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Copper is an important resource and symbol among many First Nations, and frogs have been closely associated with it.
Copper is an important resource and symbol among many First Nations, and frogs have been closely associated with it.
Frog, 1991
Mark Henderson (1953 - 2016)
Kwakwaka'wakw, Weiwaikum
"The Kwakiutl story...is of frog's association with coppers. When the frog looked down into the water and saw the wealthy house of Komokwa,...he was given the privilege of cutting the copper, thus becoming associated with wealth..."
To provide context for the next two prints, the story of the Copper Making Frog will now be recounted. While the following account is taken from the artist statement for Raven and Frog (2006), the story is told quite similarly in the artist statement for Copper Making Frog (1992), which illustrates how this same story has been taken up differently by artists, in regards to both artistry and meaning.
"A man was walking down a trail when he came upon a strange, magical frog. This frog could enlarge itself to a huge size and a the turn of your head could shrink and disappear completely. Carefully the man stalked the frog, concealing his club behind him. He made sure he didn't blink or look away from the frog so it wouldn't disappear. At just the right moment he clubbed the frog, killing it. When he picked the frog up, there were coppers beneath him. These coppers brought great wealth and prestige to the Hunt family."
"Chief Thomas Hunt owned the rights to a very important frog headdress and a copper belonged to him descending from this legend. Although 'Kla Qwa Gakaga' is a Kwakwala name, Thomas Hunt believes the story to come from his grandmother, Mary Ebbetts, who was a Tlingit princess from Tongas, Alaska..."
Copper Making Frog, 1992
Calvin Hunt RCA (b. 1956)
Kwakwaka'wakw
Raven and Frog, 2006
Kevin Daniel Cranmer (b. 1968)
'Namgis, Kwakwaka'wakw, Mamalilikala, Tlingit
"This design was inspired by my great, great, great grandmother Anisalaga, Mary Ebbetts...a Tlingit noblewoman from the 'Drift a Shore' house in Togass, Alaska, and the matriarch of the Hunt family from T'sakis...When she married into the Hunt family she brought over, as marriage dowry, the Raven crest, and the Chilkat Blanket, among other privileges. Included among these treasures was the story of a copper making frog..."
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