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Na-Was

8-93

First Nations, Nuu-chah-nulth, Hesquiat, born 1950

The term Na-Was describes the action of birds gathering on a tree branch, making reference to the Nuu-chah-nulth people gathering to share their cultural teachings. The raven (on the right) wakes all of the world’s beings to the beauty of sunrise and the importance of being productive. The smaller dark bird is a wren, and the blue-hued birds are based on a remembrance of birds from Paul’s childhood. The message here: birds are teachers, and we should pay attention to them.

Silkscreen on Stonehenge cover White (rag)

Sheet: 19 1/4 x 18 1/2 in. (48.9 x 47 cm)

image diameter: 14 5/8 in. (37.1 cm)

Gift of R. Bruce and Mary-Louise Colwell

2018.29.103

Provenance: [Pacific Editions Limited, Victoria, British Columbia]; purchased by Bruce and Mary-Louise Colwell, Seattle, Washington, Mar. 11, 2002

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Avian Avatars: Birds in Northwest Coast Prints from the Colwell Collection, Dec. 15, 2021 - June 12, 2022.

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

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