Journey To Healing and Prosperity
The Taku River Tlingit Wealth Story
Journey to Healing and Prosperity grew from a traditional Taku River Tlingit wealth legend entrusted to me by Schulyetl, Sylvester Jack Sr., a respected Tlingit Elder, storyteller, father and friend.
As recorded on the original plaque accompanying the artwork, Sylvester told me:
“Long time ago people believed that the person who put a necklace around the neck of an owl released it would be the richest person in the village. You got to be smart enough to catch the owl.”
I did not simply interpret the legend through art. I enacted it. I publicly released a living Great Horned Owl, bringing the traditional wealth story to life. The release was publicly photographed and documented by the Whitehorse Star in its May 4, 2007 edition under the headline “Great horned owl recovers, soars again.”
From that extraordinary experience, I subsequently created the large felted work.
The artwork was unveiled by the Government of Yukon at the Thompson Centre during the potlatch held to honour my enactment of the traditional Taku River Tlingit wealth legend and the artwork that emerged from that experience. It was the Jack family who gave the artwork its name, Journey to Healing and Prosperity.
The work and its accompanying plaque were subsequently held on loan to the Yukon Permanent Art Collection and displayed at the Thompson Centre for eighteen years, before I requested that the artwork be returned to me.
The relationship embodied in the work continues today. The copyright in the artwork and legend is legally shared between myself and the Jack family.