pp. 117, red/black duo-tone illustrations of Davidson's designs, b/w photographs

Robert Davidson, Haida printmaker

Hilary Stewart

University of Washington Press

Magnificent and haunting, the tall cedar sculptures called totem poles have become a distinctive symbol of the native people of the Northwest Coast. The powerful carvings of the vital and extraordinary beings such as Sea Bear, Thunderbird and Cedar Man are impressive and intriguing. Looking at Totem Poles is an indispensable guide to 110 poles in easily acessible outdoor locations in coastal British Columbia and Alaska. In clear and lively prose, Hilary Stewart describes the various types of poles, their purpose, and how they were carved and raised. She also identifies and explains frequently depicted figures and objects. Each pole, shown in a beautifully detailed drawing, is accompanied by a text that points out the crests, figures and objects carved on it. Historical and cultural background are given, legends are recounted and often the carver’s comments or anecdotes enrich the pole’s story. Photographs put some of the poles into context or show their carving and raising. This book is a companion volume to Hilary Stewart’s enormously successful Looking at Indian Art of the Northwest Coast.

Looking at Totem Poles

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Douglas&McIntyre

From the mighty cedar of the rainforest came a wealth of raw materials vital to the early Northwest Coast Indian way of life, its art and culture. For thousands of years these people developed the tools and technologies to fell the giant cedars that grew in profusion. They used the rot-resistant wood for graceful dugout canoes to travel the coastal waters, massive post-and-beam houses in which to live, steam bent boxes for storage, monumental carved poles to declare their lineage and dramatic dance masks to evoke the spirit world.
Every part of the cedar had a use. The versatile inner bark they wove into intricately patterned mats and baskets, plied into rope and processed to make the soft, warm, yet water-repellent clothing so well suited to the raincoast. Tough but flexible withes made lashing and heavy-duty rope. The roots they wove into watertight baskets embellished with strong designs. For all these gifts, the Northwest Coast peoples held the cedar and its spirit in high regard, believing deeply in its healing and spiritual powers. Respectfully, they addressed the cedar as Long Life Maker, Life Giver and Healing Woman.
Anecdotes, oral history and the accounts of early explorers, traders and missionaries highlight the text of Cedar. Hilary Stewart's 550 drawings and a selection of 50 photographs depict how the people made and used the finished products of the incomparable tree of life to the Northwest Coast Indians -- the cedar.

Cedar

Politics & Social Sciences

Sociology

On Island Time

Paragon House Publishers

Of the many resources available to the First Nations of the Northwest Coast, the most vital was fish. The people devised ingenious ways of catching the different species of fish, creating a technology vastly different from that of today’s industrial world. With attention to clarity and detail, Hilary Stewart illustrates their hooks, lines, sinkers, lures, floats, clubs, spears, harpoons, nets, traps, rakes and gaffs, showing how these were made and used in over 450remastered drawings and 75 photographs. With material gathered from museum archives, fish camps and coastal village elders, the scope of this classic volume covers everything from how the catch was butchered, cooked, rendered and preserved to the attributes of fish designs on household and ceremonial objects—images that tell of fishing’s importance to the whole culture. The spiritual aspects of fishing are also described—prayers and ceremonies in gratitude and honour to the fish, as well as customs and taboos indicating the people’s respect for this life-giving resource. 
An incredibly varied and highly refined assemblage of tools, techniques and knowledge, the culmination of thousands of years of evolutionary development, Indian Fishing is more than a bare account of the technology of fishing; it is about fish and fishing in the total lives of the Northwest Coast people. A classic, thoroughly researched and informative text, it examines fishing techniques of a people who have lived on the coast for over 9,000 years to reveal their complex and rich culture.

Indian Fishing: Early Methods on the Northwest Coast, 40th Anniversary Edition

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Regional & International

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Books by Hilary Stewart