Carver Rick Williams is a Relation of the Seattle shooting victim John T Williams

[Hannah Bell]

STILL STANDING
From fine art to the trinket trade, a Native tradition survives



Rick Williams, who inherited his skills from a long line of Nitinaht carvers on Vancouver Island, continues to carve and sell his model totems from his home in Concrete, at the foot of the Cascade Mountains in Skagit County.

SOMEWHERE OUT THERE in America, Internet entrepreneurs are selling "Northwest Coast-style totem poles" on eBay for prices starting at about $30. These totems are hand-carved and hand-painted, 20 to 30 inches tall, and they look very Northwest.

I know, because I bought one. And today it sits on my fireplace mantel with the rest of my growing collection of model totem poles. I like it.

But it's worth noting that said totems are hand-carved by a family in Indonesia. They may be Northwest "style," but they are definitely not Northwest Coast.

So it goes with the quintessential icon of the Pacific Northwest. Once upon a time, the people who lived in this soggy corner of the continent whittled away at native cedar logs and created exquisite renditions of Northwest creatures, real and mythical — bears and orcas and frogs and the obligatory, spread-winged Thunderbird. Painted in blacks and earthy reds, those sculptures were instantly recognized as distinctly us.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/pacificnw/2003/0302/cover.html

[Orrex]

1. I think I totally misunderstood the subject line

And how totally unsurprising that that "Internet entrepreneurs" are muscling into the market.

[Codeine]

2. That's a very badly written subject line. nt

[Hannah Bell]

3. you're right, i fixed it.

[formercia]

4. Just like a glow in the dark plastic Jebus, made in China, Gawd forgive us.

It's all about free trade and making a quick buck.

I've bought several items directly from China, rather that pay extra for the same item, made in China, with an 'American' brand name, so I can't really be the one to cast the first stone.