Copper ontology : being, beings, and belongings ...

• Main Author: Damon, Katherine
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2017
• Subjects: Indian; First Nations
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0355534; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0355534

Striking stone against metal, Kwakwaka’wakw hereditary chief and carver Beau Dick (1955-2017) and his companions broke the Haida copper, Taaw on the steps of the Canadian Parliament buildings in 2014. This act was a call to action in dialogue with the Indigenous grassroots movement, Idle No More, and a revival of a shaming rite prohibited for over 60 years under the Indian Act. Following their journey to Ottawa, Taaw and the other coppers were displayed in the University of British Columbia Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery's 2016 exhibition, Lalakenis/All Directions: A Journey of Truth and Unity, described as both cultural belongings and living beings. The categories of belonging and being communicate ongoing and active relationships between the coppers and First Nations communities, as well as their statuses as sentient entities. Endowed with supernatural power, or ’nawalakw in Kwak’wala, coppers occupy a central position within potlatch ceremonies. While the term ‘belonging’ could be said to have ...