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| Dirge Song: Litho Print - Mairi Budreau |
In 1994 I travelled to Giskan territory in Northern BC to meet and draw a portrait of Chief Walter Harris for an art show, Circle of Inspiration at the Gallery of Tribal Art in Vancouver.
While in the village of Kispiox, I visited the totems that stood in front of houses no longer there. Children were running around the totems unaware of the atrocities the church had invoked upon their ancestors. The iron was not lost on me.
The weeping pole and its juxtaposition to the church seen in the drawing is not fabricated, that is how it was when I was there.
At that time in my life, I was new to BC and learning about Colonialism, it purpose and effect upon Native people, and I felt raw and deeply ashamed. I was searching for ways to communicate through art that these acts were so very wrong. I felt compelled to find a way to let 'The People' know someone got it, someone empathized.
In Dirge Song, the 'frozen' tears on the totem were the ongoing flow of tears of The People caused by the 'innocent' little white church. The sky is in turmoil because the spirit of The People is in turmoil and on the lower left-hand side a little bit of light appears on the horizon - a hope for the future that apology, responsibility and respect would one day come to a culture that lived harmoniously with the earth.
A dirge is a song of mourning.
I returned to Vancouver, printed my photos and knew I wanted to make this drawing. I found out who owned the weeping totem and returned to Kispiox to meet and ask for that permission in person from elder, Mary Johnson.
We met in that church and she told me the meaning of the figures on the totem and the woman clutching the grouse. The tears on the pole fall in thanks for food (the grouse) and a flood that caused starvation and killed their people.
The drawing was made with permission of the Mary Johnson and Stanley Wilson Family.
The original drawing was purchased long ago. 200 lithographed prints were made plus art cards.
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| Photo Credit: B. Hoskin |
B. Hoskin Notes:
I initially visited the Gitxan area in 1996, during which time I spent copious hours travelling to the various villages to witness the spectacle of totems, for they truly are special. It was a dark and rainy July day when I visited K'san Village. As luck would have it, there were few tourists about, which afforded me the full attention of a very knowledgeable staff member. When I described a scene of two men carving a totem within the shelter of a longhouse in the Village of Gitanyow, my village guide explained who the carvers were and what they were carving. Apparently many years earlier, some of the totems were removed and placed in museums. The men were working on a replica of one such totem.
In 1994, the Museum gift shop had much more of a gallery feel, host to some incredible indigenous art, most of which fell well out of what my wallet could afford. Then I came upon Dirge Song. I had only recently learned about the residential school system, including the long closed 'Indian Industrial School' within my own community. While Budreau is not indigenous, she captured my own horror and shame precisely. The print came home with me and remains on my wall to this day.
27 years later, in 2023, I returned to the community, spending 3 wonderful days, scouring the villages and paying homage to the totems. It was important to me to find this particular totem and photograph it. I hadn't done my homework though; I didn't bring the location of the totem which Budreau so graciously provides with Dirge Song. That little mis-step gave me an unexpected opportunity. Once again we visited K'san Village. Speaking to the supervisor, we discovered that the totem was created by none other than her father, Victor Mowatt, along with uncle, Earl Muldoe and Walter Harris. Carved in the 1970's, Mother of Grouse commemorates the crests of the fireweed Clan, replicating one that disappeared from Kispiox long ago. Harris was Hereditary Chief and Mowatt and Muldoe were Hereditary Chiefs and Master Carvers.
The Skeena River, second longest river in the province, remains an icon of British Columbia's northwest. Known as Xsien (water of the clouds) by the Tsimshian and Gitxan, it plays a vital role in the lives of the Indigenous people of this region. Immediately alongside the ancient village of Gitanmaax, what is now known as Old Hazelton was established in 1866. It's an interesting dichotomy to say the least, worthy of more than simply passing through.
Resources:
https://totems.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/en/story/Gitanyow
https://www.mairibudreau.com/store/p26/Dirge_Song_print.html
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/walter-harris
https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/2280747
https://skeenawatershed.com/resource_files/SkeenaStories.pdf
https://douglasreynoldsgallery.com/collections/earl-muldoe
