.
Shores of Nootka Sound. This plate conveys an excellent impression of the character of much of the Vancouver Island coast, with its rugged, tide-washed rocks, thickly timbered lowland, and lofty mountains in the distance: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
April 5, 1804
Chief went out whaling...first time this season...no success
April 6, 1804
Thick and cloudy...chief out whaling...struck one...was fast but harpoon broke...returned very cross
April 15, 1805
Chief out whaling...struck two but his harpoon drawed...returned in very bad humour
Maquina's whale hunt scorecard
during Jewitt's captivity
Days the chief went whaling........53
whales struck and lost.................8
whales killed........................
Whaler -- Clayoquot: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Whaler: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
At Nootka. The canoe is floating on the waters of Boston cove, where in 1803 the trading ship Boston was taken and burned by the Mooachaht Indians, and the entire crew killed except John Jewitt and John Thompson, who were held as slaves by the chief for three years. Jewitt's brief account of his captivity is one of our most interesting records of life among the Indians: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Clayoquot type. It was men such as the possessor of this inscrutable face who in 1811 attacked the Astor trading ship Tonquin in Clayoquot Sound, so successfully that the only recourse of the remnant of the crew was to blow up the vessel: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Whale ceremonial -- Clayoquot. Before daring to practise his dangerous art, the whaler subjects himself to a long and rigorous course of ceremonial purification in order to render himself pleasing to the spirit whale. He bathes frequently, rubs his body vigorously with hemlock sprigs, dives, and imitates the movements of a whale: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Hesquiat maiden. The subject of this plate is a female shaman of the Clayoquot tribe. The ceremonial washing of shamans is much like that of whalers and other hunters, consisting mainly of sitting or standing in water and rubbing the body with hemlock sprigs in order to remove all earthly taint, which would offend the supernatural powers: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Whaler -- Makah. Note the great size of the harpoon-shaft. Indian whalers implanted the harpoon-point by thrusting, not by hurling, the weapon: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
The captured whale. A small Humpback Whale (Megapter) lies partially butchered on the beach at Neah Bay: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Nootka method of spearing. The harpoon for seals, porpoises, and salmon is double-headed, so that if the point on the main shaft glances off, the other may perhaps lodge in the hunter's prey: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Fish spearing -- Clayoquot. The fisherman is taking flounder and other flatfish, which lie half-covered in the sand. At certain seasons, when the water is turbid by reason of the presence of excessive marine growth, objects on the bottom of a quiet bay can be discerned at a surprising depth. It is frequently assumed that the prows of North Coast canoes are carved in imitation of a dog's head, but the natives deny any intentional resemblance. The notch in the top of the prow, dividing it into two sections suggestive of an animal's ears, is simply a rest for the shaft of a spear or harpoon: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Canoeing on Clayoquot Sound: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Boarding the canoe. A Hesquiat berry-picker in primitive garb on the bold shores of Clayoquot Sound. The barefoot natives make their way without difficulty over barnacle-covered rocks such as these. It will be noted that the canoe has been fitted with rowlocks: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
On the west coast of Vancouver Island. Lacking hats to protect their heads from the sun, women sometimes make use of branches of foliage: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Bowman: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Hesquiat maiden. The girl wears the cedar-bark ornaments that are tied to the hair of virgins on the fifth morning of their puberty ceremony. The fact that the girl who posed for this picture was the prospective mother of an illegitimate child caused considerable amusement to the native onlookers and to herself: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
On the shores at Nootka. Two women wearing the primitive bark blanket and nose-ornament, and with clam-baskets on their backs, rest on the beach while waiting for the tide to fall and uncover the clam-beds: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Return of halibut fishers. Huge quantities of halibut are taken by the Makah at Cape Flattery, and the flesh is sliced and dried for storage: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Bark gatherer. These people still use large quantities of yellow-cedar bark in the manufacture of mats, and formerly this material furnished them their clothing also. The Hesquiat woman in the picture has a bulky pack of bark on her back, and in her hand is a steel-bladed adz of the primitive type: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Hesquiat root digger. Nootka women very commonly wore bark cape folded over the head, to protect the forehead from the tump-line, when carrying the burden-basket. The proper use of the cape was to shed rain.: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Berry picker -- Clayoquot: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Seaweed gatherer. Seaweed of the genus Porphyra is a favorite food among all the tribes of the North Pacific coast. The green, membranous fronds are gathered in the spring from tidal rocks and are pressed into flat cakes and dried: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Hesquiat woman: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Makah maiden: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Clayoquot girl: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Nootka woman wearing cedar-bark blanket: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Waiting for the canoe. As evening approaches, two women with clam-baskets and digging-sticks gaze across the water, anxiously awaiting the canoe that is to come and convey them home: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Nootka woman: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Haiyahl -- Nootka. A Nootka woman in profile, with a shell nose-ring and fur-edged bark blanket: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Nootka man. It is commonly believed that the facial hair of many North Coast natives is proof of intermingled Caucasian blood; but that such is not the case is conclusively proved by the statement of Captain Cook, who in 1778 observed that "some of them, and particularly the old men, have not only considerable beards all over the chin, but whiskers and mustachios.": photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
The oldest man of Nootka. This individual is the most primitive relic in the modernized village of Nootka. Stark naked, he may be seen hobbling about the beach or squatting in the sun, living in thought in the golden age when the social and ceremonial customs of his people were what they had always been: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
Into the shadow -- Clayoquot: photo by Edward S. Curtis (1862-1952), c. 1915, from The Nootka. The Haida [portfolio], Seattle, 1916 (Northwestern University Library / Library of Congress)
frustrations of the hunt from TC: Empire of Skin, 1997
No comments:
Post a Comment