Wilderness, Modernity and Aboriginality in the Paintings of Emily Carr

• Published in: Journal of Canadian Studies
• Main Author: Moray, Gerta
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) 1998
• Subjects: History; Cultural Studies; First Nations
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.3138/jcs.33.2.43; https://utpjournals.press/doi/pdf/10.3138/jcs.33.2.43

There is an inherent duality in Emily Cair’s artistic project of recording and commemorating Northwest Coast Native villages and totem poles. Her images fell within a racist paradigm that grounded a modern Canadian national art in the assimilation of the style and motifs of aboriginal art. They were seen as a complement to the Group of Seven’s “wilderness” images, which erased the living aboriginal presence from the landscape. On the other hand, Carr’s writings and paintings show her strong and persistent sympathy and admiration for Native peoples and their culture, and her attempts to counteract the negative racial stereotypes and to criticize the injustices of her day. The article focusses on Carr’s confrontations of Native cultural change, for example in her images of Skidegate and Haida Gwaii, and argues that her work has continuing relevance as a statement of respect for First Nations’ traditions and endurance.