Grand Hall tour
Information products related to the Grand Hall: books
To order, please visit the Cyberboutique, or contact publications@civilization.ca
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The Book of the Grand Hall
by Andrea Laforet
Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1992
ISBN 0-660-14001-2; $14.95
Richly illustrated, this book gives an inside look at the houses, house fronts and poles of the Grand Hall. It not only explores the development of the Grand Hall, and the construction and conservation work behind it, but it is also a fascinating look at the cultures, symbols, and beliefs of the Natives peoples of the Pacific Coast.
Dr. Andrea Laforet is Chief of the Canadian Ethnology Service at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
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Raven's Village
The Myths, Arts and Traditions of Native People from the Pacific Northwest Coast
by Nancy Ruddell
Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1995
ISBN 0-660-14035-7; $8.95
This richly illustrated book vividly recounts the stories that surround the human, animal and supernatural figures that appear on totem poles, in housefront paintings and in sculptures on display in the Grand Hall. These stories are interpreted according to their symbolic meaning. The importance of myths today is explored. The book also describes the reconstructed archaeological dig (at the far end of the Grand Hall), which represents over 5,000 years of Native habitation.
Nancy Ruddell is an educator at the Canadian Museum of Civilization.
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Haida Art
by George F. MacDonald
Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1996
ISBN 1-55054-402-0; $65
For centuries, the Haida lived on Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands), a remote archipelago off the northwest coast of Canada. By the time the first Europeans landed on the shores of Haida Gwaii in 1774, the Haida had attained a distinctive and powerful style of sculpture and painting in order to represent their myths, lineage and history. Art, myth and ceremony were closely entwined and an integral part of their lives.
The book provides an insightful overview of the historical, cultural and cosmological context of Haida art, and of the roles played by leading Haida artists. Its colour photographs display the full elegance and glory of Haida art, and the rare black-and-white historical images offer intriguing and revealing glimpses into the past.
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Totem Poles
Volume I: According to Crests and Topics
Volume II: According to Location
by Marius Barbeau with a new foreword by G.F. MacDonald
Canadian Museum of Civilization, 1990
ISBN vol.1 0-660-12902-7, vol.2 0-660-12903-5
$29.95 each
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These two volumes explore the making and meaning of totem poles.
Many of these poles, which once stood proudly in the Indian villages of
Canada's Northwest Coast, are now part of museum collections in Europe
and North America. The result of years of research by well-known
anthropologist Marius Barbeau, these volumes were first published in
1950 and were an instant success. The Museum is proud to make these
classics available again.
