Out of the Mist

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.

See also the companion volume, Nuu-chah-nulth Voices, Histories, Objects and Journeys, edited by Alan L. Hoover

About the Author

Curator of ethnology at the Royal BC Museum since 1997, 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.