( SOLD ) Ceremonial Bear Drum
Cecil Dawson Bear Drum
NOS Beautiful, original and signed 15 1/2 inches long by 3 inch high deer hide ceremonial potlach drum with his depiction of '' Bear '' in the style of the Kwakuitl nation.
This beautiful drum is signed by Hereditary Chief and artist Cecil Dawson and is ready to play.
In West Coast culture, there are several legends telling of a Chief's daughter being abducted by a bear. The high ranking woman had been out in the woods picking berries and stepped on some Bear dung and began to curse out loud, insulting their cleanliness. Two Bears nearby heard her and decided they would not tolerate such insolence. They felt the disrespectful woman had to be punished. To do this, one Bear transformed himself into a very handsome man who approached this woman, and seductively lured her to accompany him to his mountain home. When she did, she fell in love with him and became partially Bear-like herself.
Wood Carver, Painter, First Nations, Pryrographic Woodburner
Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada • Kwakuitl Nation
Born into a family of artists, Cecil Dawson began his artistic career at a very young age. His grandfather Jimmy Dick, a totem and mask carver, taught Cecil the intricacies of carving. Cecil also spent time under the tutelage of his cousin, mask carver Simon Dick. Other masters who influenced Cecil's artistic gifts were his great uncles Willie Seaweed, Henry Speck, and Dick Hawkins.
Cecil is from the Kwakwaka'wakw First Nation. His father is head chief of the Mountain Goat Hunter clan and his mother comes from the Wolf clan. Cecil's cultural involvement is important to him; he is a historian and an initiated Hamatsa dancer.
Cecil's great labour of love is to replicate his family's masks and bring them back into ceremonial use once again. By doing so, he honours his cultural and traditional values. Cecil has a strong sense of propriety and will not copy from a book. His pieces are unique and to his own style, demonstrating a deeply rooted understanding of his culture.