Name/Title
Beaver Harbour Village near Fort Rupert (1860-1870)Entry/Object ID
2018.03.04Description
Painting
This bright image depicts Beaver Harbour Village, traditional Kwakiutl* First Nations territory and the site of a former Hudson's Bay Company fort located on Beaver Harbour near present-day Port Hardy on Vancouver Island, B.C. The village is located on the shoreline with the forest behind, highlighted with pops of red, ochre and brighter green. The painting shows cedar plank longhouses with painted housefronts, a tall welcome post, boats drawn up at the water's edge and figures at work, rest or play on a wide wooden boardwalk with sets of stairs leading to the beach.
Beaver Harbour was named in 1837 by officers of the Hudson’s Bay Company after HBC’s paddle steamer SS "Beaver", the first steam vessel on the northwest coast. The company had established fur-trading outposts ashore, but built Fort Rupert, with canons and five-metre walls, to manage the extraction of local coal deposits, a valuable ship-fuel mineral.
*Today, the name Kwakiutl only refers to those from the village of Fort Rupert. Previously, it was a term that applied to all the Kwakwaka'wakw—that is, all of the people who speak the language Kwak’wala from a much larger geographic area.Artwork Details
Medium
Pencil and watercolour on paperSubject Place
Region
Pacific NorthwestContinent
North AmericaContext
The First Nations of the Pacific Northwest Coast built their houses facing the ocean, using cedar wood logs and planks. Each plank longhouse contained a number of booths along both sides of the central hallway, separated by wooden containers (like modern drawers). Each booth also had its own individual fire, and there was also a large communal fire. There was one doorway, usually facing the shore. The housefronts were often elaborately decorated with murals. The size of a home depended on the wealth of the owner, with the larger houses providing living quarters for up to 100 people. The carved welcome post on the boardwalk also faces the ocean to greet family, friends and visitors on their return to the village.
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The word 'totem' comes from Ojibwa, an Algonquian language spoken by First Nations around Lake Superior, for the word 'odoodem' or 'ototeman'. Specifically, totem refers to an emblematic depiction of an animal, plant or being that gives a family or clan its name and serves as a reminder of its ancestry.
The original totem poles were created by six First Nations of the Pacific Northwest: the Haida, the Nuxalt, the Kwakwaka'wakw, the Tlingit, the Tsimshian and the Coast Salish. These totem poles are carved and painted monumental poles (or posts or pillars) that feature different symbols or figures (birds, frogs, bears, people, supernatural beings and sea creatures). There are seven types of poles (memorials, grave markers, house posts, portal house poles, welcoming poles, mortuary poles and ridicule or shame poles). Similar to other forms of heraldry, they may function as crests of families or chiefs, recount stories owned by those families or chiefs, commemorate special occasions and more. The poles are usually made from large trees, mostly western red cedar, and their stories are usually read from the bottom of the pole to the top.Made/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Mary E. Cameron (1915-2009)Role
ArtistDate made
n.d.Time Period
20th CenturyNotes
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Born in Lac du Bonnet, Manitoba, Mary E. Cameron (née Botchett) was a Canadian artist who appears to have worked mainly in watercolour. She completed her schooling in Winnipeg, and was then employed at Stovel Printing Co., the largest and oldest commercial printing firm in the city, also considered the most progressive. She moved to Vancouver with her husband in 1947 where she continued work in the printing business at Grant-Mann Lithographers Ltd. until her retirement.
Cameron exhibited her artwork in four of the B.C. annual Artists Exhibitions plus the Stanley Park Exhibition all held at the Vancouver Art Gallery, the last being the 19th Annual Exhibition in 1950 chaired by Canadian Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris (1885-1970). Her work, identified to date, carefully documents totems, buildings and villages of the Northwest Coast and First Nations people, such as the Haida and Kwakiutl on Vancouver Island, nearby islands and the adjacent mainland.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Type
SignatureLocation
Signed lower right: M. CAMERONDimensions
Dimension Description
Visible imageHeight
15.2 cmWidth
12.7 cmRelationships
Related Entries
Notes
By Mary E. Cameron:
2018.03.01 Housepost (Kwakiutl)
2018.03.02 Haida Bear Totem Pole
2018.03.03 Totem Pole
2018.03.04 Beaver Harbour Village, Fort Rupert
2018.03.05 Sketch of Totem Pole
2018.03.06 Kwakiutl Village, about 1941
![Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) ship S.S. "Beaver". Beached for repairs at Point Hope [Victoria Harbour], 187-. Photograph by Ainslie James Helmcken (1900-1987): From City of Victoria Archives (PR-0252-M05768)](https://d8e7jbdw4fu0e.cloudfront.net/5457/7b128380-c86f-11ee-b5d6-379816e9c54c-vUVFE4m.lg@2x.jpg)