Crooked Beak Of Heaven: Film Analysis

Northwest Coast Indians, one of the richest Indians, were famous in trading sea otter fur with European in less than two hundreds years ago. They lived nearby the coast and the forest, “the rich land”, where the nature environment provided foods and resources. Even during the winter, they were able to enjoy music, dancing, and drama without worrying about survival. With the abundance material goods, native Indian satisfied with the material possessions, and passionately seek for a higher social status. This derived a special traditional event, potlatch. Potlatch was “a form of competitive feasting, in which a powerful leader of the group shows off his wealth and prestige to other rival leaders” by giving out and destroying extravagant presents. (Reynolds, 2011) However, potlatch was forbidden in 1884 by the federal government because it was seen as “wasteful, reckless and anti-Christian” action. (Gadacz, 2015) In fact, the film, Crooked Beak of Heaven, illustrated the importance of cultural relativism through the effect of European on the art and cultures of Northwest Coast Indians.

In the past, they made totem poles and carved masks. The art works often use raven as the main character in return for the natural resources that those animals provided. Some Indians, like Gitxsan, also made wood carving, boxes, and ceremonial blankets. After contacting with westerners, they started the silver crafting. The unsymmetrical design was very popular to craft a silver box. The cooper was also trendy at that time. Altogether, the art collection became something more than a valuable material object. It was the climax of a potlatch to get social