Vancouver: Filled With Tradition

Incorporated Aboriginal Traditions

Pauline Johnson wrote aboriginal short stories including “The Two Sisters” which was a result of inspiration from her friend, Squamish Chief Joseph Capilano. Known by most people as The Lions, this prominent landmark located “towards the north[west]” of Vancouver, is the result of an immortalization ceremony of a band chief’s “two daughters” as told in this Indian legend (Johnson 12, 15). The re-mythologizing of this legend adds realism to the story, and creates a greater awareness of aboriginal traditions by adding a First Nations point of view to this Vancouver landmark. Similarly, conceptual artist Brian Jungen has a style of art fuelled by native Indian culture, as explained in an interview published as “Aboriginal Art Turned Inside Out” in the blog titled The Tyee (http://thetyee.ca/gallery/2006/01/26/AboriginalArtInsideOut/). Jungen’s art techniques include using “mass-produced consumer goods … [which are] crafted into works of art that examine cultural stereotypes.” Jungen is actually referring to native Indian stereotypes, as he uses these consumer goods to make “whale skeleton sculptures, bird aviaries,” and other traditional symbols important to the aboriginal people (Egan para. 3). Johnson and Jungen, who are both half aboriginal, incorporate their aboriginal traditions into Vancouver through creating works motivated by native Indian influences (Johnson 19; Egan para. 2).

Although these pieces both share a native Indian starting point, they both have a completely different frame of reference in terms of time. This notion of the perception of time in accordance to one’s point of view is known as relativity. Johnson writes “The Two Sisters” as a legend; something that has happened in aboriginal history. Thus, she writes about the past relative to her present point in time. Danielle Egan, the writer of the interview with Brian Jungen, points out Jungen’s aspirations of incorporating traditional native Indian symbols with modern consumerism in mind; the point of view in time is the present (rather than the past), as Jungen’s current objectives in art are articulated.