Title: Wooden dish with pieces of salmon standing on end
Creator: Charlie George Sr. Xalxidi
Creator Lifespan: 1889/1951
Creator Nationality: Canadian, ʼNakʼwaxdaʼx̱w
Creator Birth Place: Ba’as (Blunden Harbour)
Date: circa 1910
Location: Bella Bella
The story of Soogwilis: Soogwilis was the nephew of the Chief of Ba’as. When a boy, he was carried off by a giant eagle. He stabbed at the eagle with his hunting knife causing the bird to drop him into the sea below. Soogwilis taunted the eagle, who was really Kweequis, the Mischief-Maker, in disguise. Kweequis then turned himself into a whale and swallowed Soogwilis. The boy remained inside the whale for four days before Kwee-quis released him. From this encounter, Soogwilis obtained the power to turn himself into an animal wherever he wished.
Physical Dimensions: w255 x h198 mm
History of the drawing: One of a series of 39 coloured drawings made for the Reverend Dr Richard W. Large by Charlie George, a young ʼNakʼwaxdaʼx̱w boy from Ba’as (Blunden Harbour) who was a patient at the Bella Bella hospital. Large was the hospital’s doctor and the Methodist
missionary at Bella Bella from 1898 to 1910. His interest in First Nations
culture is evident in the collection of Heiltsuk art and artifacts that he made
for the Royal Ontario Museum, as well as in these drawings illustrating the
Kwakwaka’wakw story of Soogwilis. Charlie George recovered from
his illness and went on to be a distinguished artist. Years later, Dr R. W.
Large’s son, Dr R. Geddes Large, met Charlie George and learned the story of
Soogwilis. He published the story with the drawings in 1951(Soogwilis: A Collection of Kwakiutl Designs and Legends, Ryerson Press, Toronto).