bentwood boxes, sculptures, wall panels, feast dishes, talking sticks and much more by such artists as Susan Point, Jerry Whitehead, Jim Charlie and George Storry, to name just a few.

In addition to wood carvings they also have an extensive showing of hand-carved jewelry, baskets, drums, paintings, bead work and their famous Cowichan knits. They also have quite a large book section related to Native art.

Here are some photos of the carvings that are displayed there:

Continue reading 'The Hills Are Alive With Native Art!'