Exhibit Label

Long, high-prowed canoes sliced the waves of the coast, driven by the paddles of northern warriors raiding the Salish for slaves, or carrying a chief, seeking a bride, and his retinue. When it was bought from its owner, Chief Jonathan Whonnock, this graceful and elaborately decorated canoe had just brought a party of Kwakwaka'wakw three hundred miles from northern Vancouver Island, to work in the hop fields of Puget Sound. On the Northwest Coast the canoe was a part of almost every human activity, from the deeds of fabled heroes and noble chiefs to the everyday business of fishing and traveling. The figure on the bow of this canoe represents an eagle with a salmon in each talon. (Holm, Spirit and Ancestor, 1987)