House Board

Salish house boards and posts depict mythical creatures and animals associated with family history, notable ancestors, events which displayed ancestors' spirit powers, or magical privileges of the family. They faced into the large winter houses, declaiming the long history, wealth, and high status of the family.

Excerpt from “The Saanich Indians of Vancouver Island” (page 41) by Diamond Jenness, c. 1930’s: "Neither the Saanich nor the Cowichan people gave names to their houses. The carvings on their house-posts did not represent crests, as in the gabled dwellings of northern British Columbia, but dream spirits of their owners, or, in one case at least, of the man who was hired to carve them. ...There was a house on the Quamichan reserve near Duncan, whose house boards were carved by a Vancouver [Musqueam] native. The four boards on one side depict fisher, those on the other a fanciful creature believed to fly through the air and prey on two-headed snakes. [Note: three of the fisher boards referred to are MOA #A50005 a-c.] They were carved for a house on the neighboring Somenos reserve; when that fell the nephew of the original owner removed them to the newer house at Quamichan, which later passed to another nephew... The same Musqueam artist carved four fishers and a two-headed snake on his own coffin, which was later transferred from the Musqueam reserve to the National Museum in Ottawa" The coffin refered to would be the grave box on long term loan to MOA: CMC #VII-G-359 a-f. The Musqueam carver listed as the maker of the grave box is Sesi.mlannuk, so if Jenness is correct that would also be the carver of this set of house boards.

status; architecture

The subjects of Coast Salish sculpture often include birds and animals, generally of unspecifed identities. Anthropologists Wayne Suttles (1987) and Michael Kew (1980) suggest that there is a link between Coast Salish Art and the guardian spirit complex, which explains the lack of direct discourse on the subject. Since Salish religion is very individualistic and private in nature, community members were not willing to discuss it. This may have contributed to early European collectors favouring northern styles of Northwest Coast art and the current popularity of that form of expression in the south, which we see today.

Large cedar wood plank house board adorned with animals carved in high relief. The five animals (fishers ?) appear in two sets of pairs facing upwards; the fifth stands alone and facing downwards. All of the animals are painted black, their heads and snouts are raised; they each have a long tail and engraved eyes. The sixth animal from the top right of the plank is missing. The board appears to have been cut off at one end.