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Shgen George - Box of Daylight
Category: Wall Hanging.
“Box of Daylight” was done on blue felt using two threads and one needle. One thread holds the beads and the other tacks this thread down to the felt. For the Raven I used two beads at a time. The background has the added texture done by looping many beads on at once before tacking it down. The beading depicts Raven escaping with the sun into the dark sky. The sky is beginning to be lit up with the sun’s light coming out of the box. The Tlingit sun was cut out of copper and attached with beads representing the claws of the Raven. The bent wood box was made out of yellow cedar. It is painted with a Killer whale design to represent my clan, adding a personal touch to the piece. This legend is a very well known creation story among the Northwest coast natives.
Along the Southeastern Alaska coastline the Tlingit people have lived for thousands of years. Many of these years were spent in darkness, before the stars, before the moon, and before the sun. Until Raven, the creator, tricked Chief Nass-Shigi-Yeil in letting him into his home. Here Raven stole the Chief’s most precious bent wood boxes containing these objects of light. Raven then set the stars free awing the people with their beauty. Next he turned the moon lose to roam the sky. Finally he stunned all creatures with the brilliant light of the sun, bringing day to the world.