Hamatsa Whistle, by John Livingston

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• Nation: Kwakwaka' wakw art, Kwakiutl art, native artists Vancouver Island
• Artist: Livingston, John (1951 - 2019)
• Type: Other unique Indigenous Art

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You don't find another one like this

A beautiful and authentic piece, dated 1991 - hand crafted and hand painted by our dear late friend JOHN LIVINGSTON

HAMATSA WHISTLE

This is a very special piece of Art. the sound is really fabulous, it's signed and dated. These kind of whistle's are used in ceremonie.

“Of all the dances of the Kwakwaka’wakw, the Hamatsa is considered to be the most important. The right to perform this dance is owned by particular families whose members have been possessed generation after generation by Baxwbakwalanuksiwe’ the man-eating supernatural being. The dance acts out the capture, return, and calming of the initiate. 

After the mourning songs you will hear madzis (whistles) blown again and again. The whistle sounds come from behind the dance screen, which is behind the singers, or it may sound like it is coming from outside the Bighouse, or even on the dance floor. Once the whistles start, this indicates that the Hamat´sa ceremony has started. The whistle sounds are said to represent the sound of Baxwbakwalanuksiwe’ moving through the woods. He has so many mouths on his body that when he walks it sounds like the whistles that we hear”

Measurements: 8 1/2" x 5" x 1 1/2" (21.5 x 12.5 x 4 cm

Photos of This Piece

About This Artist

Master carver John Livingston was born in Vancouver, on the Northwest Coast of British Columbia, Canada in 1951. John started his career at the Royal British Columbia museum in 1965 under the tutelage of the late Henry Hunt and Henry's son Tony...Artist bio and other available works »