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First Peoples of Canada: Masterworks from the Canadian Museum of Civilization
Jean-Luc Pilon & Nicholette Prince
$52.00 CADFirst Peoples of Canada offers readers a rare opportunity to experience a celebrated exhibition that has toured the world, yet has never been shown in Canada. This beautifully designed, full-colour book presents a collection of 150 archaeological and ethnographic objects produced by Canada’s First Peoples – including some that are roughly 12,000 years old – that represent spectacular expressions of creativity and ingenuity.
Curators Jean-Luc Pilon and Nicholette Prince sought out pieces held by the Canadian Museum of Civilization that could be considered “masterworks” based on their aesthetic qualities, symbolic value, or the skills and raw materials used in manufacturing them. These unique and priceless artifacts embody the rich diversity of skills and materials used by Canadian Inuit, First Nations, and Métis in both ancient and modern times.
First Peoples of Canada is full of insights not only on the pieces themselves but also on the cultures that produced them and the geography of this vast land. Readers will come away from this book with a renewed appreciation of the lifestyles and achievements of Canada’s original inhabitants.
This collection focuses on items made by people in four regions across Canada: the farmers of the Great Lakes, the hunters, and warriors of the Great Plains, the wealthy Salmon People of coastal British Columbia, and the people of Canada’s harshest environments, the Arctic and Boreal Forest.
Published in 2013
Paperback
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Ḱesu’: The Art & Life of Doug Cranmer
Jennifer Kramer
$29.95 CADNorthwest Coast Kwakwaka’wakw art is renowned for its flamboyant, energetic, and colorful carving and painting. Among the best-known practitioners was Doug Cranmer, whose style was understated, elegant, fresh, and unique and whose work quickly found an international following in the 1960s. Named K’esu’, or Wealth Being Carved, as a child, he was an early player in the global, commercial art market and one of the first Native artists in British Columbia to own his own gallery. A long-time teacher, he inspired generations of young Native artists in Alert Bay and beyond.
This beautifully illustrated book is a record of the art, life, and influence of a man who called himself a “whittler” or “doodler” but who embodied “indigenous modern” well before the term had been coined. He pioneered abstract and non-figurative paintings using Northwest Coast ovoids and U-shapes; embraced the practice of silk-screening on wood, paper, and burlap; and adapted power tools to new applications in art. Skillfully weaving recollections from his friends and family, facts about his life and examples of his stunning artwork, K’esu’ is a wide-ranging celebration of Doug Cranmer and his profound influence on Kwakwaka’wakw art.
Published in 2012
Paperback
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Discovering Totem Poles: A Traveller’s Guide
Aldona Jonaitis
$7.99 CADAn indispensable guide for identifying totem poles along British Columbia’s inside passage from Vancouver to Alaska.
Whether rising from a forest mist or soaring overhead in parks and museums, magnificent cedar totem poles have captivated the attention and imagination of visitors to Washington State, British Columbia, and Alaska.
Discovering Totem Poles is the first guidebook to focus on the complex and fascinating histories of the specific poles visitors encounter in Seattle, Victoria, Vancouver, Alert Bay, Prince Rupert, Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), Ketchikan, Sitka, and Juneau. It debunks common misconceptions about totem poles and explores the stories behind the making and displaying of 90 different poles.
Travelers with this guide in their pocket will return home with a deeper knowledge about these monumental carvings, their place in history and the people who made them.
Published in 2012
Paperback
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Unikkaaqtuat: An Introduction to Inuit Myths & Legends
Neil Christopher
$24.95 CADIn this exhaustive story collection, the rich tradition of Inuit storytelling becomes accessible to the rest of Canada for the first time. Unipkaaqtut is the Inuit word meaning “to tell stories.”
This definitive collection of Inuit legends is thoughtfully introduced and carefully annotated to provide the historical and cultural context in which to understand this rich oral tradition.
Read about the origin of thunder and lightning, the tale of the man who married a fox and many animal fables from the North. Fascinating and educational, this little-known part of Canada’s heritage will captivate readers of all ages. As a work of historical and cultural preservation, this text will be invaluable to those studying Inuit.
Published in 2011
Paperback
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Sonny Assu: A Selective History
Sonny Assu with Candice Hopkins, Marianne Nicholson, Richard Van Camp, and Ellyn Walker
$34.95 CADA stunning retrospective highlighting the playfulness, power, and subversive spirit of Northwest Coast Indigenous artist Sonny Assu.
Through large-scale installation, sculpture, photography, printmaking, and painting, Sonny Assu merges the aesthetics of Indigenous iconography with a pop-art sensibility. This stunning retrospective spans over a decade of Assu’s career, highlighting more than 120 full-colour works, including several never-before-exhibited pieces.
Through analytical essays and personal narratives, Richard Van Camp, Marianne Nicolson, Candice Hopkins, and Ellyn Walker provide brilliant commentary on Assu’s practice, its meaning in the context of contemporary art, and its wider significance in the struggle for Indigenous cultural and political autonomy. Exploring themes of Indigenous rights, consumerism, branding, humour, and the ways in which history informs contemporary ideas and identities, Sonny Assu: A Selective History is the first major full-scale book to pay tribute to this important, prolific, and vibrant figure in the Canadian contemporary art world.
Softcover
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Our Hands Remember: Recovering Sanikiluaq Basket Sewing
$24.95 CADSanikiluaq, a small Inuit community in the Belcher Islands region of the Far North, has a long history of artistic output. But as the demand for stone carvings grew, grass basket sewing―once a traditional skill for Inuit women―faded from the community consciousness. That was until a group of women, including educator and artist Margaret Lawrence, came together to renew the lost art of basket sewing.
In Our Hands Remember: Recovering Sanikiluaq Basket Sewing, Lawrence guides readers through creating their own grass baskets in the unique style of the Sanikiluaq region with step-by-step instructions and photographs. From tips on preparing the grass and forming even coils to the different types of embellishments, this book is accessible to all skill levels.
Published: 2018
Softcover
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Nanuq: Life With Polar Bears
$27.95 CADNanuq: Life with Polar Bears features gorgeous wildlife photography of polar bears alongside first-hand accounts of experiences of living alongside the great sea bear.
From close encounters with angry bears to the beauty of watching a polar bear climb an iceberg with its claws and traditional mythology surrounding life with polar bears, this book gives readers outside the Arctic a first-hand look at what life with polar bears is really like.
Photographs by Paul Souders
Published: 2016
Hardcover
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