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humanities 537 university of toronto quarterly, volume 72, number 1, winter 2002/3 Michael D. Blackstock. Faces in the Forest: First Nations Art Created on Living Trees McGill-Queen=s University Press. xxxii, 224. $44.95 Bob Boyer and Carol Podedworny. Odjig: The Art of Daphne Odjig 1960B2000 Key Porter Books. 126. $41.95 Both of these books advocate a new way of looking at First Nations art. However, I would argue the former is far more successful than the latter at offering the reader a fresh perspective. Michael Blackstock, a professional forester, and Gitxsan artist, declares himself the reader=s guide as he shares what he has learned about First Nations tree art: faces carved into the living trees of British Columbia, Manitoba, and the Yukon. The author cleverly divides the book into four chapters (planning, preparation, travelling, and reflection) which chart our journey into >the realm of possible meanings= for tree art. Blackstock aptly points out that most people are unaware of the existence of tree art, which he attributes to the colonial inability to understand First Nations landscape, where reciprocal relations exist harmoniously between humans, spirits, and all components of the living environment including rocks, trees, and water. He declares, >To see the unseen, one must have Anew eyes.@= In chapter 2, Blackstock teaches the reader to see differently by providing First Nations artistic, historical, and spiritual contexts in which to situate tree art. He describes cross-cultural examples of art serving as visual communication, such as Nuu-chah-nulth >wild man= masks, Tsimshian crest poles, or Beaver medicine crosses. Iroquois medicine masks and Dakota tree dweller dolls are also included, but since they originate so far from the mostly Gitxsan tree art, they hardly seem valid to offer meaningful context. However, Blackstock does point out explicitly that there are many ways one can >read= the messages of tree art and he does not intend to provide a taxonomic system that would render a false sense of clarity about the form, style, or iconography of this art. Instead, he differentiates between >the intended meaning= and the >second journey of meaning,= thereby recognizing that tree art may offer continually evolving messages never envisioned by the artist. In chapter 3, he identifies sixteen tree art sites, some where the tree art still exists in the >intended viewing context,= others where the tree art has been removed to another site, and most where the tree art has been destroyed and remains only in photograph, written record, or elders= memory. Blackstock finds local elders to interpret these sites, extensively quoting their dialogue and oral narratives. He is careful to position each elder=s commentary into an ethnographic framework by seeking the >intimate experiential knowledge= only available by making use of traditional ecological knowledge. 538 letters in canada 2001 university of toronto quarterly, volume 72, number 1, winter 2002/3 Blackstock repeatedly emphasizes the sacredness of the living tree in First Nations cosmology to counteract what he believes is the Western scientific and art-historical perspectives of seeing as static both the art object and the forest. While I perceive the redemptive nature of his arguments, which desire to teach spiritual respect for the forest, I feel he falls victim to his own project B of treating very disparate cultural products under the etic category of >tree art.= I find myself uncomfortable with his assertion of sacredness, as it threatens to become an essentializing discourse which belies the wealth of specific, local information provided by elders. Blackstock downplays the more profane and practical meanings of much tree art, such as trail blazing, messages to trappers, passing the time in camp, or marking the boundary of a chief=s territory. On the other hand, Blackstock makes clear his own desire to use tree art, what he terms >witnesses of the past,= as catalysts for >seeing the forest with new eyes, and a sacred gaze.= Chapter 4 is consciously authored from the diverse perspectives of the guide, the forester, and the artist. In these various voices, he tries to make explicit First Nations perspectives on maintaining harmony with the land. He suggests new forestry management objectives motivated by a First Nations perspective of respect...

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