Antler Muskie

In addition to the painting demonstration that I gave for Aboriginal Awareness Week at Fort Frances High School, I was also commissioned by the vice principal to create a carved antler muskie for the school's trophy case.
[The school's teams are "The Muskies"].

A quick online search found a suitable muskie illustration to base the work upon; just to keep the piece anatomically "in the ballpark".



[Click the illustration, if you wish to visit the sourcepage at TNTOutdoors.]

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After removing the bulk of the tines (pointy bits), I sketched in the Muskie shape and relative position of eyes, gills, mouth, fins, etc. The antler was chosen for its tine positions that allowed for the projection of the pectoral and pelvic fin pairs and the spread of the tailfin.



The piece was clamped in a vise to remove the excess antler with a right angle grinder and hard disk, then a right angle grinder with a "flap-sander" disc.



Note the parallel "score lines" on the fish's back.





Hard disks are used to cut grooves into the mass of the antler, down to the depth of required removal. "Cross-hatching" the grooves makes the removal of material easier.





After cutting away the bulk of the antler mass immediate to the sculpture, the main beam of the antler is cut away (because the work will be done in the hand from this point instead of the vise) and a rudimentary mouth is cut.

A rotary tool with grinder-disc, burr and sander attachments will be used to finish the piece from this point (the last of the initial sketch still visible on the "outside" of the beam).



Gills and mouth roughed-in; all fins nearly finalised.





Eyes hinted at and given projection by reducing the head around them.
Body's "sinuous" shape exaggerated by reducing opposite sides at different points along length in both vertical and horizontal dimensions.
Tail given "concavity" in vertical dimension. Hard external "plates" on upper jaw roughed in.





Eye shaped and hole drilled for iris representation. Possible installation position mirrors source illustration.


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Most of the antler carving that I have seen is Inuit Art [Wikipedia article].
See also, Clint's Inuit and Native Art Bulletin.

But there were some conspicuous examples of carved and polished deer antler in the local, prehistoric, cultural toolkit; harpoon points.
Specifically, fishing harpoons.



[Illustration from the book Grand Mound By Michael K. Budak; published by Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1995.]
Michael Budak ran the Grand Mound Centre, before the MHS closed it in 2003.

This is the type of fishing activity and tool that was represented in my previous posting about the one-day painting challenge at Fort Frances High.

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Tags: antler carving, whitetail deer antler, muskellunge sculpture, muskie, antler harpoon point, Grand Mound, Rainy River, Minnesota Historical Society, Canadian blog, First Nation, Native blog,Bingorage, Broken Vulture Art, blog,pics

Dam serious pics - clicky enlargey

My sister's new babygirl, Danni, loves this song
and so do we.



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Coming back from Uncle Charlie's funeral in Sioux Narrows, Sister Holly and I stopped by the side of the road to look for running sucker.

The suckers weren't running at the time at that location, but we took the opportunity to explore a series of small, crumbling dams on the small creek. The creek runs from a small marshy lake, just off the east side of Highway 72, about ten miles south of Sioux Narrows.





The largest of the three dams (that we saw, there may be others) has a height of nearly fifteen feet (downstream side) and a width of about fifty feet...



The opening in the dam is only about five feet across. There is a concrete "Y-brace" connecting the dam to the "powerhouse" structure







The powerhouse?
Perhaps there was some sort of waterwheel or small turbine here at one time.





The view downstream; from the large dam.



There is an inscription in the dam:
Duane Damon
May 27/48



Views of the "secondary" dam.







View of the "tertiary" dam, through the brush.



Looking from the main dam, back towards the highway. There is a concrete foundation and (new-ish) wooden walkway.





Holly, standing between highway and creek.


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New York Times, March 17, 2008 article. Chinook Salmon Vanish Without a Trace.

SFGate, May 2, 2008 article. All salmon fishing banned on West Coast.

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Views from the highway; on the way back from dropping sisters off at Thunder Bay airport.
French River [east of Seine River].

Looking North:









Looking South:








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Tags: dam, Sioux Narrows, French River, sucker fish, spring spawn, Northwestern Ontario, Canadian blog, First Nation, Native blog,Bingorage, Broken Vulture Art, blog,pics

Iceout and dark energy

Amputee runner wins right to try for Olympic spot

Ontario MNR and Grassy Narrows (First Nation, Ojibway) sign agreement in logging dispute

Regina (Saskatchewan) is one step closer to having Canada's first on-reserve post-secondary institution.

Canadian Copyfight Alert!!!
Jim prentice is about to try and ram US-industry-dictated copyright law through parliament; without the public input he promised, after his last attempt to feed us to the DMCA sharks. Contact your MP, make some noise.

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Loony iceout on Rainy Lake.





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Native Artists Grant Programs, listings at Evergreen.

Mary Anne Barkhouse: The Reins of Chaos.

"... The growing emphasis on paradoxical categories such as the absurd, cynical, and grotesque is indicative of the shift. Although in Canada this trend may be considered broadly, it often seems that Aboriginal artists are at its forefront. Mary Anne Barkhouse is certainly among them. Known for elegant, often ironic installations in which woodland creatures defend their way of life against the onslaught of human conquest, she uses wry humour to critique contemporary culture and the space reserved for Aboriginal people within it..."

2009 P.O.V. Call for Entries. The arrival deadline for submissions is Friday, June 27, 2008.

Archaeologist Uses Satellite Imagery to Explore Ancient Mexico.

Inca Skull Surgeons Were "Highly Skilled," Study Finds.

"... Around the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco (see Peru map), remains dating back to A.D. 1000 show that surgical techniques were standardized and perfected over time..."

How to be a human. [At Violent Acres]

Search on for Native art fund director.

"You have this foundation now coming on line that has enormous potential to become a powerful funding engine that will redirect the face of private philanthropy and divert huge increases of financial resources directly to our Native artists and tribal communities."...
this cornerstone of sovereignty has been malnourished because most tribal governments have not been able to support their artists. Instead, they have been focused on frontline crises, including housing, health care and joblessness..."

New Tim Giago article; Time Magazine Snubs Indians Again.

"Every year Time magazine names 100 people as its version of "The Most Influential People in the World." The editors of the magazine apparently live in a world without Native Americans, the First Americans to be precise...
Could it be that the editors of Time magazine are, as the editors of other mainstream media, so ignorant of the Native Americans in their midst that in their minds they do not exist? ..."

Five vestigial human organs; no longer counting the appendix.

Actor Adam Beach has plan to back First Nations films and TV.

"... His new company will produce feature films created by First Nations filmmakers.
He has also been hired by a new internet cable company to head its aboriginal division and will start reviewing proposals for the network in January..."

Dark Energy; The "most profound problem" in current physics.

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Tags: Grassy Narrows, Native Education, Canadian copyright, copyfight, Mary Anne Barkhouse, satellite archaeology, Inca surgery, Tim Giago, Adam Beach, Rainy Lake, Canadian blog, First Nation, Native blog,Bingorage, Broken Vulture Art, blog,pics

One day painting challenge at Fort Frances High School.

"Sturgeon Hunt" [Pics click to enlarge.]

I was asked to provide an art demonstration, for Aboriginal Awareness Week, at the local high school, so I agreed to create a box frame, stretch canvas and finish a painting...
in the span of a single school-day.

I prefer to make my own canvases, on a "box-frame" that is self-framing.
The joints of the box frame are "butted", so that a mitre saw is not necessary to create the corners. After lining up the flat edges of the boards, holes are drilled and countersunk, then coarse thread drywall screws connect the boards.



To align the "brace" attachment points between the long sides of the frame, the board is placed, then the outline traced. After removing the brace, then two or three points can be drilled from the 'inside', then countersunk from the outside before fastening the screws.





The canvas is draped, then tacked with staple gun, several staples at a time, flattened down with a hammer. The piece is moved so that next tacking is opposite of previous tacking. Alternate between axes often.









The canvas is tacked flat, then the fold is stapled down "on top" and on the "downside", to reduce visibility.




This was the initial sketch for the piece. I had been thinking about this composition for a while, as a variation on the Sturgeon Hunt bronze sculpture proposal composition.



After priming the canvas with 'matte gel medium', the initial objects (rocks) are sketched in with pencil. Then the background colour is placed around them.
Normally, I would start with a solid background colour, then work from background to foreground but I worked this piece rather flat because of the time demand.







The rocks are blocked in with shades of gray.



I decided to suggest the boulders as "lodges", by using a black shaded semi oval to suggest "doors". Although I did not have the time to develop this theme, rock is often seen as the dwelling of spirit in Native mythologies.

If you look closely, you will see the outlines of three sturgeon that I "scratched"-in with the pointy end of a paintbrush.



Scratch detail 1.



Scratch detail 2.



Filling in the fish bodies with a rough solid colour.

NB - Note the position of the fin under the gill of the large sturgeon in the foreground and how it changes to the next picture. I stood back, looking at the piece at this stage and determined that the body shape was way out of balance and made the necessary changes.



The lateral lines are scratched in, modified and finalised, highlight coloursand "bellies" added and human elements introduced (in the style of the Canadian Shield pictograph).


Begun blackline outlining, adding more detail. [This pic is a bit washed out.]



Foreground humans given minimal features, sturgeon spears added and outlining finalised. Sketch, below, for comparison. Fini.





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Tags: sturgeon, spear fishing, Rainy River, pictograph, canoe, aboriginal awareness week, Fort Frances, acrylic painting, canvas, fish painting, Canadian blog, First Nation, Native blog,Bingorage, Broken Vulture Art, blog,pics

may showers

Attawapiskat evacuated (again) due to flooding. This ought to do wonders for the mold and water problems.

"Crown Copyright"; surprising mechanism of Canadian governmental censorship.

Earliest Known American Settlers Harvested Seaweed.

"When they went back to analyze material collected in the 1980s, the scientists identified nine species of marine algae recovered from hearths and other cooking features at the site, suggesting the people living there ate the plants.
Using radiocarbon dating, they dated the seaweed samples to between 14,220 to 13,980 years old..."

Second National Day of Action called for.

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Will Lahti [Bozo artist at large and Bingorage consultant.] sent me these pics from a "research trip" to the Caribbean and Central America.

Selfish gene expressing itself through "coconut graffiti".


Oaxaca locals going "mask-crazy" and scaring the turistas.




Apparently, Indians need "honouring" in other places, than North American professional and college sports teams.


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Stanford University; Indigenous Identity in Diaspora Series Presents Native Author Linda Hogan. May 28, 2008.

"Widely considered one of the most influential and provocative Native American figures in the contemporary American literary landscape, Hogan is a prolific writer and political, environmental, philosophical theorist..."

New Tim Giago article; Finding an Indian Role Model in Life.

The increasingly interesting and provocative NorvalMorrisseauBlog, serving up more controversy. Check out the comments.

Modern voyageurs set out.

"... recreational canoeists from across Canada have gathered to retrace most of Thompson's route -- paddling and portaging 3,600 kilometres of rivers and lakes from Rocky Mountain House to Old Fort William (a.k.a. Thunder Bay, Ont.), on the shores of Lake Superior, over the next 63 days..."

SNTC play recalls aboriginal heroine.

"... Part of a militant effort to establish aboriginal rights in the 1970s, Aquash challenged a predominantly white American culture. And as a member of a Nova Scotian Mi'kmaq band, she was doing so as a Canadian in a foreign land.
But Aquash fought her own separate battle. As a woman in a predominantly male movement she had to overcome barriers, such as sexism, that presented themselves within the movement, as well as those outside of it..."

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Playwright, producers clash over "Border Crossing".

"... Accounts of what went wrong differ. By the time the play was produced, the immigrant characters were without dialogue and the Native character had been cut. Ilse says she had worked out the immigrant characters before the dialogue was written, and that the actor meant to portray the Native character suffered an injury and couldn’t perform.

Herwig and Ilse say the conflict with Rendon has been painful, but they feel they have treated Rendon and her script with respect. In e-mail exchanges a month before the play opened, Herwig and Ilse negotiated a contract with Rendon about the “excerpted and adapted” disclaimer, and tried to make amends..."

As reported in previous posting.

Marcie Rendon's blog.

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Tags: Attawapiskat, crown copyright, Monte Verde, Will Lahti, Linda Hogan, Norval Morrisseau, Annie Mae Aquash, Marcie Rendon, Border Crossing, Tim Giago, Canadian blog, First Nation, Native blog,Bingorage, Broken Vulture Art, blog,pics

links and icons

Uncontacted tribes 'at risk of extinction' UN forum is told.

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"Citizens of the Hawaiian Kingdom" reoccupy 'Iolani Palace. Story at Hawaiian Independence Blog

"... is about Hawaii's status as an independent country under prolonged illegal occupation by the United States, and the history, culture, law & politics of the islands."

Same story at CNN.

"... In 1993, the U.S. Congress approved, and President Bill Clinton signed, an apology to the people of the Hawaiian islands. The document "acknowledges that the overthrow of the kingdom of Hawaii occurred with the active participation of agents and citizens of the United States and further acknowledges that the native Hawaiian people never directly relinquished to the United States their claims to their inherent sovereignty as a people over their national lands, either through the kingdom of Hawaii or through a plebiscite or referendum..."

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Losing faith in modern America.

"Growing up in what remains the most religious country in the West, Dan Barker [Lenni Lennape (Delaware)], a former evangelical minister and one of the most prominent and politically active atheists in America today, possesses a unique story of "deconversion"..."

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Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun is a Northwest Coast that I had first taken notice of back in the early Nineteen-eighties; primarily because of his blending of the ancient, rigid "elements"/"visual alphabet" of the NW Coast tradition with a contemporary knowledge of dimensional space, recontextualisation and character.

"Yuxweluptun's strategy is to document and promote change in contemporary Indigenous history in large-scale paintings... using Coast Salish cosmology, Northwest Coast formal design elements, and the Western landscape tradition..."

This piece reminds me of the Eastern Orthodox Icon [Wikipedia article]; a formal type of religious portraiture.

Portrait of a Residential School Child, 2005,
Buschlen Mowatt Gallery, Vancouver, BC.



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Deer on the airstrip.



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Policy Analysis in Indian Country - June 19-20, 2008.

National Indian Taco Champiionships. May 17, 2008, Pawhuska, OK

Beadalicious; great beadwork blog.

Native American artist Ed Rackleff... nearing completion of a larger-than-life bronze statue of Chief Sequoyah, inventor of the Cherokee Alphabet.

new Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art opening in Vancouver.

Metis blog; CyberSmoke

Eagle gets "bionic beak".

"... The artificial beak won't be strong enough to allow Beauty to cut and tear flesh from prey. But it will help her to drink water and to grip and eat the food she is given..."

Bizarre DNA of Platypus tells a story about us.

"One of the more surprising elements was the animal's system for sex determination. Most mammals have two sex chromosomes, either two X chromosomes (to make a female) or an X and a Y (to make a male). Not only do platypuses have 10 instead of two, but some of those resemble the Z and W chromosomes of birds more than standard-issue X's and Y's.

Moreover, the key gene on the Y chromosome that confers maleness in most mammals is not present on any of the platypus' sex chromosomes. It is on another chromosome, where it seems to have nothing to do with sex. In its place, another gene seems to be central to sex determination in platypuses, evidence of a shakeout of various evolutionary efforts to settle on a system of sex determination in early mammals..."

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Tags: Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, Hawaiian Kingdom, 'Iolani Palace, Dan Barker, National Indian Taco Championships, Ed Rackleff, Seqoyah, Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, CyberSmoke, bionic beak, Canadian blog, First Nation, Native blog,Bingorage, Broken Vulture Art, blog,pics

oilsand ducks and tweakable lists

Ghostbike

The Great Depression, in Canada.

League of Nations photo archive.

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It seems that the no-fly list [usa] still needs plenty of tweaking; considering that Nelson Mandela and some US Air Marshals are still on the list.

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The next beading project: large beaded fish fly (Stage 1, yarn wrap the hook).



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U.S. changes sites named 'squaw'.

Once again, I would like to offer The Norval Morrisseau Blog, as a great resource for the documentation of NM's legacy.

JK Rowling trying to punish fair use, and has no concept of irony.

"This (previous) paragraph lists only most prominent similarities between Ender's Game and the Harry Potter series. My book was published in England years before Rowling began writing about Harry Potter. Rowling was known to be reading widely in speculative fiction during the era after the publication of my book..."

I Can End Deportation (ICED).A game that teaches immigrant teens about their rights and obligations.

"The object of the game is to become a citizen of the United States."

Toronto Native Theatre group; Native Earth Performing Arts

"is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the creating, developing and producing of professional artistic expression of the Aboriginal experience in Canada."

Government of Canada Supports the Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company

"SNTC... will receive $100,000 to support its Red Spirit Performing Arts Training Program... which provides a three-year, full-time professional arts program in arts skill development, skill application, cultural development, and career management. The program also tries to fill the void of qualified Aboriginal artists and strives to link graduates with potential employment in the Canadian cultural sector..."

Adam Beach: 'Our Worst Enemy Is Us'

"Beach said he is "putting together an Internet TV show, basically using the Internet to profile who we [Native Americans] are and what we're doing, just change that perspective more than what Hollywood can do."
Beach said he hopes that the show, which he expects to start shooting as early as July, would depict lives of people he has known.
"I have friends who are in gangs, I've been talking to a lot of people who are in prostitution and talking to a lot of people who are senators, wealthy businessmen, actors, writers, lawyers," he said. "I'm trying to address every issue that needs to be told and talked about, from success to struggles."
Beach said he is now "in the process of just finding the people I want to talk to and what kind of message I want to bring."

Elder running in the 2008 Peace and Dignity run collapses and passes away on leg of route.

Short article about an Ojibway jazz artist, from Fort William First Nation.

500 ducks died in an oilsands tailing pond this week, they may be the Tip of the Ice Berg, however.

"Scientists with a U.S.-based research group called the Boreal Song Bird Initiative said there is a long documented history of bird deaths in such ponds.
Professor Jeff Wells of Cornell University said there are records of 15 species of waterfowl that have been killed on Syncrude ponds, and 22 species of other birds.
Wells said for every duck carcass found in the pond, other birds could have died and sunk to the bottom or landed in the water and then flown away, dying in the bush.
"The 500 ducks is just the tip of the iceberg," Wells said. "There is no way to know how many skeletons lie at the bottom of those ponds."

Hbc Local History Grant Program. Next deadline is August 1.

"Only Canadian applicants may apply, and only one project per applicant/organization can be submitted per year."

Sunflowers were grown as a domesticated crop in Mexico more than 2,000 years ago.

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Tags: Canadian copyright, copyfight, ghostbike, "squaw" be gone, Norval Morrisseau, JK Rowling, Native Earth Performing Arts, native theatre (theater), Adam Beach, oilsands kill birds, Canadian blog, First Nation, Native blog,Bingorage, beaded fishfly, ancient sunflowers,Broken Vulture Art, blog,pics