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Charlie James Sun Mask [Framed]
David Neel
$4,500.00 CADAcrylic paint on Canvas
Framed
This painting was inspired by a well known Sun mask by Charlie James. The designs in the background of the painting are based on traditional petroglyphs.
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Octopus That Married a Woman Bracelet
David Neel
$5,100.00 CAD14K Yellow Gold, Engraved
When a man returned from fishing one day, he asked a woman to bring up the catch, then returned to the big-house. However, the woman did not return from this task. The whole village searched for her, but she was never found. Years later, when two octopi visited the village, the man found out that she had been taken by a giant octopus to live under the sea. The two octopi were her children.
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Supernatural Loon Bracelet
David Neel
$5,100.00 CAD14K Yellow Gold, Engraved
In ancient Kwakwaka’wakw stories, the Loon aids the protagonist, taking him on its back and transporting him to the undersea realm, where animals live much like humans. It represents a helper spirit that is the portal or doorway to a supernatural world.
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Hummingbird & Bear Box (Artist Proof)
David Neel
$390.00 CADSerigraph, Artist Proof, Edition of 7
Unframed
(For inquiries on custom framing, please contact the gallery)
“This design depicts the legend of a hummingbird, who, while out gathering flower nectar, encountered a bear. This bear was something of a bully and would not allow the hummingbird to get near the flowers. Hummingbird tried again and again but the bear blocked her every time. Frustrated, the hummingbird gathered some twigs and flew inside the bear’s nose and down into his stomach, where she used the twigs to start a fire and then flew back outside. With smoke wafting from his nose and mouth, the bear ran away into the forest and never bothered hummingbird again. This legend teaches us that even great obstacles can be overcome.
The design is in the shape of a cedar bentwood box, which was widely used by all the tribes on the Northwest Coast. They were used as storage containers, cooking vessels, and were stacked to serve as walls inside the big-house. The sides were made from a single red cedar plank that was “kerfed” so that it could be steam bent and would be water tight. The lid was often decorated with Operculum shells that were inlaid in a pattern. The boxes were painted with elaborate designs that are the foundation of Northwest Coast Native “flat design”. David has extensively studied the work of the master artists who painted the early bentwood boxes, which has influenced his hand engraved jewelry, and inspired the design for this print.”
– David Neel
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Siwid & the Supernatural Frog Bracelet
David Neel
$2,400.00 CADSterling silver, Abalone shell, Engraved
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Thunderbird the First Ancestor Pendant
David Neel
$2,600.00 CAD14K Yellow Gold, Turquoise, Engraved
The Thunderbird is the main family crest for the Neel family.
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Mink Creates the First Salmon Pendant
David Neel
$900.00 CADSterling silver, Turquoise, Lapis Lazuli, Engraved
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Broken Promises [Framed]
David Neel
$800.00 CADSerigraph, Edition of 75
2017
Framed
“They made us many promises, more than I can remember. But they kept but one: They promised to take our land, and they took it.” ~ Chief Red Cloud
Broken Promises is David Neel’s powerful tribute to those who supported the Standing Rock Sioux in their struggle against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The DAPL protests began in 2016, when the construction of this 1,886 km underground oil pipeline was approved by the US Army Corps of Engineers. This 3.7-billion-dollar project would allow the transfer of crude oil from North Dakota’s Bakken oil field to a refinery near Patoka, Illinois. However, the pipeline constituted a threat to the water supply for the nearby Standing Rock Indian Reservation, as well as to the preservation of the Standing Rock Sioux’s ancient burial grounds. Thus, the pipeline sparked bitter controversy across the nation, and North Dakota was flooded with environmental and Indigenous rights activists from all over the world.
“No Native American issue in recent years has captured the public’s imagination like the protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline…. Ignored by the mainstream media, there was wide spread support from the public, and the issue went viral in social media with the hashtag, #noDapl, becoming widely recognized. It is ironic that this standoff took place on the same territory where Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Red Cloud once fought the United States cavalry. But the pipeline protests were not to protect an ancient way of life: it was about human rights – public water versus corporate profits. The water supply to millions of people, who depend on water from the Missouri River, was threatened by the pipeline which will cross the river. This inspired thousands of Americans, Native and non-Native, to brave attack dogs, water cannons, tear gas and freezing weather to protect the public right to clean water.” ~ David Neel
The central image of Broken Promises shows Chief Red Cloud, a prominent Oglala Lakota chief who lead the fight against the U.S. military in a conflict that came to be known as “Red Cloud’s War.” In this print, Chief Red Cloud serves as a symbol of Native American traditional values and the Indigenous communities’ hard-fought struggle to retain their lands. The images in the top left and right of the print show protestors from Brazil and France, respectively. The construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline raised environmental and Indigenous rights issues that communities all over the world are facing. The DAPL protests thus drew supporters on an international scale, as these images can attest. In the bottom left corner of the print, David has placed an image of protestors trying to stop earth movers from working on the pipeline. The bottom right corner features an image of the severe police response to the peaceful protest. Finally, the border of the print is constructed using a traditional Plains design, which is taken from a Plains Native American parfleche.
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