by Skip Saunders
(Nuxalk)

Red Cedar, paint, bark (12”x8”x6”)

Price: $1650

Creator Brother (Yulatimut) - Atquntam is the Creator in Nuxalk Mythology. At a certain point in distant time, he sent four supernatural carpenters to this world to create human life and an environment to provide for them. They constructed the mountains and rivers of this land, the animals and birds populating them, and supervised the making of mankind. They are considered to be four brothers. The eldest and most powerful is Yulatimut, “He Who Completes Any Task with a Single Smoothing Motion.”

The Dance of The Four Carpenters – To the accompaniment of O…….. from the announcer and the droning of the women, there emerge four masked figures representing the four Carpenters. In whatever ceremonial they appear, their masks are the same because they, as master artisans, are supposed to have fashioned them for themselves. They dance around the fire without singing and disappear behind the enclosure. (McIlwraith)