GORD HILL
(Kwakwaka'wakw)
(Kwakwaka'wakw)
Ancient Culture, Ancient Forest. 2022, Acrylic on canvas, 16"w x 20"h.
STATEMENT
The vast rainforests of the Pacific Northwest Coast were central to the survival and way of life of Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. In particular, old growth red cedar (the “tree of life”) provided for the majority of our peoples’ material culture, including houses, canoes, totem poles, storage boxes and cooking containers, masks, rattles, clothing, and hats.
The forests were also home to many others, including bears, wolves, cougars, deer, and elk. Today, most of this forest has been destroyed by industrial scale clear-cut logging. Indigenous peoples, along with non-Indigenous social movements, have protested and resisted destructive logging practices for several decades now.
I chose to portray a decaying totem pole carved in the form of a grizzly bear with the forest behind it. The bear represents a land defender and protector as well as a healer. The old carving symbolizes how ancient the culture is, one that relies on an ancient forest which today, has largely been destroyed.
The vast rainforests of the Pacific Northwest Coast were central to the survival and way of life of Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. In particular, old growth red cedar (the “tree of life”) provided for the majority of our peoples’ material culture, including houses, canoes, totem poles, storage boxes and cooking containers, masks, rattles, clothing, and hats.
The forests were also home to many others, including bears, wolves, cougars, deer, and elk. Today, most of this forest has been destroyed by industrial scale clear-cut logging. Indigenous peoples, along with non-Indigenous social movements, have protested and resisted destructive logging practices for several decades now.
I chose to portray a decaying totem pole carved in the form of a grizzly bear with the forest behind it. The bear represents a land defender and protector as well as a healer. The old carving symbolizes how ancient the culture is, one that relies on an ancient forest which today, has largely been destroyed.
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BIOGRAPHY
Gord Hill is an Indigenous writer, artist and activist of the Kwakwaka'wakw nation. He is the author and illustrator of The 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance Comic Book, The Anti-Capitalist Resistance Comic Book, and The Antifa Comic Book (all published by Arsenal Pulp Press in Vancouver, Canada), as well as the author of the book 500 Years of Indigenous Resistance, published by PM Press in Oakland, California. His art and writings have also been published in numerous periodicals, including Briarpatch, Canadian Dimension, Redwire, Red Rising Magazine, The Dominion, Recherches Amerindiennes au Quebec, Intotemak, Seattle Weekly, and Broken Pencil. He has been involved in Indigenous people's and anti-globalization movements since 1990. Hill lives in Alert Bay. |
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