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Description

Paddle painted black except for one side of the blade on which a scene is painted in oils. It shows a plank house with a totem pole in front. In the foreground, there stands a woman who is bare to the waist and wrapped in a red blanket. A background of sky, mountains, and trees and a foreground of vegetation completes the scene. The Chinook words 'Klahoya Tillicum' [hello friends] are painted on the blade.

History Of Use

Anthropologist Homer Barnett notes that: "Paddles were made of yellow cedar, yew and maple. Those of maple and cedar were painted, the men's being black, the women's red. A smoky pitch fire and oil gave an impenetrable black. Ocher or an alder-bark infusion supplied the red. Practically, the colouration protected the wood and, so some say, prevented the glint of sunlight on a moving paddle (1955:116)." This is a man's paddle. Its diamond shaped blade differentiates it from the woman's paddle which has a round or pointed end, while river paddles are distinguished by a triangular notch cut into the bottom of the blade (see Elmendorf 1960:188-189).

Narrative

According to the collectors, McAllister and Burnett, this paddle originally belonged to the Euclataw (Laich-kwil-tach; also spelled Ligwilda'xw) people and depicts a woman who led a group of warriors to victory at Fort Rupert c. 1750. The paddle was said to have been used on the night of the raid and was subsequently passed down among members of the Euclataws until it was given to the Indian Constable at the Euclataws Reserve, John McAllister. He then gave it to Burnett for his collection, asking that Burnett never sell it. The Euclataw (Laich-kwil-tach) are a southern Kwakwaka'wakw sub-group who had migrated south into the Comox area.