Acrylic on yellow cedar
60″ x 5″
2014
Since time immemorial, the coastal First Nations people have fished. After contact, many obtained commercial fishing licenses.
My Grandparents had a cabin on the Situk River in Yakutat, Alaska. Like my Father, Aunties and Uncles were raised on the Situk, I was raised on fishing stories. Fearless, funny and sometimes plain lucky, the stories brought me back to a time when Alaska was wild and Yamaha had not yet replaced Johnson motors.
This paddle is painted in the style of a 15 horse Johnson outboard motor. It represents the transition of Native American cultures, and the two worlds (traditional and modern) that many live in today. It represents the spirit of the times, and the people who fish, bucking the wind with a smile.