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Cultural Context

ceremonial; potlatch; status; privilege

Narrative

Similarity of wood, shallow relief carving and paint suggest that this object is a pair with A1786; the two bowls also seem to be a pair in that they represent both the head and the tale of a whale when put together.

History Of Use

Large feast dishes were used primarily to hold food served to guests at winter dance ceremonies and potlatches as well as other important social occasions. They also served as symbols of wealth and prestige. The figures represented on feast dishes were family crests and privileges. Important feast bowls were named.
One of the two bowls (A1785, A1786) is made in the shape of two halves of a whale and commemorates the capture of the first whale by the cultural hero, Kula.

Iconographic Meaning

Whale is represented by a large rounded head, dorsal fin, blow-hole, and bifurcated tail. Kula was a culture hero who taught the tribe to catch whales.
"The Dish Represents the Great Chief Kula, Riding the Whale, and the Native Artist Has Endeavoured to Show How Kula Was Towed Across the Great Pacific and Back Again," (B.W. Lesson, 1933).

Description

Carved wooden, oval shaped dish (łuk’wa) with centre concavity. Made from a single piece of wood, the bowl represents the upper body of a killer whale. One end has the whale’s head in red and black, carved in shallow relief with its mouth open. On the sides, below the mouth is the blowhole, cutout and outlined in red. Behind the hole are the side fins incised with horizontal lines. At the opposite end is a crouched male figure with his head facing upwards and its arms outstretched holding onto the back of the killer whale. The figure has black hair, a black belt and wrist bands. (Repaired with copper wire).