Painted house beam. Slice of a tree trunk, covered in plaster on the front, with the bark left on the back. The part that has been plastered is painted with natural pigments. The beam would be read bottom to top. At the bottom is one of the patron saints; the Virgin of Asuncion. In phrases divided by various patterns, such as flowers and llamas, the beam depicts a range of daily activities such as sowing seeds and weaving. The persons represented are named in writing. At the top of this beam is the sun.

Painted house beam. Object is a slice of a tree trunk, covered in white plaster on the front, with the bark left on the back. The part that has been plastered is painted with natural pigments. The beam would be read bottom to top. At the bottom is one of the patron saints; San Juan Bautista. In phrases divided by various patterns, such as flowers and llamas, the beam depicts a range of daily activities such as sowing seeds and weaving. The persons represented are named in writing. At the top of the beam is the sun.

Model rondavel style house, made of clay and sticks. Cone-on-cylinder hut is round, with a slightly overhanging cone-shaped roof. Walls are thick, and reinforced with thin wood sticks which hold the roof onto the walls, and emerge slightly at top. A door and two small widows are cut into the clay, and a plaque has been attached by sticks above the door. At back is a second door with a prominent frame, filled by a cube of clay. The house and roof surfaces have scratched writing in English, with text such as “good clay soil”, “beautiful”, and “strong one hut”.

Museum Purchase: Portland Art Museum Women's Council Funds for the Reinstallation of the Rasmussen Collection in the Lower Hirsch Wing.

Museum Purchase: Portland Art Museum Women's Council Funds for the Reinstallation of the Rasmussen Collection in the Lower Hirsch Wing.

Museum Purchase: Portland Art Museum Women's Council Funds for the Reinstallation of the Rasmussen Collection in the Lower Hirsch Wing.

Museum Purchase: Indian Collection Subscription Fund, Rasmussen Collection of Northwest Coast Indian Art.

Museum Purchase: Indian Collection Subscription Fund, Rasmussen Collection of Northwest Coast Indian Art.

Museum Purchase: Indian Collection Subscription Fund, Rasmussen Collection of Northwest Coast Indian Art.

BELLA BELLA: A SEASON OF HEILTSUK ART. BLACK, MARTHA, 1997, Publisher: UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON PRESS