Alcheringa Gallery
665 Fort Street
Victoria, BC, Canada
TEL: (250) 383-8224
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Words of Wealth
lessLIE
(Coast Salish)
Northwest Coast
2005
acrylic on paper
20" x 20"
$ 1,000.00 CDN
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In the spirit of spindle whorls, this contemporary Coast Salish design represents the oral tradition and its perpetuation of Coast Salish concepts of wealth. As a contemporary Coast Salish artist who has relatively non-materialistic values, it is a contention of mine that the environmentally, socially and politically destructive consumer culture of Canada is the antithesis of traditional Coast Salish values. In traditional Coast Salish culture, wealth is not conspicuous consumption of the superficial status symbols of cars and clothes, etc. Wealth is not how much you can spend and accumulate. Although, through acculturation, the consumer culture of Canada has become inextricably interwoven with Coast Salish culture, it should not be overlooked that the consumer culture of Canada is antithetical to the potlatching traditions of Coast Salish culture. In the potlatching traditions of Coast Salish culture, wealth is validated by the gifting of the wool of wealth, the weavings of wealth, the ancestral names, the ancestral teachings, the family teachings, the knowledge of wealth, the power of knowledge, the wealth of wisDUMB, the words of wealth.
--lessLIE
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