Customer Reviews

Tangible Visions: Northwest Coast Indian Shamanism and Its Art

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This work includes a scholarly (but very readable) description of the role of the shaman in Northwest Coast cultures as well as a series of photographs depicting field portraits of shamans and gorgeous color images of artifacts associated with the practice of shamanism: masks, rattles, amulets, staffs, soulcatchers, etc. The writing is elegant and descriptive, and the layout and design of the book is of high quality. Very highly recommended for readers with an interest in shamanism, Northwest Coast Indian art, and anthropology.

If you would like to look directly into the heart of the ancient cultures of the Northwest Coast, let this book be your window. It is everything a book is intended to be---a work of intelligence, fine design and exceptional artistry. It is a thing of beauty to hold in the hand and in the mind.

From an academic viewpoint, it is meticulously researched, coherently organized, and knowledgably written. From an artistic viewpoint, the shamanic implements are a testament to the human spirit, and display incredible creative attainments. The objects are so beautifully photographed by Bobby Hansson that you can only shake your head in wonder as you turn the pages.

With over 500 illustrations, 300 in color, it seems there is not an implement used by the Tlingit, Tsimshain, Haida shamans, that is not represented here. Amulets, masks, crowns, rattles, aprons, bowls, bentwood boxes, soulcatchers, staffs, throwing sticks, even intricately carved paint brushes. What makes it different from other coffee-table books on Northwest Coast cultures is the depth of what is revealed, and the manner in which the objects are displayed. Instead of being randomly dispersed throughout the pages, each object appears grouped with others like it, so that you can see, say, thirty different rattles and compare them easily. When presented in this way, similarities of form and design become apparent, yet each object bears the unmistakable character of the individual shaman/carvers.

Allen Wardwell traveled to numerous museums and institutions, here and abroad, in order to research, photograph and document these objects. The book is obviously a labor of love. Each illustration lists: tribe, material description, usage, probable dates, possible names of shamans who owned the implement, and collection information. Most of these beautiful artifacts are in museums far from their homes, and yet many of them still carry their homes with them, and still speak of the time on the Northwest Coast when the supernatural was as natural as mist, sea and forest.