EveGriffinArtWork

This composition began as a motif on a Christmas tree ornament.  —And a very special ornament it was, as it hung on the 2007 official White House Christmas tree in Washington, D.C.

 

In a tradition begun by Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961, each year the First Lady chooses a theme for holiday decorating at the White House.  For 2007 Mrs. Bush chose “Holiday in the National Parks”. She asked the superintendent of each of the 391 units of the National Park system to select an artist to represent each area with an ornament for the official White House Christmas tree. The 18 foot-tall tree stands in the Blue Room each year as the centerpiece of White House holiday decorations. The ornament I made to represent Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park consisted of a 6-inch diameter, gold-colored ball sent by Mrs. Bush with instructions that it be decorated with “the most recognizable feature that best represents your park”.

 

The design of my ornament featured a painted vignette rendered as a historic photograph showing Chilkoot Pass — ‘the most recognizable feature of the … park’ and the gold rush — and a counterbalancing vignette on the opposite side of the ball intended to represent the Native experience of the gold rush and a Native view of the national park created to commemorate it.

 

I thought hard about what to put in this vignette and sought the advice of the local Native community. Elders and friends gave their blessing to the effort but confided that they were at a loss as to what an appropriate image might be. Then, an advisor enclosed a note to me on the subject with the phrases “Culture from the Soil” and “Strength from the Land.” Almost immediately, this image of a new, seemingly vulnerable, green shoot having deep and powerful roots popped into my head.

 

The background design is from my painting entitled “Tsunami”.  I felt it was fitting since the gold rush was something like a wave that washed over the world.

 

Aankadaxtseen (AKA: Bert Dennis, 1881-1973) was a respected Lkóot (“Chilkoot”) Lingít leader with a tremendous knowledge of the L­kóot area, which includes much of northern Lynn Canal and the southern Yukon regions. Among other things, he was an important tradition-bearer and teacher of Lingít culture. The phrase or name "Aankadaxtseen" is at.óow of the Lukaax.ádi clan of the Lkóot Tlingít.  At.óow is sacred, clan-owned property which may be a piece of art, a story, a song, a place, a name, or other things. In this case, this name, when applied to a thing, makes it an important symbol of Lukaax.ádi land ownership and ancestry, especially in regard to Shgagwei (“Skagway”) and Deiyáa (“Dyea”).

 

This painting was commissioned by Silas Dennis, Jr., grandson of Aankadaxtseen.

This name is used here under the direction of clan members and the Dennis family.