Jeff Bear/Marianne Jones
Ravens and Eagles Productions
23 minutes • 2002

The accumulation of wealth has been linked to the collection of high art throughout most of human existence. With Haida culture, this is particularly true. In the potlatch system, a practice outlawed by the federal government during the early 20th century, the display of crests and the carving of totems were usually at the behest of important chiefs.

Jim Hart became Chief 7Idansuu (Edenshaw) in 1998. In an elaborate ceremony, he took possession of a chiefly name and along with it the range of art that becomes part of the chief's regalia. In preparation, Hart carved a 60-foot totem pole, commissioned a headdress frontlet and the weaving of a chief's robe, and organized a two-day potlatch. In Chiefly Possessions, Chief 7Idansuu recalls the event two years later, offering a glimpse of the process during a trip to his clan's traditional village site at Kiusta.

Subject(s): Artists–Jim Hart, Community dynamics, Indigenous people–Haida

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