Northwest Coast Art: Resources for Further Learning

The resources below provide avenues to learn more about the art, artists, and First Nations represented in the Hoyt Collection of Northwest Coast art. Compiled by Natalie Ford
(Anthropology WU ’22), the items are organized into topic areas though many individual resources address more than one topic. 


CONTENT WARNING:
Many of the items on this list discuss residential schools briefly and/or at length. The links below offer resources for survivors and others who have been impacted by the history of residential and boarding schools.

residential school survivor resources


 

Art and Artists

Directed by Loretta Todd
1994  |  51 minutes
Streaming for free on the National film Board of Canada’s website

Loretta Todd showcases four contemporary female artists: Doreen Jensen, Rena Point Bolton, Jane Ash Poitras and Joane Cardinal-Schubert. They share their journeys of being artists exploring traditional to contemporary art forms.

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2015, streaming for free on the Burke Museum website

Consisting of four lectures, the Burke Museum invited scholars to provide insights on NWC art research, history, and styles.

  • Shaun Peterson (Puyallup/Tulalip artist) and David R. Boxley (Tsimshian artist) join Robin K. Wright in a conversation about Northwest Coast art styles.
  • Presentations on collaborative research and community-based scholarship.
  • Presentations on Northwest Coast art history & Indigenous methodologies.
  • Panel discussion on contemporary Northwest Coast art and how artists challenge pre-conceptions.

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Lecture by Robin K. Wright and Kathryn Bunn-Macruse
2014  |  45 minutes
Streaming for free on the Seattle Channel website 

Robin K. Wright and Kathryn Bunn-Murcuse discuss different Northwest Coast artists, art pieces, and styles.

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Directed by Robert Lang
1982  |  20 minutes 
Streaming for free on Youtube

This documentary follows artist Joe David’s (Nuu-Chah_Nulth) process of carving a ceremonial mask from start to finish, as well as detailing the history of carving in the NWC. 

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Directed by Zoe L Hopkins and Dora Hopkins
2009  |  3 minutes
Streaming for free on the National Film Board of Canada website

This documentary shows the creation of a button blanket from the West Coast Heiltsuk Nation from start to finish with a traditional dance.

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Directed by Jack Long
1979  |  27 minutes 
Streaming for free on the National Film Board of Canada website

This documentary shows Bill Reid (Haida) carving a totem pole from start to finish. 

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Directed by Cristobal Ruiz
2021  |  12 minutes 
Streaming for free on Youtube

This documentary gives a brief history of Coast Salish weaving, and how weaving  has shaped Debra Sparrow’s (Musqueam) life, both culturally and spiritually. 

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Museum of Anthropology UBC, 2002

This online book details the history and significance of Musqueam weaving through the different profiles of 18 Musqueam weavers.

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Directed by Barb Cranmer
2001  |  47 minutes
Available to purchase through Moving Images distribution. 

This documentary highlights the work, regalia, knowledge, and personal experiences of six Chilkat weavers. 

Purchasing Information

Museum of Anthropology UBC, 2018

This virtual exhibit showcases the visual and oral histories of three different NWC Peoples regarding earthquakes and tsunamis, illuminating the importance of Indigenous Knowledge systems.

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Burke Museum- University of Washington of Arts & Sciences, 2022

This website is the jumping off point for people searching to learn and study Northwest Coast art at the Burke Museum, providing multiple resources such as grants, projects, and different publications. 

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The Bill Reid Centre - Simon Fraser University 

This website includes multiple multimedia presentations varying from artist exhibitions, canoe culture, and historical images. 

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Canoes

Museum of Anthropology UBC, 2013

This website provides multiple interactive sources in helping both students and teachers understand the canoe cultures of the Haida and Squamish Peoples.

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Directed by Robert Lundahl
2005  |  58 minutes
Streaming for free on Youtube

This documentary focuses on Coast Salish and Nuu-Chah-Nulth canoes, crews, and communities involved with the voyage to a traditional potlatch.

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Culture and History

Directed by Paul Rickard (Omuskego Cree)
2005  |  1 hour 33 minutes
Streaming for free on Youtube.

This documentary highlights how different Indigenous communities (including Coast Salish and Haida) have built different traditional architectural structures, as well as how these structures have been adapted and reinterpreted today.  

Directed by Christopher Auchter
2019  |  16 minutes
Streaming for free on the National Film Board of Canada website
 

This documentary revisits the day the first new totem pole, carved by Robert Davidson (Haida), was raised in the village of Old Massett.

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Directed by Gil Cardinal
2003  |  1 hour 10 minutes
Streaming for free on the National Film Board of Canada website

This documentary describes the effort of the Haisla People to reclaim and bring home the G’psgolox totem pole that was stolen in 1929,  and discovered 60 years later in a Stockholm museum.

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Host Jessica Yaquinto with guest Karen Rose Thomas
2019  |  1 hour 5 minutes
Streaming for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Google Play Music

This podcast episode touches on the relationship Indigenous peoples have between archaeology, anthropology, and museums.

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Directed by Barbara Greene
1975  |  27 minutes
Streaming for free on the National Film Board of Canada website

This documentary (while almost 50 years old) provides a brief look into the economic development and cultural revival of the Heiltsuk Peoples of Campbell Island. 

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Directed by Kevin Lee Burton
2007  |  7 minutes
Streaming for free on the National Film Board of Canada website

This documentary highlights Larry Grant, a Musqueam elder, who is rediscovering traditions and his native language while living in Vancouver.  

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Produced by the Fort Nisqually Living History Museum
2022
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music. 

This podcast is an expansion on a 2021 panel of the Puget Sound Treaty War (1855-1856) and through various podcasts highlights different tribal voices who share their knowledge and expertise of Puget Sound history.

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Shawn, Niibin, SJ Longtaile, and Amelia/Gudangee Xahl Kil
UBC Indian Residential School History and Dialogue Centre.
Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher

Created by Indigenous youth, this podcast discusses many interconnected topics that relate to their lives- from LGBTQ2S+ and Indigequeer identities, repatriation, arts and culture, food sovereignty, the child welfare and education system, story telling, and residential schools. 


Content Warning for sensitive topics

residential school survivor resources


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Sealaska Heritage Institute, 2019 

This online exhibition dives into traditional Tlingit laws, which is based on a group orientation. The exhibition highlights different historical and modern conflicts and warriors.  

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Sealaska Heritage Institute

These archives consist of different documents that provide rich information on “Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian language, culture, and history.

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Royal BC Museum, 2022

The Royal BC Museum provides different videos discussing residential schools, experiences from residential school survivors, and reconciliation efforts.


Content Warning for sensitive topics

residential school survivor resources


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Carolyn J. Marr
University of Washington, 1998 

This essay gives a history of the creation, purpose, and lasting impact Indian boarding schools have on the Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest.

 


Content Warning for sensitive topics

residential school survivor resources


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Indigenous Education - Comox Valley Schools      

Comox Valley School District (in British Columbia, Canada) has compiled different educational resources on topics relating to broad arts and culture, the environment, language, and reconciliation.

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Environment

This website details the Great Bear Initiative (an alliance of 9 Nations on British Columbia's north and central coast) and approaches to Indigenous led resource management that helps the local economy and protects ancestral territories from environmental harm. 

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Directed by Kamala Todd
2008  |  9 minutes
Streaming for free on the National Film Board of Canada website

This documentary interviews Cease Wyss (Squamish) and shares her knowledge of the healing plants that grow around downtown Vancouver.

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Pam Brown (Heiltsuk Nation)

This website documents the Heiltsuk Nation’s protest of the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and oil-tanker traffic that would encroach on their ancestral waters.

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Indigenous Education - Comox Valley Schools.

This website gives different multimedia resources on learning about salmon and their importance to the environment and the Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast.

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National Museum of the American Indian, 2018

This website details how Native Nations of the Pacific Northwest fought to secure their treaty rights and demonstrate their sovereignty during a time of government oppression. 

View

Feature Films and Cinema

Directed by Ludmila Zeman and Eugen Spaleny.
1991. |  13 minutes
Streaming for free on the National Film Board of Canada website

This animation follows a young boy and his journey to the spirit world to save his village from darkness and restore people's harmony with nature.

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Directed by Caleb Hystad, 2016

From the official description: “In a time when Native American legends were a part of daily life, the 10 year celebration of the first people's release from the giant clamshell is in jeopardy as a storm destroys the village, the animals revolt and the chief falls under a dark spell."

Subscribe to view the series on Youtube

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Available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video

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Directed by Chris Kientz, 2016
Streaming for free with ads on Amazon Prime Video  

This CGI (computer-generated imagery) animation details four different stories from First Nations folklore.

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Directed by Christopher Auchter
2017  |  10 minutes
Streaming for free on the National Film Board of Canada website

This animation, based on an old Haida fable, tells the story of a young woman rescuing a man who was stolen away to the spirit world. 

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Directed by Helen Haig Brown
2005  |  11 minutes
Streaming for free on Isuma TV

This short film depicts a sister’s journey of grief and guilt after her brother passed away in a tragic accident.

Content Warning: Death  

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Directed by Gwaai Edenshaw and Helen Haig Brown, 2018
Available to rent on Apple or stream with Amazon Prime Video Shud
der add-on.

From the Amazon description: “Haida Gwaii, 1800’s, after causing the accidental death of a child, a man flees into the rainforest, descending into madness and transforming into Gaagiixid - ‘the Wildman.’”

Content Warning: Death, Violence, Not rated

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Directed by Helen Haig-Brown, 2009
Streaming for free on YouTube

Youtube description: “A bear hunter on horseback accidentally discovers a portal to another world. A fantastical true Tsilhqot’in story.”

Content Warning: Nudity, Not rated

Directed by Trevor Mack, 2021
Streaming on Crave but only in Canada (can watch if you use a VPN)

From Crave description: “An Indigenous teenage boy fights through distorting realities as a family secret unravels.”

Rating PG 

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Directed by Loretta Todd, 2020
Streaming on Crave but only in Canada (Can watch if you use a VPN)

From Crave description: “In an effort to turn her life around, a young indigenous woman returns to her hometown and discovers how dysfunctional her family has become.”

Rating 14+ 

View

Directed by Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Kathleen Hepburn
2019  |  1 hour 45 minutes
Streaming on Netflix

Netflix description: “After a chance encounter on the street, a woman tries to encourage a pregnant domestic abuse victim to seek help.”

Content Warning: Domestic Violence, Abuse, Drugs. Rating TV-MA 

Directed by Zoe Leigh Hopkins
2017  |  1 hour 31 minutes
Streaming on YouTube

YouTube description: “Ella a 14-year old girl embarks on a journey to fulfill her dying Uncle’s wish: for her to kayak to the remote island of Klemtu and testify to protect their ancestral land from an oil pipeline. Ella knows she cannot make the trip alone so she gathers her eccentric family to take the adventure of a lifetime. Can the family work together to survive the beautiful but dangerous trip? Or will their past prevent them from protecting their future?

Rating 13+ 

View

Kids (Kindergarten-8th Grade)

Directed by Ludmila Zeman and Eugen Spaleny
1991  |  13 minutes
Streaming for free on the National Film Board of Canada website

This animation follows a young boy and his journey to the spirit world to save his village from darkness and restore peoples’ harmony with nature. 

View

Directed by Caleb Hystad, 2016

From the official description: “In a time when Native American legends were a part of daily life, the 10 year celebration of the first people's release from the giant clamshell is in jeopardy as a storm destroys the village, the animals revolt and the chief falls under a dark spell."

Subscribe to view the series on Youtube

View

Available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video

View

Directed by Chris Kientz, 2016
Streaming for free with ads on Amazon Prime Video

This CGI (computer-generated imagery) animation details four different stories from First Nations folklore. 

View

Directed by Christopher Auchter
2017  |  10 minutes
Streaming for free on the National Film Board of Canada website

This animation, based on an old Haida fable, tells the story of a young woman rescuing a man who was stolen away to the spirit world. 

View

National Museum of the American Indian, 2018 

This website details how Native Nations of the Pacific Northwest fought to secure their treaty rights and demonstrate their sovereignty during a time of government oppression. 

View

Royal BC Museum

This website brings a kid friendly approach to what residential schools were and what reconciliation means for residential school survivors and their families, showcasing videos, pictures, text, and audio sources. 


Content Warning for sensitive topics

residential school survivor resources


View

U’Mista Cultural Society

This website provides the perfect introduction to what the potlatch ceremony is to the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw through text, videos, pictures, and audio recordings. 

View
 

Museum of Anthropology UBC. 2018. 

This virtual exhibit showcases the visual and oral histories of three different Northwest Coast Peoples regarding earthquakes and tsunamis, illuminating the importance of Indigenous Knowledge systems. 

View

Museum of Anthropology UBC, 2013

This website provides multiple interactive sources in helping both students and teachers understand the canoe cultures of the Haida and Squamish Peoples. 

View

Potlatch

Directed by Chuck Olin
1983  |  27 minutes
Streaming for free on the Chicago Film Archives website

From the Chicago Film Archives abstract: “ Made in collaboration with the U’Mista Cultural Centre on the west coast of Canada, “Box of Treasures” documents the return of the potlatch ritual to the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw First Nation.” 

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Directed by Lindsay Willie
2014  |  44 minutes
Streaming for free on Youtube 

From youtube description: “In Potlatch Keepers, filmmaker Lindsey Willie returns home to her remote ancestral village of Kingcome Inlet, British Columbia, Canada, to learn the protocols of potlatching but gains something much more – her cultural awakening.”

Content Warning: Death, Generational Trauma  

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U’Mista Cultural Society.

This website provides the perfect introduction to what the potlatch ceremony is to  the Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw through text, videos, pictures, and audio recordings.  

View

Lenard Monkman, 2017
CBC News

This article describes how the potlatch ban from 1884-1951 led to the exclusion of women in secret potlatch ceremonies, which has led to exclusion to leadership positions for women in First Nations communities today.  

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Policies and Indigenous Rights

Executive Producer Rosita Worl
Sealaska Heritage Institute
2005  |  30 minutes
Streaming for free on The Archaeology Channel
 

The discovery of 10,000 human remains on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska, leads Indigenous groups and government agencies to work together through the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. 

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ANP Circle
2017  |  21 minutes
Streaming for free on Youtube

Nella Nelson (Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw) discusses how Canada’s racist policies impacted Indigenous economies in the past and in the present, and how her family stayed strong. She also discusses the economy system of the potlatch ceremony. 

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Legal Aid British Columbia, Canada, 2021 

This website has multiple text and video resources on the different harvesting, hunting, and other treaty rights that First Nations people possess.  

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British Columbia, Canada, Treaty Commission

This website discusses many FAQs related to treaties and treaty negotiations in British Columbia, Canada. 

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Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

This website discusses treaty history with the Indigenous peoples that live in Washington and what is outlined in those treaties.  

View


For corrections and to suggest additions to this page, please email the museum at museum-art@willamette.edu and refer to the "Northwest Coast Art: Resources for Further Learning" page in your subject line. 


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