This afternoon I came across a couple of Native fellows on the beach carving Red Cedar. After asking if I could take their pictures we talked about what they were doing. The carver with the baseball cap explained that though it would be easy to do all this with power tools or a chainsaw they preferred to do their carving in the traditional way. The last carving he said took him three months but he appreciated it much more that way. This one is going to be a Raven. (Raven mask I presume).
He went on to explain that except for the steel cutting edge which had replaced the pre contact stone cutting edge this tool was built just as it had been for many generations. This one he had made himself out of Yew wood. His friends tool was very similar but made with what they figured must be Maple and the cutting edge bound with leather.
I'm hoping to run into these two fellows again, I'd really like to see their finished carvings!
Interesting...
ReplyDeleteKind regards,
Pierre
That's pretty cool. It's good to see that they are trying to keep some traditions alive. It reminds me of the Hawaiians that hand carve the tikis and other statues on the islands.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you though, I'd love to see the finished product.
Great short documentary. Nice to see the youth staying connected to their culture and clan by way of carving in the traditional way. In the finished product it would be interesting to see how true their design resembled those from past carvings by the elders.
ReplyDeletewow. that's awesome. i love the pride they have in keeping their art the traditional way.
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