Haida Argillite Carvings
Encyclopedia
Haida argillite carvings are a sculptural tradition among the Haida indigenous
nation of the Northwest Coast
of North America
, which came into existence in the early 19th century and continues today.
became a popular carving medium after the decline of the sea otter fur trade in the early 19th century. These carvings enabled Haida to trade with visiting Europeans. Argillite carvings, therefore, are commonly seen as a tourist art because they were firstly designed to be exported from the Haida community and created solely as a means of economic prosperity. As a result argillite carvings contain imagery that encompass both Haida and European cultures. Sometimes the imagery is mixed with traditional Haida forms melding with European styles. Often in argillite carvings, traditional Haida images are confused so that they lose their important cultural meanings. This ensured that culturally symbolic imagery was not being used as a means of economic prosperity for the community. These forms of argillite carvings also contained a lot of visual punning and joke making both at objects and animals in general as well as European culture. The argillite that the Haida use to carve is located on Queen Charlotte Islands
, also known as the Haida Gwaii. The quarry is owned by the Haida who have the sole right to use the substance from that quarry for carving. Today argillite carvings are sold in galleries and fine art stores and take on a more traditional Haida forms.
Haida artists have been carving the black slate of the island of Haida Gwaii for several hundred years. From its conception, the art has depicted a variety of images, from traditional Haida forms, to Western figures. Despite this, Haida argillite carving has only been studied systematically during the last thirty to forty years. It is commonly known as a tourist art because of the circumstances surrounding its creation and the subject matter which it often contained. In truth, argillite carving is much more than a simple tourist art. The art form has grown to be highly prized by museums and private collectors. Canadian anthropologists and ethnographers have been studying argillite for approximately 60 years as have, albeit more recently, American
art historians. Argillite
carving continues to thrive today and it can be expected that new phases and periods will emerge as time goes on.
Argillite is similar to the substance known as catlinite
which was used by the indigenous peoples of the American Plains to carve their ceremonial pipes. However, while catlinite is of a reddish brown color because of its high iron oxide
content, argillite is a dark-grey to black color because of its higher carbon content.
Argillite used by the Haida is found at the Slatechuck argillite quarry on Slatechuck Mountain
near Skidegate on the east flank of Graham Island
in the Queen Charlotte Islands
of the North Coast of British Columbia
, now called Haida Gwaii. In the Skidegate dialect of the Haida language argillite is called kwawhlhal. The quarry is very difficult to get to and its exact location is a heavily guarded secret by those who are able to point it out on a map. Argillite is an important commodity for the Haida people and presently only the Haida have the right to use the variety found at Slatechuck Creek, which occurs nowhere else in the world. One of the first documented reports of the Slatechuck quarry occur in about 1820 when prospectors looking for coal or copper came across a large deposit of the black slate. According to Marius Barbeau, a Canadian ethnographer who studied argillite throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the native owner of the land the quarry was located on was George Gunya, one of the first known argillite carvers.
The argillite from the Slatechuck quarry
does not contain quartz
or feldspar
, and the organic matrix from which it is constructed is highly complex, characteristics which make it different from other argillites. The Slatechuck argillite began to form about 70 million years ago when a nearby vent in the earth’s crust heated a shale layer formed of kaolin and carbonaceous matrices. To the naked eye, argillite looks similar to other forms of shale, however differs microscopically as there are high amounts of organic materials trapped throughout the matrix.
Most carvers create a sculpture from a single piece of argillite wherever possible. However because an increase in the size of argillite increases the potential for failure in the piece due to inherent faults and stresses, larger sculptures are sometimes made from separate pieces carved and subsequently adhered. High relief is often carved by working against the grain. This technique lends stability to the fragile argillite. The drawback to this method is that it sometimes causes flaking, making carving in high relief an advanced carving technique. For a long, shallow piece, it is often better to work with the grain. Different objects require varying levels of skill in their execution. Panel pipes are considered the most difficult pieces to carve. Bowls are also challenging, with group figurines, boxes, poles and plates considered easier to do. The black finish of argillite is usually not natural. In its natural state, argillite is often a grey-black or green-black color. The jet-black finish is created by the carver rubbing the carving with the oils or polish as it is being created. The natural oils that skin produces are actually responsible for creating the deep black color argillite is known for, although it is also common to coat the argillite with a polish to recreate the jet-black color.
A high moisture content makes argillite easier to carve; therefore, it is kept as moist as possible after it is extracted from the Slatechuck quarry. It is often wrapped with damp cloth and stored somewhere moist, perhaps buried in the ground. Another method of sealing in moisture is to cover the surface of the uncarved argillite piece with Varathane. The drier the argillite becomes, the more danger there is of flaking or cracking during the carving process.
Knut Fladmark, a professor in the Archaeology
Department at Simon Fraser University
, believes argillite was known to the Haida pre-European contact, and that it had been used for more utilitarian purposes such as the creation of labrets. Fladmark excavated at the Richardson Ranch site on Graham Island, located near the mouth of the Tlell River. During the summers of 1969 and 1970 he found the first major archaeological assemblage of argillite. Fladmark’s analysis of the assemblage led him to believe that the creation of argillite pieces for the purpose of trade followed its use within the Haida community as a pipestone. The elbow pipes Fladmark discovered at the site may predate the generally accepted 1820 start date for the production of argillite as a saleable commodity. These elbow pipes have little to no decoration and seemingly serve a utilitarian purpose only, characteristics which separate them from the later non-functional panel pipes, and other solely aesthetic argillite pieces. Also, Fladmark notes the discovery of a labret in the archaeological record which appears to be made from argillite.
Robin Kathleen Wright believes it was the introduction of the tobacco pipe into the Haida culture that spawned the first argillite carvings. Smoking tobacco was introduced to the Haida by European and American sailors. Argillite pipes that show evidence of smoking tobacco
date from about 1810–1840 and are generally small in size but have proportionally large bowls. These very early argillite pieces depict traditional Haida images normally seen on totem poles, masks, rattles
and spoon handles.
Haida art has always held images of rank, lineage and status
and it can be perceived as a type of “recording device” for a society which has a rich history but no written tradition. Commercial argillite carving seems to have begun during the 1820s when it became valued as a trade item. Haida do not during this time seem to use argillite for any utilitarian function, or any function other than carving. For the Haida, argillite was perhaps part of a movement towards greater financial gain. Increased monetary wealth became more important throughout the 19th century and the sale of argillite was one method that facilitated this. Prior to 1820 there were no argillite carvings found in any public or private collections. Part of the movement toward argillite carving was the declining sea otter
populations and the subsequent wane in the trade of sea otter pelts.
during contact with European and Euro-American traders. However, as later researchers have noted, the art of scrimshaw was not introduced to the Haida until approximately 20 years after the start of argillite carving. Barbeau also believed that the argillite carving only began to progress into a new phase around 1870, when more traditional themes began to replace the Western oriented styles that had dominated argillite carving until that point. In his research Barbeau overlooked the earliest argillite carvings which made use of entirely traditional images.
This first phase, named Haida I, existed from about 1820 to 1830. The second phase began in 1830 and was titled the Western Period. This is when argillite carving began to incorporate Western elements and themes. Kaufman refutes the idea that this phase is influenced by European and Euro-American buyers who wanted to purchase Haida carved argillite in Western themes. She also disagrees with the theory Barbeau and Erna Gunther proposed: that Western themed argillite carving was inspired by whalers' scrimshaw. Kaufmann interprets the move toward Western images in the 1830s as the Haida’s receptivity to European culture, and the social desire to incorporate the Western mode of life more fully into their own world. Phases one and two are similar in that none of the items carved are sacred; instead all of the argillite carvings produced between 1820 and 1865, the approximate end date for the second period, are utilitarian pieces and completely secular in nature. The third period Haida II, is marked by a return to Haida inspired images, theme and styles and begins five years after the end of the second, in 1870. Although this return to more traditional images has been interpreted as stabilization in Haida society due to the decrease of whalers and traders in the region, Kaufmann believes the substitution was actually caused by the disintegration of social and artistic regulation. Because the Haida population had been decimated due to contact elements such as disease, increased mobility, and missionary influences the traditional rules which regulated the production of culturally important objects and images began to degrade. According to Kaufmann, the proliferation of sacred or respected imagery or objects in a medium such as argillite was in actuality “a loosening within the traditional social structure”
Duff’s first period dates between the years 1800–1835. This is a “non-sense” period which is characterized by a lack of logical compositions of traditional Haida images or themes. According to Duff, these illogical representations in argillite are due to an unwillingness on the Haida’s behalf to allow important elements of their culture to be owned by Europe
ans and Americans. Duff’s second period is called “White Man’s Non-sense” and takes place between 1830 and 1865. This period is filled with argillite carvings depicting Europeans or Americans which are often carved using a more Western influenced style. This movement towards more Western styles and themes is potentially due to an increase in contact between the two cultures. There were also many mixed images and visual punning carried out during Duff’s “Non-Sense” period. This “non-sense” theme is therefore also indicative of the Haida’s ridicule of Western culture’s seeming lack of rationality.
The depictions of Western culture increased and grew more detailed and elaborate during this period. By 1865 there are conventions in Haida depictions of Western style clothing, and a merging of traditional and Western methods of figure representation. The third period existed between 1865 and 1910. This “Haida sense” period represents a movement back to strongly traditional themes in argillite carving, most likely due to the population and culture decrease happening throughout Haida society at the time. Meaning is suddenly apparent in argillite carving, as are important Haida figures such as chiefs and shamans and sacred or religious themes. Haida myths begin to be represented in the carvings, the Bear-Mother myth being one of the most common myth themes that appear in this period. Duff sees this period as being an attempt by the Haida to record elements of their culture that were quickly being forgotten because of religious conversion or because of death. By 1910 the art of argillite carving was beginning to decline in conjunction with the continued loss of Haida individuals and culture. Duff’s fourth period is composed of two phases and added to Kaufmann’s original chronology. This period is entitled “Haida-Sense II” and existed between the years 1910–1981, making it the longest period in Duff’s model. Many of the great Haida artists producing carvings in the third period died during the early years of the fourth period causing a lack of skilled carvers and a stall in the production of argillite carvings. This first phase of period four is what Duff calls “The Plateau Era”. The plateau era is ended by a nationwide revitalization in the 1960s which occurred throughout Native American communities in order to revitalize the practice of traditional cultures. Aspiring argillite carvers looked to remaining older carvers, academia
, museums and galleries for information on how to carve.
Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast
The Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, their descendants, and many ethnic groups who identify with those historical peoples. They are now situated within the Canadian Province of British Columbia and the U.S...
nation of the Northwest Coast
Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest is a region in northwestern North America, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains on the east. Definitions of the region vary and there is no commonly agreed upon boundary, even among Pacific Northwesterners. A common concept of the...
of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, which came into existence in the early 19th century and continues today.
Background
ArgilliteArgillite
An argillite is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantly of indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and oozes. They contain variable amounts of silt-sized particles. The argillites grade into shale when the fissile layering typical of shale is...
became a popular carving medium after the decline of the sea otter fur trade in the early 19th century. These carvings enabled Haida to trade with visiting Europeans. Argillite carvings, therefore, are commonly seen as a tourist art because they were firstly designed to be exported from the Haida community and created solely as a means of economic prosperity. As a result argillite carvings contain imagery that encompass both Haida and European cultures. Sometimes the imagery is mixed with traditional Haida forms melding with European styles. Often in argillite carvings, traditional Haida images are confused so that they lose their important cultural meanings. This ensured that culturally symbolic imagery was not being used as a means of economic prosperity for the community. These forms of argillite carvings also contained a lot of visual punning and joke making both at objects and animals in general as well as European culture. The argillite that the Haida use to carve is located on Queen Charlotte Islands
Queen Charlotte Islands
Haida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of...
, also known as the Haida Gwaii. The quarry is owned by the Haida who have the sole right to use the substance from that quarry for carving. Today argillite carvings are sold in galleries and fine art stores and take on a more traditional Haida forms.
Haida artists have been carving the black slate of the island of Haida Gwaii for several hundred years. From its conception, the art has depicted a variety of images, from traditional Haida forms, to Western figures. Despite this, Haida argillite carving has only been studied systematically during the last thirty to forty years. It is commonly known as a tourist art because of the circumstances surrounding its creation and the subject matter which it often contained. In truth, argillite carving is much more than a simple tourist art. The art form has grown to be highly prized by museums and private collectors. Canadian anthropologists and ethnographers have been studying argillite for approximately 60 years as have, albeit more recently, American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
art historians. Argillite
Argillite
An argillite is a fine-grained sedimentary rock composed predominantly of indurated clay particles. Argillaceous rocks are basically lithified muds and oozes. They contain variable amounts of silt-sized particles. The argillites grade into shale when the fissile layering typical of shale is...
carving continues to thrive today and it can be expected that new phases and periods will emerge as time goes on.
Location and composition
Catlinite
Catlinite is a type of argillite , usually brownish-red in color, which occurs in a matrix of Sioux quartzite. Because it is fine-grained and easily worked, it is prized by Native Americans for use in making sacred pipes such as calumets and chanunpas...
which was used by the indigenous peoples of the American Plains to carve their ceremonial pipes. However, while catlinite is of a reddish brown color because of its high iron oxide
Iron oxide
Iron oxides are chemical compounds composed of iron and oxygen. All together, there are sixteen known iron oxides and oxyhydroxides.Iron oxides and oxide-hydroxides are widespread in nature, play an important role in many geological and biological processes, and are widely utilized by humans, e.g.,...
content, argillite is a dark-grey to black color because of its higher carbon content.
Argillite used by the Haida is found at the Slatechuck argillite quarry on Slatechuck Mountain
Slatechuck Mountain
Slatechuck Mountain, known as Kaagan in the Haida language, is a summit on south-central Graham Island in the Queen Charlotte Islands of the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada...
near Skidegate on the east flank of Graham Island
Graham Island
Graham Island is the largest island in the Haida Gwaii archipelago , lying off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is separated only by a narrow channel from the other principal island of the group, Moresby Island Graham Island is the largest island in the Haida Gwaii archipelago (formerly...
in the Queen Charlotte Islands
Queen Charlotte Islands
Haida Gwaii , formerly the Queen Charlotte Islands, is an archipelago on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Haida Gwaii consists of two main islands: Graham Island in the north, and Moresby Island in the south, along with approximately 150 smaller islands with a total landmass of...
of the North Coast of British Columbia
British Columbia Coast
The British Columbia Coast or BC Coast is Canada's western continental coastline on the Pacific Ocean. The usage is synonymous with the term West Coast of Canada....
, now called Haida Gwaii. In the Skidegate dialect of the Haida language argillite is called kwawhlhal. The quarry is very difficult to get to and its exact location is a heavily guarded secret by those who are able to point it out on a map. Argillite is an important commodity for the Haida people and presently only the Haida have the right to use the variety found at Slatechuck Creek, which occurs nowhere else in the world. One of the first documented reports of the Slatechuck quarry occur in about 1820 when prospectors looking for coal or copper came across a large deposit of the black slate. According to Marius Barbeau, a Canadian ethnographer who studied argillite throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the native owner of the land the quarry was located on was George Gunya, one of the first known argillite carvers.
The argillite from the Slatechuck quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
does not contain quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
or feldspar
Feldspar
Feldspars are a group of rock-forming tectosilicate minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth's crust....
, and the organic matrix from which it is constructed is highly complex, characteristics which make it different from other argillites. The Slatechuck argillite began to form about 70 million years ago when a nearby vent in the earth’s crust heated a shale layer formed of kaolin and carbonaceous matrices. To the naked eye, argillite looks similar to other forms of shale, however differs microscopically as there are high amounts of organic materials trapped throughout the matrix.
Collecting, carving and storage techniques
Although carvers usually prefer to collect argillite from the quarry themselves, it is not uncommon for groups of able-bodied individuals other than the carvers to make the arduous journey. These trips generally consist of a number of individuals who bring back enough argillite for carvers to carve for at least a year. The argillite collectors select the slate that appears most free of faults. A slab of up to 500-600 pounds (approximately 227-272 kilograms) is cut from the quarry using a variety of tools, including a hand saw, steel wedge, sledge hammer, shovel, crowbar, and long pole to use for leverage. The large slab is cut into smaller pieces of between 50 and 100 pounds each, and carried slowly and carefully home by the collectors.Most carvers create a sculpture from a single piece of argillite wherever possible. However because an increase in the size of argillite increases the potential for failure in the piece due to inherent faults and stresses, larger sculptures are sometimes made from separate pieces carved and subsequently adhered. High relief is often carved by working against the grain. This technique lends stability to the fragile argillite. The drawback to this method is that it sometimes causes flaking, making carving in high relief an advanced carving technique. For a long, shallow piece, it is often better to work with the grain. Different objects require varying levels of skill in their execution. Panel pipes are considered the most difficult pieces to carve. Bowls are also challenging, with group figurines, boxes, poles and plates considered easier to do. The black finish of argillite is usually not natural. In its natural state, argillite is often a grey-black or green-black color. The jet-black finish is created by the carver rubbing the carving with the oils or polish as it is being created. The natural oils that skin produces are actually responsible for creating the deep black color argillite is known for, although it is also common to coat the argillite with a polish to recreate the jet-black color.
A high moisture content makes argillite easier to carve; therefore, it is kept as moist as possible after it is extracted from the Slatechuck quarry. It is often wrapped with damp cloth and stored somewhere moist, perhaps buried in the ground. Another method of sealing in moisture is to cover the surface of the uncarved argillite piece with Varathane. The drier the argillite becomes, the more danger there is of flaking or cracking during the carving process.
Potential origins of Haida argillite carving
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
Department at Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
, believes argillite was known to the Haida pre-European contact, and that it had been used for more utilitarian purposes such as the creation of labrets. Fladmark excavated at the Richardson Ranch site on Graham Island, located near the mouth of the Tlell River. During the summers of 1969 and 1970 he found the first major archaeological assemblage of argillite. Fladmark’s analysis of the assemblage led him to believe that the creation of argillite pieces for the purpose of trade followed its use within the Haida community as a pipestone. The elbow pipes Fladmark discovered at the site may predate the generally accepted 1820 start date for the production of argillite as a saleable commodity. These elbow pipes have little to no decoration and seemingly serve a utilitarian purpose only, characteristics which separate them from the later non-functional panel pipes, and other solely aesthetic argillite pieces. Also, Fladmark notes the discovery of a labret in the archaeological record which appears to be made from argillite.
Robin Kathleen Wright believes it was the introduction of the tobacco pipe into the Haida culture that spawned the first argillite carvings. Smoking tobacco was introduced to the Haida by European and American sailors. Argillite pipes that show evidence of smoking tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
date from about 1810–1840 and are generally small in size but have proportionally large bowls. These very early argillite pieces depict traditional Haida images normally seen on totem poles, masks, rattles
Rattle (percussion)
A rattle is a percussion instrument. It consists of a hollow body filled with small uniform solid objects, like sand or nuts. Rhythmical shaking of this instrument produces repetitive, rather dry timbre noises. In some kinds of music, a rattle assumes the role of the metronome, as an alternative to...
and spoon handles.
Haida art has always held images of rank, lineage and status
Social status
In sociology or anthropology, social status is the honor or prestige attached to one's position in society . It may also refer to a rank or position that one holds in a group, for example son or daughter, playmate, pupil, etc....
and it can be perceived as a type of “recording device” for a society which has a rich history but no written tradition. Commercial argillite carving seems to have begun during the 1820s when it became valued as a trade item. Haida do not during this time seem to use argillite for any utilitarian function, or any function other than carving. For the Haida, argillite was perhaps part of a movement towards greater financial gain. Increased monetary wealth became more important throughout the 19th century and the sale of argillite was one method that facilitated this. Prior to 1820 there were no argillite carvings found in any public or private collections. Part of the movement toward argillite carving was the declining sea otter
Sea Otter
The sea otter is a marine mammal native to the coasts of the northern and eastern North Pacific Ocean. Adult sea otters typically weigh between 14 and 45 kg , making them the heaviest members of the weasel family, but among the smallest marine mammals...
populations and the subsequent wane in the trade of sea otter pelts.
Marius Barbeau
A Canadian ethnographer named Marius Barbeau was one of the first to analyze the art extensively. Barbeau believed that argillite carving had been created through the Haida’s exposure to whalers' scrimshawScrimshaw
Scrimshaw is the name given to handiwork created by whalers made from the byproducts of harvesting marine mammals. It is most commonly made out of the bones and teeth of sperm whales, the baleen of other whales, and the tusks of walruses...
during contact with European and Euro-American traders. However, as later researchers have noted, the art of scrimshaw was not introduced to the Haida until approximately 20 years after the start of argillite carving. Barbeau also believed that the argillite carving only began to progress into a new phase around 1870, when more traditional themes began to replace the Western oriented styles that had dominated argillite carving until that point. In his research Barbeau overlooked the earliest argillite carvings which made use of entirely traditional images.
Carole Kaufmann
Carole Kaufmann, an art historian from the University of California, made large contributions to the understanding of Haida argillite carving in her Ph.D. dissertation on “Changes in Argillite Carvings, 1820 to 1910. In this dissertation Kaufmann analyzed the social and cultural influences on the style and type of carving being produced at the time. Kaufmann’s first period was one of exploration in a new medium. Argillite carving at this time parallels carvings in other mediums, such as wood.This first phase, named Haida I, existed from about 1820 to 1830. The second phase began in 1830 and was titled the Western Period. This is when argillite carving began to incorporate Western elements and themes. Kaufman refutes the idea that this phase is influenced by European and Euro-American buyers who wanted to purchase Haida carved argillite in Western themes. She also disagrees with the theory Barbeau and Erna Gunther proposed: that Western themed argillite carving was inspired by whalers' scrimshaw. Kaufmann interprets the move toward Western images in the 1830s as the Haida’s receptivity to European culture, and the social desire to incorporate the Western mode of life more fully into their own world. Phases one and two are similar in that none of the items carved are sacred; instead all of the argillite carvings produced between 1820 and 1865, the approximate end date for the second period, are utilitarian pieces and completely secular in nature. The third period Haida II, is marked by a return to Haida inspired images, theme and styles and begins five years after the end of the second, in 1870. Although this return to more traditional images has been interpreted as stabilization in Haida society due to the decrease of whalers and traders in the region, Kaufmann believes the substitution was actually caused by the disintegration of social and artistic regulation. Because the Haida population had been decimated due to contact elements such as disease, increased mobility, and missionary influences the traditional rules which regulated the production of culturally important objects and images began to degrade. According to Kaufmann, the proliferation of sacred or respected imagery or objects in a medium such as argillite was in actuality “a loosening within the traditional social structure”
Robin Kathleen Wright
Robin Kathleen Wright, another American art historian, built upon Kaufmann’s thesis using Haida argillite pipes as a foundation. Wright contributed two elements to the study of argillite carving: she developed the idea that it was the introduction of tobacco pipes to the Northwest Coast that helped inspire the beginnings of argillite carving and successfully correlated Western influences on Haida culture and their effects on argillite style and imagery.Wilson Duff: Sense and Non-Sense
Wilson Duff, a Canadian anthropologist, noted some problems with the aforementioned theories of progression in the styles and themes of Haida argillite carving. Duff reanalyzed the history of argillite carving and the existing theories concerning its influences and interpreted a timeline founded on what he calls "sense" and "non-sense". Instead of Kaufmann’s three periods, Duff broke the history of argillite carving into four phases. He used Kaufmann’s first three phases and added a fourth which he subsequently divided into two parts.Duff’s first period dates between the years 1800–1835. This is a “non-sense” period which is characterized by a lack of logical compositions of traditional Haida images or themes. According to Duff, these illogical representations in argillite are due to an unwillingness on the Haida’s behalf to allow important elements of their culture to be owned by Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
ans and Americans. Duff’s second period is called “White Man’s Non-sense” and takes place between 1830 and 1865. This period is filled with argillite carvings depicting Europeans or Americans which are often carved using a more Western influenced style. This movement towards more Western styles and themes is potentially due to an increase in contact between the two cultures. There were also many mixed images and visual punning carried out during Duff’s “Non-Sense” period. This “non-sense” theme is therefore also indicative of the Haida’s ridicule of Western culture’s seeming lack of rationality.
The depictions of Western culture increased and grew more detailed and elaborate during this period. By 1865 there are conventions in Haida depictions of Western style clothing, and a merging of traditional and Western methods of figure representation. The third period existed between 1865 and 1910. This “Haida sense” period represents a movement back to strongly traditional themes in argillite carving, most likely due to the population and culture decrease happening throughout Haida society at the time. Meaning is suddenly apparent in argillite carving, as are important Haida figures such as chiefs and shamans and sacred or religious themes. Haida myths begin to be represented in the carvings, the Bear-Mother myth being one of the most common myth themes that appear in this period. Duff sees this period as being an attempt by the Haida to record elements of their culture that were quickly being forgotten because of religious conversion or because of death. By 1910 the art of argillite carving was beginning to decline in conjunction with the continued loss of Haida individuals and culture. Duff’s fourth period is composed of two phases and added to Kaufmann’s original chronology. This period is entitled “Haida-Sense II” and existed between the years 1910–1981, making it the longest period in Duff’s model. Many of the great Haida artists producing carvings in the third period died during the early years of the fourth period causing a lack of skilled carvers and a stall in the production of argillite carvings. This first phase of period four is what Duff calls “The Plateau Era”. The plateau era is ended by a nationwide revitalization in the 1960s which occurred throughout Native American communities in order to revitalize the practice of traditional cultures. Aspiring argillite carvers looked to remaining older carvers, academia
Academia
Academia is the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research.-Etymology:The word comes from the akademeia in ancient Greece. Outside the city walls of Athens, the gymnasium was made famous by Plato as a center of learning...
, museums and galleries for information on how to carve.
Timeline synopsis
- 1820: Oval pipes and pipe panels are the most popular form created in argillite.
- 1830: The pipe panel configuration becomes more popular than the oval pipe form. This change is paralleled by a movement toward more Western-style images. Also, single figure pipes and Western-type pipes make an appearance at this time.
- 1840: Oval pipes are being produced less, while the pipe panel and panel forms have become common. Single figures now are generally representing American or European males.
- 1840–1860: Buyer preference for dishes, as well as flutes and other utensils.
- 1865: A large change in tradition occurs; totem poles and house posts begin to appear. This change begins a period of time where more traditional images make their way into argillite carving. Very few Western themed carvings are seen after this date.
- 1870: Continued increase in Indigenous themes. The first flat house posts are seen, as well as free standing house posts which become more popular after 1875.
- 1880: Another increase in object types occurs around this date. Also making an appearance are multiple figure carvings which become most common during this time.
- 1890: A resurgence of the popularity of the pipe occurs, albeit with increased decoration. Individual single figure popularity also increases again. The totem pole model continues to be sought after at this time, a trend that continues to the present.
- 1900–1910: Steady production of the creation of figures and poles.
- 1910–1960: Most items manufactured are small (6 inches or less). Only a few artists are carving large pieces at this time. Poles are manufactured and sold to stores and galleries.
- 1960: Interest in Native American cultural revival causes an increase in argillite carving of all shapes and sizes.
Haida argillite carvers
- Charles EdenshawCharles EdenshawCharles Edenshaw was a Haida artist from Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada. He is known for his woodcarving, argillite carving, jewellery, and painting.-Background:...
- Bill ReidBill ReidWilliam Ronald Reid, OBC was a Canadian artist whose works included jewelry, sculpture, screen-printing, and painting. His work is featured on the Canadian $20 banknote.-Biography:...
- Robert DavidsonRobert Davidson (artist)Robert Charles Davidson, CM, OBC , is a Canadian artist of Haida heritage. His specialties are in carving , sculpture and painting....
- Reg DavidsonReg DavidsonReg Davidson is a Canadian First Nations carver and a member of the Haida nation.He was born in 1954 at the Haida village of Masset on the Queen Charlotte Islands of British Columbia. His parents are Claude and Vivian Davidson and, through Claude, he is the grandson of the Haida artist and...
- Jay SimeonJay Simeon (artist)Jay Simeon is a Canadian artist of Haida heritage. He was born into the Kaawaas branch of the Sdast’a.aas Eagle clan. His crests are Eagle, Supernatural Killer Whale, Frog, Beaver, and Raven....