Native American Carving  

As with other Native American Indian arts, there are different native carving traditions in North America. Here in the Pacific Northwest Native Indian woodcarvers are best known for their impressive totem poles.
In this issue EATP's Julie Koler presents an audio interview with the Northwest carver, Rick Williams.
Rick has lived around totems and carvers all his life. His father, Ray Williams, was a master carver who had totems exhibited in museums all over the United States and Canada, including the Smithsonian and the White House.
The Williams family is a member of the Nitinat Band (Eagle Clan), which is a part of the West Coast Tribe. The West Coast peoples are originally from Vancouver Island. The family’s carving style is that of the Nitinat tradition.
Rick has been able to take the traditional Nitinat style of his father and adapt a variety of colors to blend with his artistic vision. Rick often uses the traditional symbols of Thunderbird, Bear, and Frog in his carvings.

                                           
                                More Art by Rick Williams

The Nitinat style has its roots in the Northwest Coast Native Art and Culture.

To inquire about Rick's carvings, call 360-853-7786

Beauty behind me, I walk with.       Beauty above me, I walk with.       Beauty below me, I walk with.       Beauty all around me.      ~ Navajo Night Chant

Amazingly, there is no equivalent in the Native American languages for the word ART; yet Native Americans create objects of extraordinary beauty, confirming that they are a highly spiritual.
It is also interesting to note that in Native American thought there is no distinction between what is beautiful or functional, and what is sacred or secular. Design goes far beyond concerns of function, and beauty is much more than simple appearances.
For many native peoples, beauty arises from living in harmony with the order of the universe. At the same time the concerns and aspirations of a vital contemporary American Indian population changes as the world changes.
Fortunately, while participating in mainstream life in the twenty-first century, Native American artists continue their ancestors' tradition of creating magnificent art for the benefit of the rest of the world.

"We who are clay blended by the Master Potter, come from the kiln of Creation in many hues. How can people say one skin is colored, when each has its own coloration? What should it matter that one bowl is dark and the other pale, if each is of good design and serves its purpose well. ~ Qoyawayma, Hopi

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