The Yuquot Whalers' Shrine - Hardcover

Jonaitis, Aldona

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0295978287 ISBN 13: 9780295978284

Publisher: University of Washington Press, 1999

Synopsis

In 1905 George Hunt, at the insistence of anthropologist Franz Boas, acquired a remarkable collection of materials from the Mowachaht band of the Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) for the American Museum of Natural History. An assemblage of 92 carved wooden figures and whales, 16 human skulls, and the small building that sheltered them, the shrine had for centuries stood in Yuquot, or Friendly Cove, on the remote west coast of Vancouver Island, visited only by chiefs and their wives. Since its removal to New York, it has been represented in anthropological and historical writings, film, television, and newspapers.

In this fascinating study, Aldona Jonaitis investigates and reconstructs the history of the shrine both before and after it was acquired for the museum. Clues to the shrine’s complex history―traced to the mid-17th century―and meaning are provided by historical and anthropological writings, photographs, stories, the Hunt-Boas correspondence, and the artifacts themselves. Jonaitis addresses important contemporary issues, including the Mowachaht band’s desire to have the shrine repatriated for display in Yuquot.

About this title

About the Author

Aldona Jonaitis is Director Emerita of the University of Alaska Museum and professor of anthropology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She is the coeditor of Unsettling Native Art Histories on the Northwest Coast (UW Press, 2020), and the author ofArt of the Northwest Coast, second edition (UW Press, 2021), Discovering Totem Poles (UW Press, 2012), Art of the Northwest Coast (UW Press, 2006), and The Yuquot Whalers' Shrine (UW Press, 1999), among other books on the art of the Northwest Coast.

From the Back Cover

"In 1905 George Hunt acquired a collection of materials from the Mowachaht band of the Nuu-chahnulth (Nootka) for the American Museum of Natural History. An assemblage of 92 carved wooden figures and whales, 16 human skulls, and the small building that sheltered them, the shrine had for centuries stood in Yuquot, or Friendly Cove, on the remote west coast of Vancouver Island, to be visited only by chiefs and their wives. Since its removal to New York, it has captured the imagination of individuals who have represented it in anthropological and historical writings, film, television, video, and newspapers."--BOOK JACKET. "Aldona Jonaitis investigates and reconstructs the history of the shrine both before and after it was acquired for the museum. She analyzes the various representations that have shaped the public's understanding of the shrine's significance and reviews the history of its acquisition, detailing Boas's almost obsessive desire for its purchase, as well as Hunt's dealings with its owners."--BOOK JACKET. "Taking the shrine's history up to the present day, Jonaitis addresses important contemporary issues, including the Mowachaht's desire to have the shrine repatriated to Yuquot."--BOOK JACKET.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Washington Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0295978287
• ISBN 13: 9780295978284
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 260