A pigmented wood Tlingit potlatch carving of a wolf chasing two bear cubs up a tree
Depicting a dynamic scene of a wolf chasing
two bear cubs as they scramble up a tree for safety. It is made of pigmented
wood, with the colours of red, blue, white and black.
The Tlingit people divide themselves into
two distinct moieties, the Raven (Yéil) and the Eagle/Wolf (Ch'aak'/Ghooch).
These moieties are based on family lines with specific rules not to marry
someone from the opposite moiety. A ritual ceremony in these societies is the
potlatch. The word potlatch means ‘to give’. Potlatches mark important
occasions, involving gift-giving, feasting and cultural performances. The
ceremony is mostly characterized by families handing out gifts to each other.
However, unlike in European society where receiving many gifts shows one’s
popularity, the one giving away the most valuable and multitudinous gift gains
the most respect in Tlingit society. A potlatch gift like the one presented
here took a lot of effort and time to carve.
Source:
Sergei Kan. ‘The 19th-century Tlingit
Potlatch: A New Perspective’ in: American Ethnologist, Vol. 13, No. 2, 1986, p.
191-212
Provenance
Collection Rick Ege, Saint Louis
The Flury collection, Seattle
The Mackley collection, Hershey
Collection Polak,Amsterdam