DRUM SERIES - POSTER - Sockeye, Opening Hands, Salmonberries (Horizontal)

DRUM SERIES - POSTER - Sockeye, Opening Hands, Salmonberries (Horizontal)Artist: Roy Henry Vickers Medium: Poster Poster Size: 38" x 16. 25" Drum Size: 10" diameter Orientation: Horizontal Information A Poster Reproduction of the DRUM SERIES featuring the images of Sockeye, Opening Hands, and Salmonberries. Please note this poster will ship rolled in a tube. STORIES Sockeye Every year, for thousands of years, the Kitkatla people have witnessed the return of Sockeye salmon to the creeks and rivers of their homeland. This

Information

A Poster Reproduction of the DRUM SERIES featuring the images of Sockeye, Opening Hands, and Salmonberries.

Please note this poster will ship rolled in a tube.

STORIES

Sockeye

Every year, for thousands of years, the Kitkatla people have witnessed the return of Sockeye salmon to the creeks and rivers of their homeland. This species of salmon is the most precious to our people. I recall from my youth the early summer days filled with smoke from many fires. The smokehouse was full of Sockeye, and there were many open fires where large drums were filled with canned salmon and boiled until a good seal was obtained. The work of preparing this delicacy for winter storage is an age-old tradition.

So, the moon in July is known as the Moon of Sockeye among the Kitkatla.

As I write this article, I am aware that very few Sockeye are returning to the creeks of their birth to spawn. Overfishing and careless logging practices have brought an end to some runs, while others are dangerously close to extinction. It is my prayer that we will work to ensure an increase in wild stocks returning to the ancient territories of the Kitkatla people.

I hope that, once more, we will see the happy faces of our people as we celebrate an increase in the return of this beautiful salmon, known to the world as Sockeye.

Opening Hands 

This drum design has been with me for a few years, and it is finally time to release it as part of a thirteen-print series of moons.

Here on the Saanich Peninsula, the moon in April is called the Moon of Opening Hands. This is the time of year when all the leaves begin to unfurl, and the smells of spring fill the air. Flowers bloom, and nature awakens from a long winter slumber.

So, I call this image Opening Hands Moon.

Salmonberries

It seemed to me like a large tent of a hundred shades of green, and every year around my birthday was the time I remember visiting this place the most. The smell was of the earth on a wet morning after rain—I love that aroma to this day. The colors I always looked for were red and yellow.

Through the foliage overhead, you could see patches of sky—sometimes blue, and often grey. It wasn’t a tent; it was a large patch of salmonberry bushes. Early in the spring, during the opening of leaves, the new growth of tender shoots is an edible delicacy. I could often be found in a patch of salmonberry bushes, breaking off the young shoots and gently peeling the thorny skin to reveal the tender treat inside.

My father's maternal ancestors are from the old Tsimshian village of Kitkatla. From ancient times, the moon in June has been called the Moon of Salmonberries.

The Moon of Salmonberries performs its magic as spring gives way to summer. As the month of June passes by, the salmonberries ripen in shades of yellow and red, and all the people enjoy nature’s bounty of fresh berries.