Text only description of West Coast Art- Earrings and Pendants in silver plate or gold plate.

Native West Coast Art: We wish to tell the tales of our ancestors, to empower the new generations of all Nations to learn from the past and live in harmony today. We strive to use universal symbols that connect with the collective unconcious. Pictograms convey a cosmic reality, truisms thall all agree on, but are so hard to see.

Raven

Many tales are told of Raven. Raven can be compared to Prometheus, as he was credited with giving the power of fire to the people of the earth. He is also known as a trickster that can change form to accomplish a task, in the same way that humans can have many sides to their personalities.

The Raven is cross cultural- for a hundred thousand years the greatest of the Gods was the Raven or Crow. He was the dreamcarrier who brought civilization to the people in paleaolithic times. Mammoth ivory carvings dipict a goddess with the raptor traits of a bird- talons and a beaked face but with bare breasts.

The archaic greeks called this God Cronos, the god of time, Another avatar was the Norse god Odin, and to the Celts as well as aboriginal North American nations this black bird carried the cosmic significance of the Great Benefactor, the Creator of the visible world.

The Germanic and Siberian tribes similary worshiped the Raven as an oracular healer. In China the black feathered predator was the first of the imperial emblems, representing YANG. Midieval alchemists called the Raven "The Shadow of the Sun"

When as humans we've gone as far as out bodies and imagination can take us, we meet the Eternal ones. The powers that built our flesh out of the mineral accidents of star dust and that are now building our individual fates out of time and the accidents of out hearts. They are timeless and spaceless, and the Raven emerges out of this super realm with the appetite of the Eternal Ones for the mortal encarnations of this world.


JayThe Stellar Jay is the "Bird of B.C., Canada". A legend from the Sooke area just west of Victoria, B.C. tells how Jay, a cousin of Raven became blue. "... one sunny summer day Raven and Jay were hanging around in the tree tops, arguing who was the best. Although Jay is smaller than Raven he boasted that he was the best flyer, and to prove his point he flew high, high in the sky. He flew so high he touched the blue of the sky and when he came down his feathers were tinged with blue. To this day, Jay wears the color of the summer sky."


Peace Dove

This piece has an interesting story from the Shirley Hill - Jordan River area of Vancouver Island, B.C. This place is along the Western Coast of the island, north of Victoria. When I first heard the story, I thought it could not be a very old legend because I was under the impression that white settlers had transported the "dove" to the Americas. However, upon consulting an ornithologist, I found that there is indeed an indigenous pigeon in this area, called the Band Tailed Dove.
The legend:" ... long time ago there were two feuding bands. A warrior was killed, and his wife was afraid that her son would be the next to die. So she went up to a cliff overlooking the water and prayed for peace so hard and long that she turned into a tree. This tree is the Madrona or Arbutus tree, and to this day the Band Tailed Dove eats its orange berries to spread the seeds of peace



Other styles: Bear, Hawk, Eagle, Thunderbird, Butterfly, Wolf, Killer Whale, Raven Wing

WHOLESALE ORDERS WELCOME. YES, WE CAN DO CUSTOM ART. Limited Editions for special events our specialty! Comments welcome! Respond to Running Cloud.
If you wish to order or comment by mail, send letter to:

P.O. Box 754
Sooke, BC,
V0S 1N0,
CANADA.


Here are some interesting LINKS - Please BOOKMARK this site and come back often.
Sooke- where in the world Sooke is located
StoneE's Lodge: A site of many Native Legends and Art
Vision Quest Talismans- beautiful spiritual jewelry with lots of mystical links

Art from Linda- Fire and Phoenix in JPG format

Graphics "Cougar and Eagle"


Other West Coast and First Nations related pages:


North American Indigenous Games - results of the Victoria, B.C. Canada events held August 97

Native Peoples' Ring Logo

This Native Peoples' Ring site is owned by Running Cloud.

Click for the
[Previous] [Random] [Next Site]
[Skip Next] [Next 5]

Click here for info on how to join The Native Peoples' Ring.
The Native Peoples' Ring logo courtesy of and copyright © by Terry Gould
created: August 25, 1997 and updated sometimes
Dec. 2006