Out of the Mist

Overview

Out of the Mist celebrates the art, culture and history of the Nuu-chah-nulth (formerly called Nootka) nations. It features the material culture—including many major art pieces—of the richly complex societies along the west coast of Vancouver Island and the Olympic Peninsula. With the help of many Nuu-chah-nulth voices, Martha Black places the objects in context with the cultures and histories of the people who created them.HuupuKwanum and Tupaat are Nuu-chah-nulth words that designate everything a chief owns, including hereditary names and songs, objects, dances, rights and privileges, lands, and resources. These concepts introduce non-aboriginal people to the profound philosophical, spiritual and personal connections that these objects have always had within Nuu-chah-nulth communities.Winner of the British Columbia Millennium 2000 Book Award.

Author Biography

Curator of ethnology at the Royal BC Museum since 1997, Dr. Martha Black has a PhD in Art History from the University of Victoria (1998) and a MA in Interdisciplinary Studies from York University, Toronto (1988), both focused on Heiltsuk art and museum collections. She has worked on many successful collaborative projects with First Nations and is a specialist in the theory and practice of repatriation within and outside of the treaty negotiation process.