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Identifying Characteristics of some Pacific Northwest Animal Figures
The painted animal figures created by the indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest are one of the remarkable art forms of this continent. The figures reflect a dynamic, complex imagery in a rhythmic and flowing style. Most figures were used to portray the crest of a lineage, and the meanings of the figures recalled important, often heroic events in the history of the lineage and its ancestors. These paintings were created on house walls, canoes, paddles, hats, baskets, dishes, boxes, drums, rattles, seats, and screens. Three dimensional figures are found on crest poles, masks, and spoons.
The colors most often used were red and black, symbolizing death and rebirth. The red was made from red ochre and hematite, and the black from charcoal, graphite, or lignite.
The following are some guidelines to identifying animal forms in the art of the Pacific Northwest:
Bear: ears, large flaring nostrils, wide mouth with conspicuous teeth, protruding tongue, and claw-like hands.
Bear mask, attributed to Charles George, Sr., Kwakiutl, ca. 1920. Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa. (From Wade 1986).
Beaver: ears and rounded nostrils, two large incisor teeth, u-shaped tail.
Eagle: long beak, but shorter than Raven's, downward curve to beak with visible tongue, u-form crest on top of head.
Frog: large mouth, legs in a flexed position, toed feet, and no teeth, ears, or tail.
Hawk: Recurved beak resembles that of Thunderbird, but is shorter. Does not have curled appendage from the head.
Raven: long, straight beak, blunt or short, turned-down tip, and often a visible tongue. Raven is also often pictured with a disk in its beak, representing Raven's theft of the sun from the box in origin stories.
Raven mask, Kwakiutl, ca. 1930. Philbrook Art Center, Tulsa. (From Wade 1986).
Shark: high domed head, sharp pointed teeth, gill slits on each side of the mouth, two small nostrils, and fins.
Thunderbird: similar to the eagle, but with a strong recurve to the beak and curled appendages extending from the head.
Whale: round snouted head, large mouth, many teeth, blow hole, dorsal and pectoral fins, and a tail with symmetrical flukes.
Wolf: elongated snout with flared nostrils, large and numerous teeth, prominent ears, and curled-over tail.
The following are examples of commonly utilized Kwakiutl animals:
Sources:
Nabokov, Peter, and Robert Easton. Native American Architecture. New York: Oxford UP, 1989.
Stewart, Hilary. Looking at Indian Art of the Northwest Coast. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. 1979.
Wade, Edwin L. The Arts of the North American Indian: Native Traditions in Evolution. New York: Hudson Hills Press. 1986.
