Walking in the Footsteps of his Ancestors

Andy Everson’s Tlingit great-great-grandfather George Hunt worked alongside anthropologist Franz Boas for almost fifty years. During this time, the two amassed a tremendous volume of information about the Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw peoples. Andy has taken some of this work and is actively engaging in bringing back parts of the potlatch that have remained dormant due to the Canadian government’s efforts to destroy and dismantle his people’s traditions. By referencing both the published and non-published works of Hunt and Boas, Andy is working to reintegrate ancient traditions back into the potlatch and, by extension, his art.

About the Speaker: Andy Everson is a member of the K’omoks First Nation and carries the Eagle chief’s name of Ḵ̓wa̱mxa̱laga̱lis I’nis amongst the ‘Na̱mg̱is. He is an initiated member of the Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw hamat̓sa dance society and has been an active cultural dancer and singer for the majority of his life. Long interested in all aspects of his culture, he completed a Masters degree in Anthropology at UBC in 2001. All of these inform every aspect of his prolific art career where he is as ready to make a logo for significant social causes as he is to draw on sci-fi references to point out parallels in colonization and Imperialism.