"SONS OF DEATH"
BRONZE SCULPTURE
"SONS OF DEATH"
Bronze Sculpture
Limited Edition of 7---7/7
Dimensions: 59"L x 18"W x 24"H
Original Edition Sold Out
Artist's copy available
“Audubon Art Exhibition of Alaska Wildlife”, Artique Ltd., Anchorage, AK, Best of Show Award, 1985
"SONS OF DEATH" STORY
Among the whalers of western Alaska were the Aleuts, Unangan, "We the people". One people distinctly divided by islands and shores into "Those Beyond the Easterners", "Sons of Seagulls", "Sons of Sea Lions", and others. In some of these groups could be found only a few men who could be "Sons of Death". Most probably the son of a chief, or someone who was willing to put the well being of his people before his own.
The Yankees whaled commercially, the Eskimos communally, the Aleut whaled alone. One man, One whale.
The Aleut whaler was part of a select and secret society marked by loneliness and death. He entered into it knowing that he would become a virtual outcast, revered but mistrusted and feared by the very people he served. Fully expecting to die young, or go raving mad because of the dark powers whose favor he curried, he rendered himself the most powerful hunter hunting the most powerful animal.
A short apprenticeship, under an older whaler, taught the bare rudiments of skill and magic he would need to meet his adversary, the whale. He learned to use the ocean currents, using them to carry his quarry to his shore or to send, in warfare, a poisoned whale "bomb" to another's shore, He learned to call the whale, to master his poisons, and channel the spirits of power and death. These would cast an ominous foreboding shadow over the rest of his life.
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"I call the great whale, challenging him to a contest. I sing my songs and dress myself in waterproof skins of birds. My hat shades my face, so my adversary cannot see my eyes: I have advantage.
I prepare my spear, tipping the fragmenting point with the fat rendered from the "dead ones"; they will give me power. I feed their skeletons to stop them from pursuing and devouring my flesh. I call again as my bidarka leaves the shore, my charms of power rest beneath the deck. I am powerful, and soon he will come and meet my spear.
I watched the currents and he showed himself to me, a Fin whale, 65 feet of smooth, sleek power. I raced to the point where he would re-surface. I hold my spear, the ati-ati lengthening my reach. I will have one chance unless my strike fails.
If I make him mine, I will return to my shore and call to keep him near. In the cave I will act out his death alone, then wait for his body. When it comes I must eat the flesh around the wound to prove I have not used poison on my own people. They are afraid, for I am powerful.
I wait for his arrival. The Steller sea lions that hunt and play across my path scatter. My life or his is ending...we are both filled with power but only one can be the victor. With only a small bow wave he announces his coming, he comes to take up my challenge."
__________________________________________________________________
The last Aleut whaler left no apprentice and refused to share the secrets of his craft. Even on his death bed he refused, saying "it is evil and will die with me".
"Sons of Death" is the third piece of the "Whale Culture Series" of 5 sculptures telling the stories of five cultures that whaled off the Pacific Coast. Sons of Death depicts the Aleut whale hunting. The Aleut hunter is paddling a bidarka, the whale is a Finback, there are Steller Sea Lions beneath the whale.
(A "Sons of Death" was purchased by the Aleut Corporation in Alaska)
Bronze Sculpture
Limited Edition of 7---7/7
Dimensions: 59"L x 18"W x 24"H
Original Edition Sold Out
Artist's copy available
“Audubon Art Exhibition of Alaska Wildlife”, Artique Ltd., Anchorage, AK, Best of Show Award, 1985
"SONS OF DEATH" STORY
Among the whalers of western Alaska were the Aleuts, Unangan, "We the people". One people distinctly divided by islands and shores into "Those Beyond the Easterners", "Sons of Seagulls", "Sons of Sea Lions", and others. In some of these groups could be found only a few men who could be "Sons of Death". Most probably the son of a chief, or someone who was willing to put the well being of his people before his own.
The Yankees whaled commercially, the Eskimos communally, the Aleut whaled alone. One man, One whale.
The Aleut whaler was part of a select and secret society marked by loneliness and death. He entered into it knowing that he would become a virtual outcast, revered but mistrusted and feared by the very people he served. Fully expecting to die young, or go raving mad because of the dark powers whose favor he curried, he rendered himself the most powerful hunter hunting the most powerful animal.
A short apprenticeship, under an older whaler, taught the bare rudiments of skill and magic he would need to meet his adversary, the whale. He learned to use the ocean currents, using them to carry his quarry to his shore or to send, in warfare, a poisoned whale "bomb" to another's shore, He learned to call the whale, to master his poisons, and channel the spirits of power and death. These would cast an ominous foreboding shadow over the rest of his life.
_______________________________________________________________________
"I call the great whale, challenging him to a contest. I sing my songs and dress myself in waterproof skins of birds. My hat shades my face, so my adversary cannot see my eyes: I have advantage.
I prepare my spear, tipping the fragmenting point with the fat rendered from the "dead ones"; they will give me power. I feed their skeletons to stop them from pursuing and devouring my flesh. I call again as my bidarka leaves the shore, my charms of power rest beneath the deck. I am powerful, and soon he will come and meet my spear.
I watched the currents and he showed himself to me, a Fin whale, 65 feet of smooth, sleek power. I raced to the point where he would re-surface. I hold my spear, the ati-ati lengthening my reach. I will have one chance unless my strike fails.
If I make him mine, I will return to my shore and call to keep him near. In the cave I will act out his death alone, then wait for his body. When it comes I must eat the flesh around the wound to prove I have not used poison on my own people. They are afraid, for I am powerful.
I wait for his arrival. The Steller sea lions that hunt and play across my path scatter. My life or his is ending...we are both filled with power but only one can be the victor. With only a small bow wave he announces his coming, he comes to take up my challenge."
__________________________________________________________________
The last Aleut whaler left no apprentice and refused to share the secrets of his craft. Even on his death bed he refused, saying "it is evil and will die with me".
"Sons of Death" is the third piece of the "Whale Culture Series" of 5 sculptures telling the stories of five cultures that whaled off the Pacific Coast. Sons of Death depicts the Aleut whale hunting. The Aleut hunter is paddling a bidarka, the whale is a Finback, there are Steller Sea Lions beneath the whale.
(A "Sons of Death" was purchased by the Aleut Corporation in Alaska)
