Indigenous art/ART 103/First Nations

Canadian First Nations Art

Leoboudv, 2009, First Nations art objects, UBC, Vancouver

There are many groups of Indigenous people worldwide. An example of one country's Indigenous people is Canada's Aboriginal groups who include the First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples. Aboriginal people have been in Canada for thousands of years and, according to the 2011 StatsCan Census, they made up 4.3% of the country's total population. Approximately 800,000 were of First Nations descent belonging to many culturally diverse nations.

Canadian First Nations culture include many customs, languages, heritage settlements and sites, as well as ceremonial architecture and artifacts. While some Canadian students are exposed to European and other forms of art in their local schools, few have taken a close look at Canadian Aboriginal art, including First Nations art from nations such as Mohawk and Cree. Take some time to look at the interactive First Nations art work image depicting art objects that are on display at UBC's Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver, Canada. This file has annotations. Move your mouse pointer over the image to see them.
Have you personally seen any First Nations art? If yes, comment on one or two of them. Or comment on any of the art objects in the image above.

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